Christmas Dinners & Festive Feelings

Every year we team up with several local organisations and charities to help others at Christmas by putting together an “unwrapped” present scheme that benefits others in your community. Unwrapped gifts are a way of giving two gifts in one – you can buy a gift for a cause you really believe in on behalf of one of your friends or family.

We have developed our Greener Greens Unwrapped gifts over several years. We work with local Children’s Centres and charities to bring fresh organic veg, fruit and one or two sweeter goodies to local families and individuals who could benefit from help at Christmas.

Last year our Unwrapped gifts fed over 350 people with 450kg of fruit and veg going to Crawley in our family bags and over 115kg of fresh produce going to Redhill for the VARB Festive Feast.  We cannot do this without our amazing customers and are particularly grateful to those who have participated since we started it about 10 years ago.

We supply the produce at cost, and our team fill the bags before passing them to the organisation or Childrens’ Centre for distribution. The family bag contains 8kg of veggies and fruit. You pay for the bag, let the team know who you are buying it on behalf of and Greener Greens send your friend or relative a card letting them know what you have bought.

This year we will provide fresh organic produce to VARB – (Voluntary Action Reigate & Banstead) for the second year running. VARB devote themselves to building connections between charities and businesses and working together for the benefit of local people. They are holding a ‘Festive Feast’ lunch on Christmas Day for those who either spend Christmas Day alone, or families who can’t afford a Christmas lunch.   We at Greener Greens are selling 20 “bags” of produce for this event with each bag comprising sufficient food for a 7 people.  Thus we raise enough money to pay for produce for 140 and the wonderful team at VARB can concentrate on entertaining those who need it most this Christmas.

This year we’re also donating fresh fruit to the children of  St Clement’s Catholic Primary School for them to eat throughout their Christmas events instead of other unhealthier options!

So if you can afford to help spread the joy of giving this Christmas, then please consider helping us out to help ensure that others can enjoy their Christmas too. In addition to giving lots of local people a head start at Christmas, you are helping to support our independent growers.  Please get in touch with us if you are interested in buying a bag for someone this Christmas!

If you would like to get involved or find out more about VARB please contact  lisa@varb.org.uk or call 01737 762 115.

Winter Soup Recipes

As you’re probably aware, we’ve opened a shop in Suffolk (apologies for the non-stop talk about it!)

One thing we’ve started doing at the shop is selling takeaway soups using the organic produce that we sell, which have been going down a storm.  We’ve had a lot of interest in the recipes that we use, so we thought we’d share a few of them here.  The ones that I’ll tell you about are all of the recipes that I’ve used in the past week.  All of the produce is seasonal and is available now through the box scheme on the Greener Greens website.

Butternut Squash, Red Pepper & Sweet Potato Soup

• One large butternut squash, peeled and halved
• Two red peppers
• Two medium sweet potatoes, halved
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Two cloves of garlic
• One vegetable stock cube in 700ml hot water
• One handful of green lentils

This one is dead easy  – simply roast the peeled butternut squash and the halved sweet potatoes at 180 degrees in the oven for around ten minutes. Whilst they’re roasting, chop the garlic cloves and the peppers and gently fry them until soft and then add the nutmeg.

Then, add the squash and the sweet potato into the pan and add the stock with the water. Let the pan simmer with the lid on until everything is soft. Then, blend the mixture using a hand blender. Add more water if you require a thinner soup, and add more nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. We add chopped parsley too.

 

 

Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

• 500g orange carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• One clove of garlic
• One red pepper

This soup is a really lovely winter warmer. I kept it quite thick when I sold it in the shop, again with chopped parsley on top. The colour is gorgeous on this one (unlike the purple carrot one!) So

Chop and boil the carrots in water that just covers over the top of them. Meanwhile, fry the garlic, turmeric, chilli and ginger in a pan. Once the carrots have softened, add the fried ingredients to the pan and blend using a hand blender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Purple Carrot, Chilli, Ginger & Turmeric Soup

• Two bunches of purple carrots
• Half a chilli
• One clove of garlic
• One arm of ginger (or more to taste)
• One finger of turmeric
• One handful of green lentils.

This soup has a great kick, but looks very dark. The lentils add a beautiful glossy sheen to the soup when blended. This one is better thinned out and is delicious with natural yoghurt and coriander on top.

Chop and boil the carrots and lentils in water that just covers over the top of them. Meanwhile, fry the garlic, turmeric, chilli and ginger in a pan. Once the carrots have softened, add the fried ingredients to the pan and blend using a hand blender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Pumpkin, Red Pepper & Nutmeg soup

• One large pumpkin
• One courgette
• Two cloves of garlic
• One large onion
• Three red peppers, roughly chopped
• Nutmeg, a generous amount
• 750ml stock

This soup is a lovely looking winter warmer. It’s a great use for a pumpkin that’s been designed for eating and not carving!

Fry the onion, courgette, garlic and peppers in oil with the nutmeg until they have softened. In the meantime get stuck into the pumpkin! Scrape out the seeds and peel off the skin before cutting into chunks and adding into the mix. Don’t add the stock for a few minutes – let the pumpkin soften in the heat before adding it in. Once it’s in, put the lid on the pan and allow to simmer for around ten minutes, or until the pumpkin is softened.

Once everything has gone a bit mushy, blend with a hand blender and add salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped basil on top if you like, it compliments the soup really quote nicely!

Wilde & Greene at Longwood Farm

We have just opened our very own Farm Shop at Longwood Farm in Tuddenham! Just 15 minutes from Bury St Edmunds, we’ve carried on the legacy of the shop that came before us by selling locally grown, organic fresh vegetables, fruit and meat as well as dairy and whole foods. We also sell local bread and eggs, so you can get everything you need in one place.

For many years and in conjunction with a team in Suffolk, we have been running an organic delivery business in East Anglia – known as Wilde & Greene. We buy from growers in Suffolk and surrounding areas so it makes sense for us to sell their wonderful produce to those living nearby.

Our latest project in Suffolk is the opening of a Farm Shop – which we have just opened at Longwood Farm in Tuddenham! Just 15 minutes from Bury St Edmunds, we’ve carried on the legacy of the shop that came before us by selling locally grown, organic fresh vegetables, fruit and meat as well as dairy and whole foods. We also sell local bread and eggs, so you can get everything you need in one place. Longwood Farm owners, Matthew and Louise, continue to produce wonderful meat and dairy, including beautifully creamy Jersey raw milk and kefir.  And with the stunning veg from Our Growers plus local bread, cheeses, wholefoods and loads more the Wilde & Greene Farm Shop in Tuddenham St Mary is a project that we’re all very excited about.

Read the article here.

In time we’ll be turning the remaining space into a cafe – a hub for birdwatchers, cyclists and the local community to come and spend time on the farm with a coffee and a cream tea. We already have a lino cutting workshop and a Christmas makers market lined up!

Please pop in if you’re ever in the area – come and view the sightings board to see the wildlife that lives in the surrounding area and on the adjoining reserve, do your weekly shop with a takeaway coffee, or just come and learn more about what we do. Alternatively, take a look at our website!