FAQs - The Community Farm

Storage tips and tricks

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There’s plenty of tips and tricks to help veg last much longer. Search online for the best way to store something if you’re not sure. As a general rule: most veg gets on best in the fridge, but store roots and bulbs in a dark, cool place. Some of our favourite tricks are that muddy root veg lasts longer than washed; standing wilted greens in water can revive them brilliantly; and potatoes and onions are best kept in the cupboard, but not together! Our beeswax wraps are a great alternative to plastic packaging for storing items in the fridge.

Recipes come second

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Start your meal planning based on what’s in your box and then reach for the recipes, rather than the other way round. Our website has hundreds of recipes that start with the ingredients you have in your box.

Invest in a veg scrubber

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Some of the veg in your box might be muddy. Think of it as a wonderful reminder that your food has come from the Earth; and remember that the mud also helps it store well. When it's time to prep your veg, nothing scrubs better than a scrubber.

Eat your greens first

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However you store them, greens will have the shortest life. Make use of them towards the start of the week and they’ll be at their most delicious and nutritious.

Swap and experiment

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Recipes are often written assuming that all veg is available all year round, but greens and roots are often interchangeable in recipes. Play around with swaps and you might end up with some brilliant improvements.

Produce guides

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Don’t know your Uchiki Kuri from your Queensland Blue? You wouldn’t be the only one! We’ve put together Produce Guides to help navigate the wonderful varieties of squash, chilies and other produce we grow.

Batch cook for speedy meal times

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Having a load of roasted roots in the fridge can see you through a load of lunches and quick dinners. Bring them back to life by adding them to salads, reheating them in the oven or turning them into soup. The same applies to other veg too - cauliflower, fennel, peppers and greens to name a few - these can all be cooked together and then stored in the fridge ahead of time.

Embrace the end-of-week weirdness

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Unless you’ve planned a full week’s worth of meals, there might be the occasional oddity at meal times the day before your next box arrives. Embrace it! Try searching online using whatever’s left in the fridge and store cupboard; ‘fennel carrot onion recipe’ might turn up something wonderful!

Pickle and freeze

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There are times of the year when certain veg is abundant and you might get a lot in your box. By pickling or freezing them you can keep those flavours coming all year round. Chillies are a brilliant example. Freeze them whole and take them out when you need them. You can easily chop them up frozen and they don’t lose any of their heat.

Weekly boxes aren’t for everyone

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Plenty of our customers choose a fortnightly box if they find a weekly box too big, or if they want to supplement the veg box with other produce. On our website, you can set recurring orders weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Play around and make adjustments to your orders until you find the right balance for you.

Don’t give up good in search of perfect

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If you really want something out of season, go for it. By buying a veg box you are making a massive difference to your environmental impact, to your community and to the planet. If the odd purchase falls outside of that routine, then so be it.

Mind the hungry gap

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The hungry gap is the time of year when we've eaten all of the crops that were planted at the end of the summer, but before the spring crops are ready to find their way onto our plates. It’s a time when there tends to be less variety in the boxes and they tend to be more root-veg focused. In the UK it runs from around April - June. We always look for the joy to be found in eating what’s around us and in season. Remember that whilst there may be a short period where the boxes can feel a bit samey, the abundance of summer is just around the corner!

Stick with it!

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We find that customers who order more than 3 or 4 boxes tend to stay with us for years. Remember the good you’re doing for yourself, the community and the planet. Stick with it and you might find a new routine that works brilliantly for you, as many of our customers have found.