Sunday, September 23, 2007

NEWSLETTER FOR W/C 10/09/2007

For those of you who didn’t get a Soil Association pack last week, we’ll try to include them this week for you. If anyone hasn’t received one and would like one then let me know.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the Bathgate Market last weekend. We got called up North at the last minute last week. Wehave had ongoing problems with our potato lifting machine since it suffered some damage last year, and last week it broke down completely, just when we need it most. Luckily I managed to find myself another one, it just took a wee while to sort it all out and get it home. So we should be up and running again.

We managed to put broccoli into a lot of the bags last week, but not all, so as we’ve still got more coming on, we’ll put broccoli in all the bags this week again. The better weather has brought on the swedes and the kale, so we’ve put them in the bag this week to thin out the swedes and use up some of the kale leaves as this keeps them growing well. The cauliflower is shaping up to be the next crop coming available for picking, I’m just not sure if it will be next week or a week or two away yet.

On the farm, we are hoping to have a big harvesting week. We’ll try to get as many of the potatoes lifted as possible.

If you’re interested in staying in West Lothian for a holiday or work, we have a holiday house to let in Kirknewton. We also have the original cottage at the farm here at Cobbinshaw. Details of costs are on www.cobbinshawloch.co.uk.

Here’s what should be in your standard bag this week. Substitutions may occur depending on availability.

Potatoes Solanum tuberosum (approx 2.0Kg) The potatoes from our own seed and will be a bit of a mixture. The white potatoes will be Orla.Red skinned tatties will be Robinta. For all of them there is no need to peel, just give them a quick scrub and boil for 20 minutes or so and serve with butter melting over the top. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion Allium cepa ( approx 450g).. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups – in almost any type of cooking. Source of Vitamins A and C as well as Iron, Calcium and Potassium.

Carrot Daucus carota (approx 450g). 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 (350g approx) 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..May be substituted if we run out.

Courgette Cucurbita pepo (1 head) Source of Vitamins A and C , calcium, iron and fibre. Prepare by wshing and trimming both ends. Courgettes can be coked whole or in slices, or they can be cut in half lengthways filled with stuffing and baked. Boil courgettes in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Sliced courgettes may be steamed in butter for 10 minutes. Halved courgettes may be parboiled for 5 minutes the finished in the oven, in a well-buttered dish for 25 minutes at 190oC (375oF) Gas Mark 5.

Swede Brassica napa. (1head). Cut off the top and bottom of the swede then peel thickly. Cut into cubes or big chunks and boil for 30-40 minutes or alternatively, parboil then set around a roast in the oven for the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Excellent boiled, then mashed with butter and cream.

Kale Brassica oleracea Acephela Group..(1 bag) Excellent source of Vitamins A and C. Also a source of Calcium and copper. One of cooking is to rinse the kale in cold water, drain well and cut off and discard the tough stems. Cut the leaves into ¼ inch strips. In a well seasoned wok or frying pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over a moderatley high heat, add a crushed clove of garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add half of the kale and cook, stirring for 1 minute, until they begin to wilt. Add the remaining kale and cook stirring for 6 – 8 minutes until the greens darken slightly and are fairly tender. Season with salt pepper and lemon juice.

NEWSLETTER FOR W/C 03/09/2007

The Soil Association have asked us to include their special membership offer with this weeks bags. You’ll find details on the flyer inside your bag.
After promising lots of broccoli in last weeks newsletter, the plants went on strike and haven’t put on as much growth as I thought they would. It will be ready soon. I might not have enough to do the whole weeks worth of deliveries, So I may need to substitute something else. We have plenty of veg coming on, it just seems to be a lot slower this year compared to previous ones. I’ve usually got really nice root veg by now, but they are still tiny, even things like carrots and swedes.
We had a busy week at Cobbinshaw last week. We’re trying to lift as many potatoes as possible, while getting deliveries sorted out and then the farmers market at Queens park on Saturday. It was a nice day and quite busy, however, I had to leave early to get back home for Finn’s 6th birthday party. Then Gran and Grandpa wanted to have another party for him on the Sunday, so we were over in Kilmarnock on Sunday as well. We’ve got the market in Bathgate for definite this week and if I can get someone to man the stall, we’ll be at Balerno as well. I can’t guarantee that though.
We’ll be continuing to harvest right through September now, trying to get all frost susceptible veg inside and stored before it gets cold. If you’re interested in staying in West Lothian for a holiday or work, we have a holiday house to let in Kirknewton. We also have the original cottage at the farm here at Cobbinshaw. Details of costs are on www.cobbinshawloch.co.uk.
Here’s what should be in your standard bag this week. Substitutions may occur depending on availability.
Potatoes Solanum tuberosum (approx 2.0Kg) The potatoes from our own seed and will be a bit of a mixture. The white potatoes will be Sante or Maris Peer Red skinned tatties will be Robinta. For all of them there is no need to peel, just give them a quick scrub and boil for 20 minutes or so and serve with butter melting over the top. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.
Onion Allium cepa ( approx 450g).. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups – in almost any type of cooking. Source of Vitamins A and C as well as Iron, Calcium and Potassium.
Carrot Daucus carota (approx 450g). 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 (350g approx) 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..
Cucumber Cucumis sativus. (1/2 head) Good source of vitamin C and A. Also, a good source of potassium. Wash thoroughly, dry, then slice up to use in salads. Occasionally used in soups.
Fennel (1 head) The fennel can be chopped raw into salads or simmered in a stock. Here’s a recipe for Buttered Fennel: Trim the root base and cut in half lengthways and rinse in cold water. Put the fennel in a pan with a minmal amount of boiling, lightly salted water and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until just tender. Overcooking reduces the sweet aniseed flavour. Drain thoroughly in a colander and keep warm on a serving dish. Now, melt the butter. Season the fennel with pepper, then pour the melted butter over the top and serve. Your cress would be a fine garnish for this dish. Goes particularly well with grilled fish or roast chicken.
Spinach Spinacea oleracea (approx 200g) Spinach is great nutritionally. It contains Vitamins A, C, B2 and B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, phytochemicals and protein. Immerse the spinach in a large bowl of cold clean water, lift them out and repeat the process with fresh water, two or three times more. Spinac h has a high water content , so it is sufficient to cook it only with the water adhering to the leaves from the last rinsing. Sprinkle lightly with salt, cover with a lid and cook gently for 7 – 10 minutes until soft. Drain the spinach thoroughly, squeezing out as much water as possible with a potato masher.

NEWSLETTER FOR W/C 27/08/2007

It’s been a welcome change to get some dry weather over the last week, so we’ve managed to get some potatoes lifted, not with-out the odd mishap, it has to be said. After three dry days last week, we were pretty desperate for tatties so I linked up the lifting machine to the back of the tractor and set off down the row. I only got about ten metres down when I sank up to the axles and couldn’t move. My neighbour Matthew came to my rescue. He’s got a big 4-wheel drive tractor, which he linked to mine then pulled us out of the muck. Instead of stopping though, he pulled me all the way down the row and up the next one, lifting potatoes all the way. The kids thought it was really funny.
We should have broccoli in the bags soon as it’s starting to form heads now, but most of the veg has been really slow this year. Things like swedes, celeriac, celery, pumpkins and even carrots are no where near the size they should be and red cabbage and brussels sprouts have a lot of growing to do before the winter. We could do with some sustained warmer weather.
We had quite a quiet market at Linlithgow on Saturday. There were a lot of people there, however, there was quite a bit of competition too. We’ll be at Queens Park this Saturday from 10am, so come along if you get the chance.
If you’re interested in staying in West Lothian for a holiday or work or if any of your friends want to come and stay and catch a bit of the festival, we have a holiday house to let in Kirknewton. We also have the original cottage at the farm here at Cobbinshaw. Details of costs are on www.cobbinshawloch.co.uk.

Here’s what should be in your standard bag this week. Substitutions may occur depending on availability.
Potatoes Solanum tuberosum (approx 2.0Kg) The potatoes from our own seed and will be a bit of a mixture. The white potatoes will be Sante or Orla Red skinned tatties will be Robinta.Most of you this week, will get Ambo, a white potato with a hint of pink. For all of them there is no need to peel, just give them a quick scrub and boil for 20 minutes or so and serve with butter melting over the top. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.
Onion Allium cepa ( approx 450g).. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups – in almost any type of cooking. Source of Vitamins A and C as well as Iron, Calcium and Potassium.
Carrot Daucus carota (approx 450g). 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..
Broad Beans Vicia faba (400g) As well as be3ing an excellent source of phytochemicals, beans are also a good source of Vitamins A, B1, B8 and C. They are also good for phosphorus and iron. Basically, all you need to do with them is shell the pods and mix the beans into salads or cook them into any sauces or soups.
Mixed Salad various.( approx 120g) Our mixed salad bags have been really popular this year. Wer’ve managed to improve them by incorporating a larger variety of herbs to augment the salad leaves we had last year. The mixture now contains 2- 3 varieties of lettuce, swiss chard, Ruby chard, coirn salad, parsley, dill, coriander, rocket and lovage. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any races of soil that may have attached themselves, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge auntil ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily.
Leek Allium porrum (1 head) Good source of vitamin C. Adds subtle flavour and creamy texture to soups. You could also boil them for 15 minutes then cook them under the grill in a bechamel or cheese sauce with breadcrumbs over the top.
Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum. (approx 200g) Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast.