A new veg box scheme is set to launch in the South Lakes this summer, bringing locally grown food straight to homes around the district.
Home Grown Here is an exciting project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and part of Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership’s ambitious emission reduction programme to make Cumbria carbon neutral by 2037.
Farmers right across the county are now growing vegetables to supply local veg box schemes and shops as part of Home Grown Here. It’s all part of a wider effort to feed Cumbria and re-localise food production.
Box schemes are a simple means of distributing local produce and offer a direct route-to-market for farmers and growers. Keeping home grown produce here in the county will offer Cumbrians a host of delicious benefits in addition to keeping food miles to a minimum. Home Grown Here encourages people to eat seasonally; it involves less processing and packaging and reduces waste by picking to order. All this is good news for Cumbria’s carbon footprint and for anyone thinking about moving to a low-carbon diet.
Eden-based co-operative and box scheme, VistaVeg, is leading the Home Grown Here initiative and is now extending its successful Eden valley box scheme into the South Lakes from August under the name of Home Grown Here.
Grower Lynn Barnes says, “Home Grown Here features as much veg and fruit being grown within the county as possible. We now have farmers growing field-scale potatoes, carrots, parsnips, leeks, onions, broad beans, kale, swede, sugar snap & mange tout peas, courgettes, pumpkins & squashes, cabbages & beetroot this season which, alongside smaller and specialist growers such as Growing Well, means that Cumbria is slowly increasing the amount of home grown produce on offer to local people which is brilliant!”
“Cumbrian growers are working together to try and build a better food system for the county so that we are less reliant on imported food and more self-sufficient instead,” she added. “There’s one really simple thing that everyone can do right now to play their part in addressing climate change and that’s to join their local grower-led veg box scheme and commit to buying locally.”
South Lakes farmers Richard Crayston and Derek Clark, who are growing field-scale potatoes, carrots, leeks, onions and parnips as part of Home Grown Here say, “Growing for a box scheme means we need to grow a variety of different crops to keep it interesting and balanced for the customer. This need for diversity moves us away from growing monocultures and means we’re able to experiment with different growing practices. We can also share knowledge, skills and machinery between us and think about investing in equipment that will benefit us all.”
The veg bags cost £14 each including delivery and always contain 2kg potatoes, carrots and onions plus five other seasonal veg that change from week to week.
Lynn said: “This time of year, the seasonal veg might include tomatoes, mixed salad leaves, bunched beetroot, French beans, broccoli, courgettes and cucumbers, for example.”
Households can join the Home Grown Here box scheme by visiting www.homegrownhere.co.uk.
