Frequently Asked Questions

ABOUT FLOURISH PRODUCE

Are you organic?

Yes. Everything produced at Flourish is grown to organic standards. We have recently been awarded our organic certification through the Bio-dynamic Association Demeter and will receive our Bio-dynamic accreditation by the end of 2025.

Where are you based?

We’re based at Cooks Pen Farm in South Cambridgeshire, we're nestled between the villages of Hildersham and Linton along the River Granta.

Where can I buy your produce?

If you’re a chef/ restaurant/ deli/ bakery or florist we can deliver directly to you once you have a wholesale account set up, for enquiries please email us at [email protected].

If you’re a home cook, you can either order a Produce Box for home delivery or collection from one of our pick up locations or if you’re local to us, you can visit us at Flourish Farm Shop (here’s how to Find Us).

There are various shops that stock our produce as well:

• Notting Hill Fish Shop (London)
• Supermarket of Dreams (London)
• Middle Lane Market (London)
• The General Store (London)
• The Downstairs Deli (London)
• Leila’s Shop (London)
• Burwash Manor (Cambridgeshire)

Where do you deliver to?

We currently deliver into London and the local area three times a week for wholesale customers.

Produce Boxes are delivered to postcodes in the local area and in London. Please SIGN UP or check here to see if we deliver to your postcode. Or you can collect from one of our fabulous pick up locations across London and the local area or from our Farm Shop. If your postcode isn’t currently on our delivery route but you’d like it to be, we would love to hear from you. Please email us [email protected].

Is everything you sell grown by Flourish Produce?

We grow over 750 different varieties of vegetables, herbs, salads, fruit and heritage grains on our farm. Whilst nearly all of the produce is grown by us, we also offer complementary items from other local farms. Below are some examples of the other talented growers we are proud to collaborate with:

• Cam Valley – incredible local fruit farmers who grow apples, pears and make the most wonderful juices
• Waterland Organics and Waterland CSA – great friends of ours in the Fens who grow cabbages, beetroots and leeks
• The Secret Farm – our friend David supply us with his rhubarb and peonies while ours mature
• Michaels Farm – another fantastic asparagus farmer that we work with growing just over the county boarder in Suffolk
• Morghew Estate – potato growers extraordinaire

Why are there no aubergines in winter?

Farming such a diverse array of crops in the UK means we’re at the forefront of producing as much as is possible in our climate. We’re passionate about growing plants that are at their best in each season so that our produce tastes delicious. This means we will only ever have produce that is hyper seasonal and that availability will be dependent on the weather. As the seasons change over the year, different crops will be ready for harvest or will wane as their time ends with the shift in weather. Summer crops, such as tomatoes and aubergines, are only available in the summer months. We enjoy them while they are in season and look forward to the next crops once they are over. In the colder times of year, we will have other delicious things to enjoy.

What produce is available in the winter?

Thanks to the broad diversity of crops and varieties grown on the farm we still have plenty to offer over the winter months, including kales, collard greens, squash, leeks, onions, broccoli, salad leaves, herbs, carrots, beetroots, radicchio - to name but a few. 

There is a period of the farming calendar called “The Hungry Gap” which runs from February to mid May. It’s a time when the winter storage crops are starting to wind down but the spring crops are not ready to harvest. Many of our winter crops are grown in poly tunnels, which allow us to extend the season and bring a remarkable amount of diversity of our customers regardless of the weather. Each year we continue to improve our growing practices to ensure that we still have crops available to harvest during this time.

Help! There are bugs on my vegetables!

Don’t worry! Bugs are a totally natural part of the regenerative ecosystem at Flourish. We do not spray any chemicals to kill insects because we are an organic farm. Occasionally there may be a few little friends on our produce. We do our very best to ensure any hitchhikers are removed when we pack our customers’ orders, but if they slip through our quality control process, you can just rinse them off with water and your produce is perfectly safe to eat. 

Where/how is your flour milled?

Our heritage grain flours are grown onsite and milled at Gilchesters. We are committed to milling our grain into wholemeal flour, where the bran is retained in the end product rather than being sifted out. This is because most of the nutrients are in the bran as well as the flavour, we want our customers to get the best from our grain.

ABOUT FLOURISH PRODUCE BOXES

Do you offer produce boxes?

Yes. Every week we offer a box of seasonal produce from our farm. There are two sizes available. Produce Boxes can be ordered online for home delivery or collection from one or our collection points. See the Produce Box page for more information.

Do I have to have a weekly subscription?

We are not a subscription service. You can order a box as a one off, weekly or fortnightly. It’s up to you! Many of our customers find it helpful to have a weekly or fortnightly repeat order. If you are going away, you can pause your boxes or just order one off boxes whenever suits you.

What’s in the Produce Box?

Our Produce Boxes are seasonal. This means that the contents will vary each week and over the changing seasons. It will only ever contain produce that is currently being harvested on the farm or by neighbouring farmers. Luckily, we have a great diversity of produce at Flourish meaning that there is plenty of choice available all year round. But definitely no flavourless tomatoes in the winter! We harvest to order, there is no big warehouse of produce sitting around for weeks on end – once orders come in we harvest fresh so that we have no waste. It means less than 24 hours between produce being in the ground and in your home. It doesn’t get fresher than that!

Our Signature Produce Box is medium sized, it contains 7 different varieties of produce. Perfect to feed 2 people passionate about healthy eating (a couple, two house mates etc). 

Our Abundant Produce Box is large, it contains 10 different varieties of produce. Perfect to feed a family of 4, or for special occasions.

See the Produce Box tab for more information.

How can I order a Produce Box?

See section “How to Shop”.

When can I order a Produce Box?

We publish our Produce Box contents on Friday night and order deadline is Tuesday 11pm. To make things nice and easy for you there is no check out process, if a box is in your basket at 11pm on a Tuesday it will automatically be processed.

When will my Produce Box be delivered?

We deliver every Thursday night, so your Produce Box will be waiting for you on your doorstep Friday morning.

I have booked a holiday, can I pause my repeat order?

Yes. If you head over to your account and select "Holidays" you can choose the weeks you are away and do not need a delivery.

Some of your produce says it’s out of stock?

We do have limits on some add on items. If there is something you are interested in then please do drop us an email [email protected].

Can I make swaps to my basket?

You can swap 1 item in each box. You can do this once you have added a box to your basket by clicking on the double arrow Icon. You can also save your preferences/ likes/ dislikes. Our clever system will then swap out anything you set as a dislike.

Do I have to buy a Produce Box, or can I just choose produce from the Add Ons section?

Add ons can only be purchased in addition to a Produce Box.

How do I remove an item from my basket?

You can remove an item from your basket by clicking on the pencil and paper icon next to the item you would like to remove.

How do I check out?

There is no check out. As long as there is a Produce Box in your basket, your order will be automatically processed at 11pm on Tuesdays.

The items in my box are different to the list of items shown on the website, why is that?

Occasionally we might need to substitute an items shown on the list for an alternative. This might be due to pest damage or weather pressures that are out of our control. As we harvest to order for our Produce Boxes rather than pack boxes from a large warehouse of produce it means that we sometimes need to change contents last minute. We will always try to let you know and not swap for an item on your dislike list!

How do I return my empty box?

If you leave it out on the day of your next delivery our driver will collect it when they drop off your order. We try to reuse our boxes as many times as possible and hugely appreciate boxes being returned.

How do your delivery drivers get access to my property?

If you live in a flat or gated community please make sure you provide a code or details of how our driver can get into the building on the notes when you check out. If not it will be left outside. Once delivered we cannot take responsibility for items going missing.

Due to the time constraints when delivering we can operate on a “one door” entry process. If your flat is through 3 different doors we will leave it inside the area after the first/ entry door. If there is somewhere special you would like a Produce Box left then please detail this in the notes eg next to bins/ behind the hedge/ in the porch.