The cabbage patch kid

It was two weeks ago last Monday when the house fell forbiddingly silent. It was the day the washingqueen finally got with the project and abandoned the utilities room. The atmosphere was strange that day without the comforting whirr of the spin cycle or the gentle rumble of the tumble dryer. At first I thought it might have been the start of a dirty protest. You know, "I'll save the planet all right, reduce our detergent consumption, save some electricity, reduce our water consumption and see how you like it when you run out of clean clothes." But it was nothing so sinister. No, the washingqueen had organised a visit to Howbarrow organic farm to get some advice on going organic and find out about their box delivery scheme.

She came back all fired up, raving about the merits of organic production and of how it was good for us (healthy fruit and veg grown without pesticides), good for the environment (fewer food miles, more food for insects, healthier soil), and good for the community (supporting local farmers and keeping money in the community). I couldn't find a flaw in her argument so welcomed the announcement that Howbarrow were going to add us to their growing list of customers.

The first box arrived on the doorstep about ten days later and it wasn't just the kids who had difficulty identifying some of the contents. "What are those thin little muddy orange things?" asked our eldest boy. "Oh they're organic carrots," explained the washingqueen. "But why are they muddy?" asked the youngest. And so began the story of how carrots grow under ground and an educational journey which I'm sure will touch us all over the coming weeks and months. The washingqueen and I are already committed to finding recipes for chard and alfafa sprouts, just two items that would not normally find their way into our kitchen but are already sitting on the shelf waiting for a suitable recipe. Your suggestions welcome.

It has to be said that the vegetables that we recognised and cooked were delicious, although I quickly became concerned about the small portion sizes. I queried this with the washinqueen after she transformed a large green cabbage into just four small servings. "Oh," she said, "once you'd peeled off the outer leaves there was hardly anything there."

Later that evening, I emptied the days food waste into our new compost bin and served our growing community of worms a delicious meal of 16 fresh green organic cabbage leaves. I sensitively broached this issue with the washingqueen a little later, applauding her for supporting the worms and querying the amount of leaf peeling necessary in preparing a cabbage. Turns out she'd never prepared a cabbage before but then neither have I. We both agreed we could probably save a few more leaves next time, but I'm not sure the worms will be happy about that.