Newsletter w/c 6th May 2013

Apologies for the lack of newsletters lately - but with lighter nights and Easter and May-Day hols there just never seems to be enough time for paperwork, but that's no excuse - there should still be info on the veg in the bag each week.

It's been another slow start to the season on the farm, but things are starting to look up. I don't remember ever being able to leave the grass in the garden until May for it's first cut, but that's what has happened this year and most of it could have waited another week or two yet. For veg growing we could just do with the soil temperature rising quite quickly now.

The cold start hasn't meant there has been nothing to do though. Our venture into 'Glamping' provision is well on the way now, with the arrival of our 'Shepherds Hut'. It's a wooden shack on wheels with toilet, shower, wood burning stove, kitchen and cosy sleeping accommodation. It's based on the huts that farmers used to take out onto the hills for there shepherd to stay in during lambing, hence the name. By the time Lynda's got the soft furnishings all sorted out it'll be fit for royalty - if they don't mind roughing it slightly - but that's what Glamping is all about! If you'd like to see the Shepherds Hut just go to cobbinshawloch.co.uk.

We’re getting to the time of year again when stored veg like potatoes and carrots, have been stored for quite some time. There may be sprouting tubers or a bit of softness due to the length of time they’ve been stored, however there is no excuse for you not getting the best we can offer. If you find that anything in your bag is unsatisfactory please let us know. We can’t sort a problem that we don’t know is there, so please don’t feel awkward about getting int ouch. It’s a positive for us – it means we can sort a problem out before it becomes a greater one.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. Some of you may get washed potatoes. These have been washed to check for blemishes and disease. Soil acts as a natural preservative, so the washed tatties may not keep quite as long as the dirty ones. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Leek Allium porrum  Excellent source of Vitamin C. Particularly used to give soups a lovely creamy texture. As leeks grow they tend to lock soil into their leaf axils, so be sure to rinse them well after slicing them up. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve.

Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C, folic acid and phytochemicals and good for Vitamn.B6. Also contains Vitamins A, B2, B6 and phosphorus, fibre, calcium and iron. It is best eaten raw or quickly blanched in boiling , lightly salted water. Broccoli is also good in stir-fries as it has a lovely crunch to it if you don’t cook it for too long.

Violet turnip Brassica . Source of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.  Peel the root thickly and slice the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 20 minutes, then serve as an accompanying veg with a knob of butter melting over the top. Alternatively, parboil for 10 minutes then roast for 20 – 30 minutes.

Cucumber – The kids love their chunks of cool cucumber – it’s just about the only salad vegetable our Finn will eat. Have it on it’s own or chopped into salads.

Newsletter w/c 11th March 2013

The weather conditions have meant that I have had to postpone deliveries by a day this week. We had intermitent blizzard conditions up here on Sunday and Monday and the roads were quite low on the council priority list so didn’t get cleared. Please let me know if it affects where you would like deliveries to be dropped off to. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this causes. I don’t like to be pushed out of my schedule either, so will be back to normal next week .

I can’t get a lot of work done outside in this weather, except for log-splitting, so it looks like I’ll have no excuse but to knuckle down and get on with some paperwork for a change. You never know the thought of it may mean that we have a log-store full of freshly split fuel by the end of the day.

Before the weather deteriorated, there were definite signs of approaching Spring. The herbaceous plants had sprouted and were showing their first leaves, the bulbs were sprouting, shrubs and small trees had buds just about to burst into life and I heard some peewits out on the moor in the evenings. It won’t be long until the fields are full of lambs again, so we need a wee bit of warmer weather just to get the grass growing, to give the ewes a nibble to keep their strength up and keep their milk flowing.

If the temperatures stay as low as they are at the moment, some of the veg may be affected. My main concerns are with the potatoes and aubergines in the veg bag this week and also the bananas in the fruit bags. If anything reaches you in sub-standard condition, please do let me know and we’ll compensate you with the next delivery. We want to make sure you receive full value for money. On that subject, we were complimented on our egg prices by a customer lat week. A friend had been into the dreaded Asda supermarket and noted their organic eggs were priced at £2.25 per box. That makes our £1.80 look like a real bargain. Box schemes aren’t as expensive as some people assume.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. Some of you may get washed potatoes. These have been washed to check for blemishes and disease. Soil acts as a natural preservative, so the washed tatties may not keep quite as long as the dirty ones. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Kohl-rabi Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and of potassium. Peel the outer skin off of the swollen bulb then eat either raw or cooked. Here’s a recipe for Sugar-browned kohl-rabi Peel the kohl-rabi and cut into finger-wide strips. Blanch for 5 minutes then refresh in cold water. Return the kohl-rabi to the pan with a small amount of boiling lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool slightly. Melt 1oz (25g) sugar in a heavy based frying pan without stirring, until it bubbles and is pale brown. Add 1oz (25g) of butter and stir until blended. Stir in the kohl-rabi strips and shake the pan frequently to coat all the strips evenly with caramel.

Aubergine Solanum melongena  Source of Vitamin C,  potassium, iron and fibre. Serve cooked. This is a member of the same family as tomato and pepper and is widely used in vegetable lasagne. We tried a recipe, last week, where we chopped up an aubergine and pan fried it til it was a golden brown colour, then added a chopped up onion til it softened. Then add a couple of tomatoes a crushed clove of garlic a tablespoon of your finely chopped parsley, a pinch of spice, a pinch of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. Simmer for 5 minutes transfer to a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake in an oven at 190oC375oFGasmark5 for 30 Leek Allium porrum  Excellent source of Vitamin C. Particularly used to give soups a lovely creamy texture. As leeks grow they tend to lock soil into their leaf axils, so be sure to rinse them well after slicing them up. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve.

Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C, folic acid and phytochemicals and good for Vitamn.B6. Also contains Vitamins A, B2, B6 and phosphorus, fibre, calcium and iron. It is best eaten raw or quickly blanched in boiling , lightly salted water. Broccoli is also good in stir-fries as it has a lovely crunch to it if you don’t cook it for too long.

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa (350g). Source of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.  Peel the root thickly and slice the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 30 minutes. Alternatively, parboil for 10 minutes then roast for 20 – 30 minutes. Here’s a recipe I found for: Fried Parsnips; Trim the tops and roots off the parsnips then peel and cut in half lengthways. Put the parsnips in a pan of boiling water ( lightly salted)  and cook for 15 minutes. They should still be firm and not quite tender. Drain thoroughly. Lightly beat an egg and dip the parsnips in it before coating them with breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt 2oz(50g) of butter in a frying pan and shallow fry the parsnips until they are golden and crisp on both sides, turning once.

Newsletter w/c 25th february 2013

The return to snow last week disrupted my plans to get on with the poly-tunnel structure and get it covered again. Hopefully I can get to that job this week instead. I’ve still quite an extensive list of jobs to get through before the main start of the growing season. There are walls to build and repair, sheds to sort out, (one of them is leaning over rather alarmingly), the farm road resembles the lunar surface so needs graded again an the grass in the holiday cottage garden needs to be raked out and re-sown. Longer days and better weather are definitely what’s required.

Lynda has made a great job of our new website, which I am delighted to say is now up and running. We can keep adding to it in a way that we couldn’t with the last website design so I have great intentions of updating it at regular intervals to keep it interesting. Please let us know if there is anything you would like us to add to the website.

My long-awaited return to competitive athletics went reasonably well at the weekend. I ran in the Scottish National Cross Country Championships and made it round the whole course without injury. The conditions were perfect and the grass underfoot was so well tended that it wasn’t much different from running on a track for most of the course. There were 500 starters and we ran 3 laps of the park totaling 12km in distance. I think my next competitive outing should be the end of March in Livingston. I’ll need to try to get some speed into my legs now that I know I have the stamina.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. Some of you may get washed potatoes. These have been washed to check for blemishes and disease. Soil acts as a natural preservative, so the washed tatties may not keep quite as long as the dirty ones. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Leek Allium porrum  Excellent source of Vitamin C. Particularly used to give soups a lovely creamy texture. As leeks grow they tend to lock soil into their leaf axils, so be sure to rinse them well after slicing them up. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve.

Butternut Squash. Cucurbita sp. The pumpkin in the bag this week is a very versatile vegetable. It can be roasted or cut into stews. It makes delicious and hearty soup, but can also make a dessert pie. We quite often make a curry with ours, so just google yourself a recipe. Cut the pumpkin into quarters remove the tough outer peel and the inner seeds and cut up the inner flesh to your desired recipe’s requirements.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

Celeriac apium graveolens Celeriac is rich in Vitamin K, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus. It is edible raw or cooked. It can be roasted, boiled, stewed or even stir-fried. Our favourite recipe is celeriac and apple soup which is a great thick hearty soup for a frosty day after a long walk. Also good mashed through potatoes to add an extra flavour to your tatties.

Newsletter w/c 18th February 2013

The surprise and delight in the fine weather over the past two or three days just highlights how few good days we’ve had recently. It’s a lot easier to get up and out in the morning when the sun’s shining – no matter what the thermometer says.

I’m hoping to get the poly-tunnel rebuilt and covered with a new polythene sheet over the next week or two, to allow us to start getting seeds sown for the coming season. We’ll be changing the way we plant and sow this year to make sure we get some crop no matter what the weather might throw at us. If anyone has any suggestions for veg that they’d like to see us trying out that we haven’t grown before, this is the time to let me know.

Lynda has been extremely busy over the last wee while as she’s been re-doing the website. I had a look through it all last night and it looks fantastic. The final hurdle is to change the domain name over, so hopefully we can get it up and running online in a few days. It should be far easier for us to control the website now, so again, if you’ve any suggestions as to what you’d like to see on there then get in touch.

Despite all the bad weather, I’ve managed to get out and get some running done a couple of times a week at least since December. I’m not as fit as I was in the summer but have decided to try myself out at the Scottish Cross Country Championships in Callendar Park, Falkirk this Saturday. It must be 25 years since I last ran the National CC, and, although to some it’ll sound like torture, I’m looking forward to getting out there and battling through the mud for 12Km with hundreds of like-minded runners. There’s only a handful that will have a realistic chance of winning anything – for the rest of us it’s just a bit of fun. There are not many sports where you can directly compete with the National stars of your sport and many of the best runners will already be on a training path which they hope will end up with a place at the Commonwealth Games next year.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Brocolli Brassica oleracea Italica Group Excellent source of Vitamin C and folic acid. Also contains Vitamins A, B2, B6 and phosphorus, fibre, calcium and iron. It is best eaten raw or quickly blanched in boiling , lightly salted water. Also good in stir-fries. Please use as quickly as possible as it doesn’t keep well..

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa. Source of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.  Peel the root thickly and slice the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 30 minutes. Alternatively, parboil for 10 minutes then roast for 20 – 30 minutes. Here’s a recipe I found for: Fried Parsnips; Trim the tops and roots off the parsnips then peel and cut in half lengthways. Put the parsnips in a pan of boiling water ( lightly salted)  and cook for 15 minutes. They should still be firm and not quite tender. Drain thoroughly. Lightly beat an egg and dip the parsnips in it before coating them with breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt 2oz(50g) of butter in a frying pan and shallow fry the parsnips until they are golden and crisp on both sides, turning once.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea . To cook, remove any damaged outer leaves, cut into quarters and remove the central core. It can be cooked in quarters like this in boiling salted water or else shredded and boiled or steamed. Here’s a recipe for Cabbage soup which will use up a few items in the bag this week: Prepare and wash the cabbage and shred it finely. Prepare and roughly chop, 2 carrots, the leek and 1/2lb(250g) potatoes. Put all the vegetables in a pan with 3 pints(1.5l) stock and a bouquet garni, bring to the boil  as it has a big and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. This is the flat-leaved type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into salads or, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the stems by about an inch.

Newsletter w/c 4th February 2013

Just like a fortnight ago, we’ve woken to a white world of drifting snow and high winds. This means I’ll have problems getting out of the farm so delivery times may be altered. I won’t really know how bad it is until I try, so hopefully conditions aren’t as tricky as they look. I’ll try to keep you updated on here if there are delays.

Although it was cold at the weekend, the weather did seem to be picking up a bit. The boys managed to get a Sunday at rugby for the first time in a few weeks. The pitch has either been frozen or waterlogged for what seems like ages, so it was good to see the two of them shaking off the rustiness and getting stuck into the games.

The short days and poor conditions have made it difficult for me to keep my training going for the marathon I want to run this summer, but I’ve managed to get out at least twice a week since the middle of December, so I’m feeling quite fit. I’ve entered the Scottish National Cross-country Championships in 2 or 3 weeks time so will be able to get some measure of how well I’m doing from that, as long as I don’t pick up another injury before it.

Finn and Keir were needing a bit of extra pocket money at the weekend, so we took them busking into Edinburgh after rugby on Sunday. There didn’t seem to be very many people about, but it’s amazing how people gather at the sound of the pipes and drum. They played for about half an hour and came away quite happy. Finn’s been asked to play for at a Burns Night in a local school this week and they’re both trying to practice for their first solo competition at the beginning of next month. The band opens a lot of avenues of opportunity for them. If any of you have children that fancy taking up the chanter, which leads on to the pipes, or the drum, we’d be delighted to hear from them. We have a real shortage of young pipers in particular, at the moment.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the  has contiutough coresand shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz.(50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, season to taste with sugar. The cabbage will have a fairly sharp flavour. Cover with a lid and simmer

Beetroot Beta vulgaris  Contains Vitamin C folic acid and potassium. Can be cooked in various ways, but don’t peel the beet until you’ve boiled it as this stops it ‘bleeding’. My recipe for you  this week completely disregards this, so have a pair of rubber gloves and newspaper handy. I’m going to tell you how to make Super Boost Juice – Put on the rubber gloves, spread out a newspaper and peel  your beetroot and cut it into chunks. Take 4 apples and quarter and core them. Take 4 carrots and trim and peel them. Take 1cm/1 inch of fresh ginger and peel it. This is easily done by scraping the skin off with the side of a teaspoon. Process all the ingredients through a juicer. Stir and serve immediately, adding ice if desired.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum.  Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast.

Leek Allium porrum  Excellent source of Vitamin C. Particularly used to give soups a lovely creamy texture. As leeks grow they tend to lock soil into their leaf axils, so be sure to rinse them well after slicing them up. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

Fruit and Vegetables
Organic Vegetables	£13.50 per standard bag
	£16.50 per Large bag
Organic Fruit	£4.00 per Small Bag
	£7.50 per Large Bag
Organic Pasteurised Milk ( full cream/semi skimmed)	£1.20per  litre
Organic Single cream ( 250ml)	£1.00/£1.60
Organic Double cream ( 250ml)	£1.30/£1.70
Eggs
Organic Free Range Eggs	£1.80 per Half Dozen Box

Newsletter w/c 21st January 2013

It’s that time of year again, when the swede becomes the king of vegetables, with it’s major supporting role beside the haggis at your Burns supper. With your bag this week all you need to do is go on a haggis hunt, bring it home and you’ll have the tatties and neeps to accompany it. You’ll need the Selkirk Grace and the Address tae a Haggis and you’ll have your own Burns supper.

I hope the weather isn’t going to affect us this week but it’s not looking good at the moment. With the wind blowing the snow around, it’s started drifting in the road out of the farm, so I’ve got a bit of digging to do before I’ll get out if it doesn’t snow any more. If we get a lot more snow I may have some delays in deliveries this week. I’ll keep you informed on the blog.

On the farm I haven’t really been able to get much done due to frozen ground and adverse weather. I’ve concentrated on getting wood cut and keeping the house warm. The boys have been digging snow holes in the drifts and having them destroyed by a boisterous Labrador pup. Tess is nearly 7 months now so she’s not quite puppy size any more, but she

Still acts the pup. She comes with me on my shorter training runs now, if I’m staying on the moor or in the woods.

I think this week will be a constant round of deliveries, snow clearing and wood cutting.

If there are any additional services that we could be offering to improve the box scheme please let me know. I’m always open to suggestions.

Here’s a list of the veg included in the standard bag this week. Substitutions may occur. The mixed fruit and veg bag will have less vegetable varieties than the standard.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Leek Allium porrum  Excellent source of Vitamin C. Particularly used to give soups a lovely creamy texture. As leeks grow they tend to lock soil into their leaf axils, so be sure to rinse them well after slicing them up. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea . To cook, remove any damaged outer leaves, cut into quarters and remove the central core. It can be cooked in quarters like this in boiling salted water or else shredded and boiled or steamed. Here’s a recipe for Cabbage soup which will use up a few items in the bag this week: Prepare and wash the cabbage and shred it finely. Prepare and roughly chop, 2 carrots, the leek and 1/2lb(250g) potatoes. Put all the vegetables in a pan with 3 pints(1.5l) stock and a bouquet garni, bring to the boil  as it has a big and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.

Swede  Brassica napa (1 head) The staple of the Scottish winter vegetable garden. Just peel the tough skin off and chop up and boil the sweet, crunchy, orange root. Best served mashed with a dribble of cream and a dod of butter through it. A spoonful of this will partner mashed tatties wherever they’re used and, of course, you can’t have haggis without it.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

Fruit and Vegetables
Organic Vegetables	£13.50 per standard bag
	£16.50 per Large bag
Organic Fruit	£4.00 per Small Bag
	£7.50 per Large Bag
Organic Pasteurised Milk ( full cream/semi skimmed)	£1.20per  litre
Organic Single cream ( 250ml)	£1.00/£1.60
Organic Double cream ( 250ml)	£1.30/£1.70
Eggs
Organic Free Range Eggs	£1.80 per Half Dozen Box

Newsletter w/c 14th January 2013

Many thanks for all the positive responses and feedback that we’ve had regarding the price rises. We wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t have to.

I haven’t managed to sort out the Tuesday milk problem, so for the foreseeable future there won’t be a milk service on Tuesdays, but I will try to find an alternative source as soon as I can.

Our Pipes and Drums band has started up again after the Christmas break and is looking for young budding pipers to come along and learn the chanter and work up to playing the bagpipes in the band. We practice in Bathgate on a Wednesday night so if anyone out there is interested in learning or even if you already play the pipes – we’d be delighted to see you. Send me an e-mail and I’ll give you all the details. We have band members coming over from as far away as Wishaw and DennyIt was a bit of a shock to the system getting the snow at the weekend and the low temperatures aren’t good for the bananas or the tatties. As ever, let me know if any of the veg or fruit is sub-standard and we’ll compensate you with your next delivery. The boys had a great time in the snow and decided that the best way to get off school, was too build a snow wall that could freeze and stop the taxi getting up the drive when he came to pick them up for school. They were extremely disappointed to wake up on Monday morning and find that the rain had melted all the snow.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Beetroot  Beta vulgaris  Beetroot can be eaten fresh, cooked or pickled. The least messy way to cook them is to wash them but boil them before you peel them. After boiling the skin rubs off very easily and the flesh doesn’t bleed all over the place. The small beetroot we have this week will cook in only half an hour. They can be used for soup, grated into risottos, boiled and eaten as an accompanying veg, pickled or roasted. Very versatile indeed.

Kale Brassica oleracea Acephala Group.. Some of the kale is still on its stalk so remove it before preparing. Kale is an excellent source of Vitamins A and C and also a source of potassium, copper, calcium,  fibre and phytochemicals. To cook, strip the leaves off of the tough midrib, then shred and wash in cold, running water. Then steam for 10 minutes and serve with melted butter and season with pepper or ground cloves. You can make Colcannon by draining the kale after boiling then setting it aside. Take a finely chopped onion and put it in a pan with 150ml of milk. Bring it to the boil then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Blend about 375g of mashed potatoes with the finely chopped kale, then heat through gently, adding as much of the milk and onion mixture as it will absorb to give the consistency of creamed potatoes. Put in a serving dish, and pour in some melted butter.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the  has contiutough coresand shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz.(50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, season to taste with sugar. The cabbage will have a fairly sharp flavour. Cover and simmer until tender.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. (100g) This is the more traditional moss-curled type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into saladsor, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the  stems by about an inch.

Fruit and Vegetables
Organic Vegetables	£13.50 per standard bag
	£16.50 per Large bag
Organic Fruit	£4.00 per Small Bag
	£7.50 per Large Bag
Organic Pasteurised Milk ( full cream/semi skimmed)	£1.20per  litre
Organic Single cream ( 250ml)	£1.00/£1.60
Organic Double cream ( 250ml)	£1.30/£1.70
Eggs
Organic Free Range Eggs	£1.80 per Half Dozen Box

Newsletter w/c 7th January 2013

Happy New Year – All the Best for 2013

In case you were one of the many customers still on holiday last week I’ll re-iterate the news. After holding our veg prices for over 7 years, we’ve reluctantly been forced to increase the bag prices from the first of January 2013. The new tariff is at the foot of this newsletter and basically is a £2 increase on the veg bags and a £1 increase on the fruit bags. Eggs and milk prices will remain the same. The rise in fuel costs is affecting us in all sorts of ways and to keep the business moving forward and guaranteeing quality produce each week is getting more and more expensive to manage. I hope you won’t think this is out of order, we really do need the extra income to help cover cost increases.

Cut-backs are affecting the dairy as well. If you usually receive milk, you’ll have noticed that the deliveries have not been as reliable as usual over the past couple of months. I’ve just been informed this evening that we won’t be getting a Monday delivery any more, which means I won’t have any milk or cream for delivery this Tuesday. I am hoping to organize organic milk from another dairy by next week, but I have to apologise to all of you who are expecting their milk to arrive tomorrow as I don’t have enough time left to organize an alternative. Other delivery days will not be affected.

I had plans to get plenty of work done in this mild weather, but I managed to pick up one of the bugs that are going about at the moment and ended up vegetating in the house for a couple of days – so frustrating! I’m through it now though so deliveries wont be affected this week.

It’s been quite a relaxing time, but with the boys back to school, rugby training starting back up, and band practice back on, it’s back to our normal busy parental taxi service.

Please let me know if you need help in changing any standing orders or direct debits to take the new prices into account.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion  Allium cepa.  Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups.  Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Brocolli Brassica oleracea Italica Group Excellent source of Vitamin C and folic acid. Also contains Vitamins A, B2, B6 and phosphorus, fibre, calcium and iron. It is best eaten raw or quickly blanched in boiling , lightly salted water. Also good in stir-fries. Please use as quickly as possible as it doesn’t keep well..

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa. Source of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.  Peel the root thickly and slice the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 30 minutes. Alternatively, parboil for 10 minutes then roast for 20 – 30 minutes. Here’s a recipe I found for: Fried Parsnips; Trim the tops and roots off the parsnips then peel and cut in half lengthways. Put the parsnips in a pan of boiling water ( lightly salted)  and cook for 15 minutes. They should still be firm and not quite tender. Drain thoroughly. Lightly beat an egg and dip the parsnips in it before coating them with breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt 2oz(50g) of butter in a frying pan and shallow fry the parsnips until they are golden and crisp on both sides, turning once.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

Pumpkin . The pumpkin in the bag this week is a very versatile vegetable. It can be roasted or cut into stews. It makes delicious and hearty soup, but can also make a dessert pie. We quite often make a curry with ours, so just google yourself a recipe. Cut the pumpkin into quarters remove the tough outer peel and the inner seeds and cut up the inner flesh to your desired recipe’s requirements.