New shopping and veg growing plans

Betty's face is healing nicely, the sore isn't red and weeping anymore and is getting smaller already, and the puncture wounds are almost healed.  She's back to her usual playful self so obviously feels better.  

It's a nice sunny day, following strong winds and heavy rain during the night...consequently, the field this morning was like a quagmire, up to our ankles in muddy water.  I had wellies on, Betty doesn't seem to mind the water and mud, it's just a bit of a pain (quite literally seeing as it hurts my back to bend over) cleaning her up when we get indoors.

I've been thinking about our growing of veg, and the shopping, and have decided to change things.  For a start, husband grows far too much veg for our needs, he does it every year despite me saying please grow less....he sows twice as many seeds as we need, just in case they don't all take!  And then invariably they do (mostly) all germinate, and then he can't bear to throw any away so grows all of them.  Which then means he has far too much to look after and doesn't have the time anyway, and I end up with trugs and boxes full of veg that I have trouble processing, cooking and storing!  Well not anymore, I'm putting my foot down and insisting he only grows half as much.  And I'll give him a small list of just the things I want him to grow, and he will have to stick to that.  Or else!  I simply don't have the time or the storage space for vast amounts of veg and fruit (nor the desire to deal with it all, frankly).  And he's physically no longer as capable of maintaining a large veg and fruit garden, so we're doing it my way from now on.

I've discovered, quite by chance, that a local organic veg farm does box deliveries....you don't have to commit to having one every week, you can have one as often (or not) as you want.  Whilst you can't choose the contents of the boxes (it's whatever they have in season and ready for harvesting that week), you do have the option to ask for 1 or 2 things to be substituted if you don't like or want them.  So I'm going to have one of their boxes every couple of weeks or so, the first one is coming in 2 weeks' time.  The butchers in the village also does a meat box, the contents change every week - there's always a small joint or a whole chicken, 500g steak mince, their own sausages and bacon, plus either steak, chops, gammon steaks or chicken breasts, sometimes 6 free range local eggs as well, £30 a box.  We've had it a couple of times and like it, it's all from local farms, the contents last us for about 3 weeks or so.  

I have a shopping delivery booked for next week (already had one this week).  From the week after, I'm going to have a veg box delivery probably every fortnight, a meat box every 3 weeks, and will go and do a store cupboard/dairy supermarket shop every couple of weeks.  I might investigate having a fresh fish delivery sometimes too, we used to have one years ago.  It will cut down the amount of times I have to go shopping (I really don't like doing it online), and we'll be supporting 2 local businesses.  Betty's food I sometimes get delivered, or else we go and do a bulk shop once a month for her food.

I've had a lot of time to think the past few weeks, and things are going to change...I have a few other plans in the pipeline too.