We may be opening a can of worms here, but do any of you shun the humble roast spud for something less traditional on Christmas Day? Maybe you could go for these crispy smashed potatoes with onion and sage, or perhaps you're more of a hasselback lover? Would our bacon, leek and potato gratin be a step towards sacrilege in your opinion? Or maybe our leek top mash would make for perfect leftovers in your house. If you're a fan of a festive potato less traditional, we want to hear from you. Or are we simply going too far to suggest that anything other than a classic roast potato could possibly grace the Christmas dinner table? You can find recipes for all the potato dishes featured here on our website. And if you absolutely cannot bear to, our recipe for Perfect Roast Potatoes is up there too...

How to make your Christmas veg sing with flavour! Riverford chef Bob takes us on a tour of some of the best flavours for winter roots, and how to pair them effectively for beautiful taste combinations. What’s your favourite flavour combination when it comes to winter root veg on your Christmas table? #LiveLifeOnTheVeg

Have you ever wondered how sprouts get from their field to your doorstep? Step one in the process is the harvest. We went out to see one of our sprout growers Richard Tucker put his sprout harvester to work in Devon. The machine plucks the plants onto a conveyor belt, and they’re fed by hand into sections which strip the sprouts from the stalk, saving the tops (which are also delicious!) Are we the only ones who find this kind of machinery totally fascinating and incredibly satisfying to watch?

Is there a more important part of Christmas dinner than the perfect roast potato? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you're worried about achieving peak crispy outside, fluffy inside, fear not, our @riverfordfieldkitchen head chef, Lewis, has shared his tricks and tips for creating the roast potatoes of your dreams. 1. Parboiling is an important step & shouldn't be missed. It's what makes the potatoes so light and fluffy on the inside. You can also really shake and rough up the edges to increase the surface area so you get all those lovely golden crispy bits. 2. The trick once they're boiled is to strain and leave them in the colander for at least a few minutes to really dry them out - any moisture will stop them going crispy quickly. You could do the above the night before to save time on the day. 3. Hot oil is a must. Start roasting high, you need them be shocked by the hot oil to form a crust so they're not mushy when you turn them later. Start with 215c, then every 15 minutes turn it down by 15C. Its important to take care in turning the potatoes every 15 mins so they are fully coated in oil on every side, that's how you get the perfect golden crisp that is almost see-through. 4. As we're roasting high, use a mix of olive oil and vegetable oil because olive oil can burn at high temperatures. 5. Finally, the best way to elevate your potatoes easily is by adding flavours in the last 10 minutes of cooking. This could be rosemary sprigs and thin slices of orange, or lemon slices and sage leaves. The citrus skin caramelises and the hard herbs crisp and smoke imparting flavour and colour to the table.

Bookmark this recipe. You may just need it! Packed with more festive flavours than you can shake a stick at, this stuffing's good for more than just soaking up gravy. Traditional sage and onion is given the extra treatment with mushroom, chestnuts, cranberry and flecks of seasonal kale. It's a dish in itself really. It's the only veggie stuffing recipe you need this year. Do you prefer your stuffing veggie or meaty? Or do you skip it altogether? You'll need: 1 red onion, finely diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 100g mushrooms, finely diced 100g cooked green or puy lentils, roughly mashed 125g cooked chestnuts, coarsely chopped 40g dried cranberries, coarsely chopped 125g crustless sourdough bread 2 large black kale leaves 1 lemon, finely zested 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 2 tbsp freshly chopped sage leaves a pinch of white pepper nutmeg, grated to taste Warm 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add the onion, celery, mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Fry them gently for 15 minutes, until soft. Meanwhile, tip the lentils, chestnuts and cranberries into a large mixing bowl. Tear the bread into a food processor. Strip the kale leaves away from the tough stalks. Discard the stalks and tear the leaves into the processor too. Add a small pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil. Blitz until the bread and kale are finely chopped and flecked green. Tip into the mixing bowl. When the onions are soft, add the garlic, lemon zest and sage, and cook gently for a final 2 minutes before tipping into the mixing bowl too. Season with a pinch of white pepper, a light grating of nutmeg and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix well with your hands. Taste and tweak the seasoning with more salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon to your liking. Transfer to a snug-fitting oven dish (15cm x 20cm approx.). Press it gently into the dish and furrow the top with a fork. Bake at 190˚C/ Gas 5 for 25 minutes, until piping hot and nicely coloured on the surface.

You’ve probably noticed that cauliflowers are in short supply at the moment. We visited our cauliflower grower Cathy Case, whose family have farmed cauliflowers in south Devon for over 100 years, to find out what’s behind the shortage. Heavy rainfall this year means that Cathy and her family are currently harvesting around 30% of their crop. Although the conditions are looking drier now, and Cathy’s cautiously hopeful for the rest of the season, the summer and autumn wet weather has wreaked havoc for her and other cauliflower growers across Europe. It’s lovely when we have good news from the fields to share, but we think it’s important to share some of the difficult moments too. And with climate change causing extreme and unpredictable weather patterns, fruit and veg farmers are facing a variety of challenges, and having to draw on their knowledge and experience to shift, adapt and learn.

Does swede divide your Christmas dinner gang? Try this baked swede dish, with plenty of butter, thyme and sweet, slow cooked onions. You'll convert the doubters in no time! You'll need: 3 large white onions, sliced 70g butter 1 swede salt and pepper handful of breadcrumbs Slow-cook the onions on a low heat with the butter until soft and tender. This will take at least 30 mins. Peel the swede, cut in half and slice into 2mm slices. Mix with the cooked onions and season well with salt and black pepper. Pack into an oven tray, as flatly layered as you can. Cover with baking parchment and then tightly with foil. Bake at 190°C/Gas 6 for about 30 mins or until it feels just cooked to the point of a knife. Remove the foil and parchment, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and carry on cooking until the top is golden brown; 10-15 mins.

We went to visit our Christmas parsnips, with Will Hunt, who heads up our roots operations ❄️ It’s amazing to think that so soon, these beauties will be out of the ground and into your boxes, heading for your Christmas dinner tables 🎄 Who loves a parsnip? And how do you serve yours? #livelifeontheveg

Did you see Guy on the latest episode of @bbccountryfile ? It was a brilliant look at unfairness within grocery supply chains and how it impacts farmers, highlighting the scale of the issue and the multitude of negative effects on farmers’ finance and mental health. Thank you to all of you for supporting our #GetFairAboutFarming petition calling for action on this. Over 109k of you have signed it now, and a debate will take place in parliament on January 22. It’s so important that we see meaningful change on this from government and supermarkets. We know a fairer system is possible - we’re asking supermarkets to adopt Riverford’s own Fair To Farmers Charter. This includes buying what you committed to buy, paying on time, committing for the long term, agreeing on fair spec and paying what you agreed to pay. Without financial security, not only do British farmers face a perilous future, but they cannot invest in the land for future generations and care for it as we know we need them to. You can still sign and share the petition via the link in our bio, if you haven’t already. The more voices we can add, the more impact we can have. And the latest episode of Countryfile is available to watch on @bbciplayer now.

🎵 On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...🎵 Here is the full verse of our twelve days of 'Vegmas', a huge thank you to all of you for participating, guessing along and joining in the fun with this! We've just had so much fun creating this and reading your answers and comments. We are selecting a winner for each day at random now. 🤞 Were there any lyrical surprises in here for you? 'Merry Vegmas' to one and all! 🍐

Crispy sprouts. It seems like they’re everywhere this year. But in this dish, the crunch comes from the deeply savoury topping, rather than the sprouts themselves, which we think are best left golden and slightly caramelised around the edges from roasting. This is the Christmas side you need on your menu this year. You’ll need: 500g sprouts, halved or quartered depending on size olive oil salt & pepper 150g mushrooms 100g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs knob of butter – or use more oil 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tbsp freshly chopped sage leaves zest from ½ a lemon Preheat your oven to 200°C/gas 6. Toss the sprouts in a roasting tray with 2 tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Slide into the oven to roast for about 20 -25 minutes or until tender and starting to colour at the edges. Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Add the mushrooms with a good pinch of salt. Cook over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until they start to darken and lose some of their water. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan and cook, stirring often, for another 4-5 minutes until they start to take some colour. Now add the butter to the pan along with the garlic, sage, and lemon zest. Cook for a few minutes more until the crumbs are golden, crisp, and fragrant. The mushrooms should have become very dark and intensely flavoured in the mix. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and remove from the heat. Taste and tweak the seasoning to your liking. When the sprouts are ready, throw the crispy mushroom breadcrumbs into the tray and mix well, serve to the table, and eat immediately. #LiveLifeOnTheVeg #crispysprouts #christmasfoodideas

🎵 On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…? 🎵 There is some potential ambiguity in this one, we can't keep it too easy for you! So we're very interested to see how many of you get the correct answer... Today's winning correct answer, chosen at random, will receive a fruit box, with a selection of five varieties of fruit. Ts and Cs Winner must live in a Riverford delivery area (you can check on our website) Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram or Facebook. Today’s giveaway runs from December 11, 10am to December 12, 9am. This competition is running across Instagram and Facebook, entrants may enter on both pages. One entry per account on each page.