02/06/2026
Ben’s Weekly Hogletter:
☀️ Is the heatwave over? With a week of rain and somewhat lower temperatures forecast, perhaps we’ll be craving some more hearty cooked dishes, and parking the salads for now?
All boxes have courgette, yellow pepper, mushroom and some UK coriander this week. All except Mixed boxes add red and yellow chillies and an aubergine, so I predict some mighty trays of roasted veg. If you have a lemon or lime and/or a vinegar, some garlic and some olive oil kicking about, may I suggest this variation on a chimichurri to drizzle over?
Coriander & chilli ‘chimichurri’ drizzle
Handful of coriander 🌿 , roughly chopped
1 or 2 chillies 🌶️
1 clove garlic 🧄
Juice of ½ lemon 🍋 or a lime 🍋🟩(or a splash of cider, wine 🍷 or fruit vinegar)
4–5 tbsp olive oil 🫒
Pinch of salt
Blitz or finely chop everything together and spoon over the hot roasted vegetables.
And everyone will get a local lettuce too – either Lollo Rosso or Gem – from Meanwood Valley Urban Farm (MVUF).
We collect produce from the 1 acre market garden at MVUF on our way to Leeds Bread Co-op and always enjoy the vibe while we are there. Their main building – the Epicentre – is used for exhibition space, classrooms, meeting facilities, offices, a library and is the central focus for the learning and inspiration of the Farm’s aims. It is a striking sustainable build based around the Walter Segal timber frame method. First opened in 1999, it now needs some urgent repairs to reinforce some timbers and has had to close until they raise the funds.
The Epicentre is where their HOOF team are usually based. HOOF (Helping On Our Farm) is an outdoor-based social care project for adults with learning disabilities and autism. Since the closure of the Epicentre they have had to move to a different, smaller farm building causing significant disruption to their daily routines.
The Epicentre is also used as a hub of education as they host local schools that come and learn on their green site. With the closure of the building, they have had to postpone or cancel many school visits.
The continued closure of the Epicentre means MVUF are missing out on essential income as they usually have regular room bookings from local groups and organisations. Additionally, their front desk and gift shop are both based in the building and visitor admissions and shop purchases are an essential part of farm income.
It is essential that they can repair and re-open the Epicentre as soon as possible and all donations, large or small will be very much appreciated.
You can read more about MVUF here 👇https://www.mvuf.org.uk/
If you are able, please contribute to their Crowdfunder here: 👉 https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-urgent-repairs-to-our-epicentre
On to full box contents then:
🥔 Small Veg Box
Twister potatoes 🇬🇧 Herefordshire
Washed carrots 🇪🇸 Spain
Yellow onions 🇳🇱 Netherlands
Aubergine 🇪🇸 Spain
Courgette 🇪🇸 Spain
Coriander 🇬🇧 Lancashire
Yellow pepper 🇪🇸 Spain
Chestnut mushrooms 🇬🇧 Armagh
Red & yellow chillies 🇪🇸 Spain
Lettuce 🇬🇧 Meanwood
🥕 Medium Veg Box
Everything in the Small Veg Box, plus:
Heirloom tomatoes 🇫🇷 France
Celeriac 🇳🇱 Netherlands
🥑 Large Veg Box
Everything in the Medium Veg Box, plus:
Cauliflower 🇬🇧 Lincolnshire
Hass avocado 🇵🇪 Peru
🍎 Mixed Fruit & Veg Box
Twister potatoes 🇬🇧 Herefordshire
Washed carrots 🇪🇸 Spain
Yellow onions 🇳🇱 Netherlands
Aubergine 🇪🇸 Spain
Courgette 🇪🇸 Spain
Coriander 🇬🇧 Lancashire
Yellow pepper 🇪🇸 Spain
Chestnut mushrooms 🇬🇧 Armagh
Red & yellow chillies 🇪🇸 Spain
Lettuce 🇬🇧 Meanwood
Apples (Dalinette, Inored & Arianne) 🇫🇷 France
Bananas 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Rhubarb 🇬🇧 Wibsey
Nectarines 🇪🇸 Spain
🍏 Small Fruit Box
Apples (Dalinette, Inored & Arianne) 🇫🇷 France
Bananas 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Rhubarb 🇬🇧 Wibsey
Nectarines 🇪🇸 Spain
Apricots 🇪🇸 Spain
🍑 Medium Fruit Box
Apples (Dalinette, Inored & Arianne) 🇫🇷 France
Bananas 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Rhubarb 🇬🇧 Wibsey
Nectarines 🇪🇸 Spain
Peaches 🇪🇸 Spain
Apricots 🇪🇸 Spain
Cantaloupe melon 🇪🇸 Spain
🫐 Large Fruit Box
Apples (Dalinette, Inored & Arianne) 🇫🇷 France
Bananas 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Rhubarb 🇬🇧 Wibsey
Nectarines 🇪🇸 Spain
Peaches 🇪🇸 Spain
Apricots 🇪🇸 Spain
Cantaloupe melon 🇪🇸 Spain
Blueberries 🇪🇸 Spain
Contents may change, subject to availability.
The Hedgehogs
