After our first summer of attempting to grow our own veg in our tiny garden I realised that the veg I had been buying wasn’t REAL food. We pulled our tiny misshapen carrots from the ground and were stunned by their fragrant aroma. Needless to say they didn’t make it to the cooking pot – we ate them raw there and then!
Then followed serious health issues (not due to my veg growing, I hasten to add) Fortunately the right people came into my life at the right time - wonderful natural health ‘magicians’, and an old friend who was an Ashurst Box-schemer...
The general consensus was to allow no chemicals into my body. My voyage of discovery had begun.
I collected my first organic veg box from Ashurst the following week. The veg were just like our home-grown ones (although somewhat larger) The two mile drive was a small price to pay compared to the effort we'd put in trying to beat the slugs to our home grown varieties.
Identification wasn’t always easy in the beginning – frantic photography and emailing to my Mother became a weekly event. Although new customers are now spoilt, and can look up what’s in the boxes this week on the website...
There was also a mud issue – my visiting brother once asked if I like veg with my mud! But I soon began to realise the value of it.
Vegetables that have been scrubbed to within an inch of their lives to make them attractive to customers simply do not keep. So having reorganized my fridge and my cupboards, I now relish every bit of mud!
18 months later and we still get excited about veg box day. I am now well. We no longer eat meat, we have no need. Our food tastes real. My previously veg-hating teenage daughter loves our weekly recipe hunt and cooking adventures. And our small garden has returned to its former tranquil state.
I am a single mum and try and keep my work/home lives in balance so I am there for my daughter. The downside to this is a lack of money. But the very reasonably priced veg boxes have enabled us to make our home almost entirely chemical-free, and I can sleep at night knowing I’m doing my best for my child, my health, and for the environment. There was a day when I wondered about the bleach-like smell coming from the bag of supermarket salad I’d just opened. Now I am aware (and horrified) by what goes on in the world.
Thank you all at Ashurst Organics so much for opening up our world for the better! Please keep up the brilliant work, we’d be lost without you! - Abi, Hurstpierpoint
Then followed serious health issues (not due to my veg growing, I hasten to add) Fortunately the right people came into my life at the right time - wonderful natural health ‘magicians’, and an old friend who was an Ashurst Box-schemer...
The general consensus was to allow no chemicals into my body. My voyage of discovery had begun.
I collected my first organic veg box from Ashurst the following week. The veg were just like our home-grown ones (although somewhat larger) The two mile drive was a small price to pay compared to the effort we'd put in trying to beat the slugs to our home grown varieties.
Identification wasn’t always easy in the beginning – frantic photography and emailing to my Mother became a weekly event. Although new customers are now spoilt, and can look up what’s in the boxes this week on the website...
There was also a mud issue – my visiting brother once asked if I like veg with my mud! But I soon began to realise the value of it.
Vegetables that have been scrubbed to within an inch of their lives to make them attractive to customers simply do not keep. So having reorganized my fridge and my cupboards, I now relish every bit of mud!
18 months later and we still get excited about veg box day. I am now well. We no longer eat meat, we have no need. Our food tastes real. My previously veg-hating teenage daughter loves our weekly recipe hunt and cooking adventures. And our small garden has returned to its former tranquil state.
I am a single mum and try and keep my work/home lives in balance so I am there for my daughter. The downside to this is a lack of money. But the very reasonably priced veg boxes have enabled us to make our home almost entirely chemical-free, and I can sleep at night knowing I’m doing my best for my child, my health, and for the environment. There was a day when I wondered about the bleach-like smell coming from the bag of supermarket salad I’d just opened. Now I am aware (and horrified) by what goes on in the world.
Thank you all at Ashurst Organics so much for opening up our world for the better! Please keep up the brilliant work, we’d be lost without you! - Abi, Hurstpierpoint
