You voted in your dozens – thank you! So now it’s golden envelope and tearful speeches time – we’re announcing the Veg of the Year Awards 2013!
The first category is the all-important…
Veg of the Year Award
We asked what was the tastiest veg in your SCF vegbag this year, and you said…
3rd place went to our carrots. These were really popular this year, particularly thanks to their spectacular and unusual rainbow colours – once you got over the surprise, you seemed to love them. “Tastier than the supermarket and very versatile,” said Elkanah.
2nd place goes to… Sweetcorn! It was a pleasure watching these sculptural plants growing in our fields this summer and autumn, so it’s great to learn that you loved the eating bit. “The sweetest corn I have ever tasted. Supermarkets cannot compete. Amazing,” said Lewis.
But pipping those strong competitors to the ultimate prize is… Tomatoes, your SCF Veg of the Year. We had a whole gamut this year – lovely big round ones and then, of course, those sweet, multicoloured, shiny cherry tomatoes. Happy memories of summer. “Some of the best tomatoes ever. Very sweet and yummy!” said Grace.
The ‘What on earth is that?’ Award for weirdest thing in your vegbag
With vegbags you know you’ve got to expect the unexpected sometimes, which is part of the joy (we hope) of joining a box scheme – figuring out what you’ve got and how to cook it. This year’s most baffling veg was a three-way dead heat between… Squash and Chickweed (which, said Eva, had “a weird look but tasted wonderful” and, of course, Kohlrabi (“Another new one for me. Took me a while to find out what to do with it and was pleasantly surprised at the lovely flavour,” said Clodagh).
The Grower Award – for the veg that you didn’t much like before but that grew on you
Kale was the winner in this category – it’s a speciality of ours here, and one of them superfoods, so we’re really glad it grew on you. The runners-up were celeriac and squash.
The Gorgeous Grub Award for the most beautiful veg in your vegbags
Carrots were the runaway winner – thanks, I’m sure, to the amazing rainbow colours. Then Chard, Squash and Salad tied for second place.
The Loaf Me Do Award for best bread
Wholemeal the runaway winner – the breadwinner (get it?) – though it’s recently being outsold by Seeded Malthouse. Thanks to Gaye at Sticky Mitts in Wallington for meeting our bread needs through the year.
“Best rye bread I ever tasted, quite surprised with it” – Eva
The Down with the Kids Award for veg that the young ones loved.
Kale was the outright winner here (“She unscrewed her face and said ‘Actually it’s really yummy'” said Stella).
Then carrots, sweetcorn and tomatoes tied for seconds. We’ll finish with some of your quotes, as we just loved them. Thanks everyone for voting! And enjoy your 2014 veg.
“She tried the rainbow carrots even though she is very fussy. She enjoyed them” – Elkanah
“The cherry tomatoes gotten eaten mostly by our 2 year old when she never really liked tomatoes before.” – Grace
“They loved the rainbow carrots – and tasting them to see if they were the same or different from each other.” – Sharon
“Everyone loved the cherry tomatoes. I had no idea how tasteless supermarket ones were.” – Anon.
“He loved the roasted squash, even though he was a bit “er.. I don’t think I like this” to start with.” – Anon.