Veg news 8th November
Amid tales of gloom and crop failure that we’ve been recalling since the drought of the summer months, we’re delighted to report this week that the UK butternut harvest has resulted in a bumper crop of delicious, large fruits. Butternuts are a sun-hungry crop that have benefitted from the long hot summer, and usually hard to source here in the UK. This week we’ve got an amazing supply of the pear-shaped beauties from some of our favourite growers – there’s a local supply from Alan Hewitt at Dunham Massey, some fun-shaped bent ones from Carey Organics in Herefordshire and some stout, weighty ones from Lucy Watts in Lincolnshire. Our bountiful squash range continues to expand with the stripey Delicata and green Bon bon new in this week, alongside the old favourites Crown Prince, green pumpkins and heart-shaped Harlequins.
Royal Oak in Ormskirk have finally started with their washed carrots, after the tricky carrot growing season, alas their rainbow (and purple) are very limited. They’re a great size, with a fantastic juicy flavour and bright orange colour, highly recommended.
As the nights draw in we always look forward to the European citrus season hitting its stride. Spanish oranges are developing in both sweetness and flavour, we’ve a lovely supply from Perpignan suppliers Le Gros Bio this weekend. Fragrant Bergamote lemons from Italy and Nules clems from Spain are both tasting great, we’ll be baking ours with polenta and ground almonds into a deliciously sticky cake.
Bad weather in Spain is wreaking havoc on European courgettes, the supply is scarce and the price higher than usual; expect a few gaps on the shelves as we try to get a good supply. There’s excellent value to be had with other ratatouille veg though, Dutch aubergines in particular are cheap and eating really well.
