It’s the second week of Fairtrade Fortnight and the third week of Organic September.
What does it mean to engage in fair trade? What is a fair price?
I would suggest that it is to ensure that right relationships have been pursued through the value chain. This includes right relationship with nature, as well as with farmers, not to mention the people who transport, pack and deliver your food.
When you think to yourself, “this is too expensive!” it’s good to take a second look. Sometimes maybe you’re being ripped off. But sometimes, perhaps we’re saying that the cost of social justice and environmental sustainability is too high. If so, what can we do about it?
Our friends at Transition Kentish Town are having an Autumn Equinox Ramble on Friday afternoon on Hampstead Heath. They will be exploring the habitats and seasonal changes of the Heath with ecologist and nature activist Jeff Waage, and reflecting on how being connected with nature can improve our human wellbeing.
Hampstead Heath Autumn Equinox Ramble
4:50pm-6:30pm, Friday 20th September 2024
Free and no need to book. Starts and ends just inside the entrance to the Heath by the Highgate Road/Swains Lane junction, N6 6JS. Buses 88, 214 and C11 all stop close by. Contact Pomme for more info at: pje.climateaction@gmail.com
Don’t forget to return your re-usable Vegbox bags and packaging.
When you want to take a holiday from Vegbox, please let us know by Tuesday of the week before, i.e. today!
Tom Steele
What’s in the bag this week?
Small bag:
Shallots – Laines Organic, Sussex
Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Spinach – Ripple Farm, Kent
Aubergine – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent
Standard bag:
Gatsby potatoes – Nash Nursery, Kent
Uchiki Kuri squash – Bore Place, Kent
Summer cabbage – Sarah Green’s, Essex
French Breakfast radish – Foskett’s, Suffolk
Corn on the cob – Foskett’s, Suffolk
Family bag:
Shallots – Laines Organic, Sussex
Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Spinach – Ripple Farm, Kent
Aubergine – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent
Marmande tomatoes – Langridge Organics, Isle of Wight
Butterhead lettuce – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent
Mega bag:
Gatsby potatoes – Nash Nursery, Kent
Uchiki Kuri squash – Bore Place, Kent
Summer cabbage – Sarah Green’s, Essex
French Breakfast radish – Foskett’s, Suffolk
Corn on the cobs – Foskett’s, Suffolk
Marmande tomatoes – Langridge Organics, Isle of Wight
Butterhead lettuce – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent
Fruit supplement:
Victoria plums – Organic Orchards, Cambridgeshire
Wash all veg and fruit before eating. Store carrots, sweetcorn, spinach, aubergine, cabbage, radish, lettuce and plums in the fridge. Protect potatoes from light to avoid sprouting.
Recipe: pasta with spinach, za’atar and lemon
Serves 2.
200g spaghetti 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
150g spinach, chopped pinch chilli flakes
1 tbsp za’atar 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
20g parmesan (optional)
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water till cooked. Reserve half a mug of pasta water.
- Put 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook the chopped garlic for about a minute.
- Add the spinach and cook till wilted.
- Add the lemon juice and the pasta cooking water, then the chilli flakes and za’atar.
- Add the pasta to the pan of spinach and toss together to combine.
- Add the lemon zest and parmesan, if using, then serve.
Recipe: kimchi
I’m looking forwards to replenishing my kimchi jar this week. I like to keep my kinchi in a glass sweets jar – also known as a biscotti jar. I find the seal is much better than a kilner jar.
1 white cabbage 600g radish/carrots
4cm root ginger, chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped
50g gochugaru Korean red chilli flakes 50ml tinned pineapple juice, or water
2 tsp sugar 1 tbsp tamari sauce
- Put 1.5 litres of water into a saucepan with 180g salt.
- Heat, stirring, till the salt has dissolved, then leave to cool.
- Core the cabbage, and slice the leaves into bite sized strips/chunks.
- Put the cabbage pieces in a bowl and pour over the brine.
- Leave for 2-3 hours till the leaves have wilted.
- Chop the radish and/or carrots into bite sized chunks, and add to the brine for the last 30 minutes.
- Mix the chopped ginger and garlic with the Korean red chilli flakes, sugar, tamari sauce, 50ml juice from a tinned pineapple can, and 50ml water.
- Rinse the veg well under cold water to get rid of all the salt.
- Mix the salted veg and red chilli seasoning together in a bowl. Put into a sealable 2 litre glass jar.
- Press the mixture down firmly to expel any air bubbles and submerge the cabbage under its own liquid. Keep pressing down and the liquid will slowly rise up.
- Leave to ferment for 3-4 days. Liquid may bubble out of the jar initially.
- Transfer to the fridge for ongoing storage and use. Will keep for months in the fridge.
Recipe: roasted carrot and cashew nut salad
I gotta confess, I find carrots so incredibly boring I can only deal with them when they’ve been roasted!
400g carrots, peeled, cut into batons 2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp garam masala 35g cashews, chopped
½ bunch parsley, chopped ½ bunch coriander, chopped
lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 200˚C.
- In a roasting tin, toss the carrots with the coconut oil, garam masala, and a pinch of salt.
- Roast the carrots till tender and lightly browned, about 30 mins. Stir halfway through.
- Put the roasted carrots in a bowl with the toasted cashews and chopped parsley and coriander.
- Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the salad. Toss until everything is well combined and serve.
