New organic box scheme companies that deliver to your door are popping up all the time – and longstanding players are expanding their delivery routes. We tested five of the best in the London area

We spent the first four weeks in January surrounded by boxes, crates and sacks of knobbly, muddy root vegetables. The idea is that you get a box of seasonal and local veg and fruit, straight from the farm, with top-ups of shipped fruit and staples like tomatoes. Most companies offer a family fruit and veg box, probably the best package to start with. You feel virtuous unpacking your brown box of goodies and it is always exciting to find out what you have got on a particular week.

The highlights are better than you can get in any supermarket; you can really taste the goodness. Our favourites included the most delicious Jerusalem artichokes, a still-wet, crunchy lettuce (to be eaten on delivery day andsweet satsumas. On the downside, the reality of having someone dictate what you are going to eat each week can be rather limiting, and we are not particularly root vegetable fans. We made a lot of soup.

Compared to supermarket veg, some of the produce needs a fair bit of preparation; this varies with each delivery company, but there were moments scraping mud off straggly spinach leaves when we longed for a quick easy-open pre-washed bag. You do have to use the soft produce and leaf veg quickly; as it is all organic it deteriorates rapidly. It is also worth considering how environmentally friendly you want to be. To eat only UK produce, you would be on a diet of onions and swedes. Boxes are supplemented by overseas produce, although nothing is airfreighted.

We tried each supplier’s family box (or similar) at least twice - Here are our verdicts:

www.abelandcole.co.uk - Tel 08452 62 62 62

Phoenix Equity has taken a stake in this company so look out for rapid expansion. The UK’s largest box scheme delivery company. The range is almost that of a supermarket. We tried Family box – £22 (14 items) Delivery Set day of the week. Left in a specified place if you are not at home. Arrives in a cardboard box (that didn’t survive the wet on two occasions).

Food generally packaged in plastic bags. Chatty newsletter and recipes. Geographical source of contents not listed. You can choose to opt out of up to 20 items – so if you are a beetroot loather, this is a big bonus! The food Good veg, but fairly uninspiring range: carrots, parsnips, potatoes. Lots of crunchy spring greens, fine if you eat them immediately, but don’t last well. Bananas very green. Kiwis hard.

Verdict - Vegetables better than fruit. Expensive. Excellent recipes and you can tailor make boxes more than most.

www.riverford.co.uk - Tel 0845 600 2311

Started from an organic farm in Devon, Now an alliance of four farms with the same systems and beliefs. Supplies locally grown organic produce. Variety of veg boxes, plus new fortnightly meat box. You can supplement boxes (which can be changed) with ‘extras’ from a monthly menu. We tried Fruit & veg box – £13.95 (10 items) Delivery Set day. Left outside in a sturdy box.

Food packaged in plastic or pretty recycled cardboard boxes. Looked utterly gorgeous and wonderfully fresh – not too muddy! Source of all food is listed. Good newsletter telling me about the problem with the onion crop (wet summer = wet onions that do not store well) and recipe ideas. The food Good variety – root veg included Jerusalem artichokes and beetroot; delicious salad, tomatoes; excellent bananas and clementines.

Verdict Looks and tastes delicious. You feel you are part of a worthwhile, wholesome movement which is what it is all about after all – my agricultural education has been enhanced by knowing about the English onion blight. Good value.

www.farmaround.co.uk - Tel 020 7627 8066

Based in New Covent Garden Market – thereby ‘cutting down the long supply chain and increasing the shelf-life of food’, they have been delivering bags since 1994. Choice of bags include Standard Family Bags, Mediterranean Bags and Salad Boxes. We tried Standard separate fruit (£8.25) and veg sacks (£11.50). Delivery £1. (15 items) Delivery Set day of the week.

Left in a specified place if you are not at home. Arrives in attractive ‘potato’ sacks, not filled too high so contents at the bottom are not crushed; products loose. Wonderfully chatty letter giving owner’s account of foodie experiences. At least one recipe per week. Geographical source of contents not listed. The food Very authentic, lots of mud. You can pretend you have just dug them up from your garden. Delicious Jerusalem artichokes. Fruit very tasty, but mango doesn’t seem a very ‘green’ choice.

Verdict - Loved the authentic ‘potato’ bags that all the veg and fruit arrived in. Although delicious, the food needed a lot of preparation. The chatty letter was a big selling point.

www.organicdelivery.co.uk - Tel 020 7739 8181

London-oriented delivery company. Believes in ‘eating from the Garden of England’. Their green commitment extends to the bio-diesel fuel in their vans. We tried Large fruit and veg box (£24.95) (15 items) Delivery Set day. Will leave it if no one in. Lovely big box. No accompanying letter or recipes. The food Organic food given a make-over.

Everything was very clean, so no hours of preparation. Delicious, fresh tasting broccoli. No salad in my box, but you can order it as an extra from a large list of produce.

Verdict I loved them because although their green credentials rang true, they didn’t feel the need to compromise on the appearance of the veg.

www.everybodyorganic.co.uk - Tel 0845 345 5054

Established in 2001 by three friends with a passion for organic food. Based in Enfield, the company now employs 25 people and delivers across London and the Home Counties. You can also buy bread, pasta and baby food. We tried Family mixed box (£24.99) (15 items) Delivery Set day. Will leave it, if no one in.

Beautifully presented, in a wooden box, everything compartmentalised so the muddy carrots didn’t dirty the pristine oranges. Gives provenance of food (Suffolk and Essex mainly) and recipes. Excellent fruit and very tasty vegetables, a divine Savoy cabbage. Large selection of other foods available.

Verdict - Loved the sturdy wooden box and that I knew from what particular part of the country the produce came from. Recipes were good too.

By Annie Reid and Emily Turner