Veg Box delivery scheme and an announcement

My veg box arrived from The Organic Pantry and I am very pleased.  When I arrived home there was a note through the letter box to say the location of the box.  It was extremely well packed with much love and attention and the milk was in a thick brown padded back and still very cold when I got home.  I may get a cooler for the milk to go in should they ever deliver early on a morning and it be a hot day.  Also might be better somewhere waterproof but I will see.  It had been placed in the best possible place and I was really pleased.  There’s lots of different box options but I am going to try and get seasonal, UK grown so watch this space for the weekly updates.

The plan is every Wednesday order a veg box for the following week.  This will contain veg to top up what we’re growing ourselves.  (Ideally over the next years, we won’t need to order anything and will live solely off what we’ve grown for the bulk of the year.)  The ‘Farm’ veg box is £10 and contains no fruit.  I’m still undecided what to do re the fruit, as a lot of it is imported to the veg box scheme so do I buy it from Tesco as it’s imported there too, or from The Organic Pantry and support their business?  Soon enough our own apples will be ready though it doesn’t look like we’re getting any plums this year.

The Organic Pantry also deliver milk, cream, cheese, butter and meat from a local farm (to them).  As Steven’s a butcher we won’t be getting their meat and soon enough we will have more chickens ready for the table too.  The milk, cream, cheese and maybe butter we are getting though.  So all in I think the veg box will be a maximum of £30 a week (that’s me erring on the side of caution).  Some weeks it’ll be £20 or less as we won’t need everything each week.

In addition to the veg box, I have ordered the ‘delivery saver’ from Tesco so I can have them come weekly at a time to suit me, which is 4pm on a Friday.  I have a list of items that we use weekly but their minimum order is £40.  So I’ve decided anything under £40 I will top up with food items to stock up on (tinned beans, toilet roll, long life milk, sugar), any stocking fillers that I will use in the hampers I will be making for Christmas (bubble bath, face mits, smellies) and in doing this, keeps the cost of Christmas down too.

Therefore new grocery budget is £300 per month for 2 adults, 2 children.

£40 week to Tesco equal £160 on normal month.

£30 week to Organic Pantry equals £120 on normal month.

Leaving £20 for miscellaneous.  Sounds easy on paper.

 

I would also like to make an announcement.  No more McDonalds or takeaways for us on the smallholding.  I can hear my husband laughing at me now.  I am determined though.  We’re going to make this work.

***starting to regret saying that, Tracy scrambles away to plan for Friday nights when she just CBA to cook***

Packaged fantastically

Super excited! 

My daughter and friend on a hack with me

First raspberries

This is seriously tasty jam