Newsletter week Commencing 30th August 2010

We’re trying to make the most of this great weather to get as many potatoes picked as possible, however, as usual, the machine isn’t behaving. I’ve got help from my Nephew Robbie, for as long as it takes him to find a ‘proper’ job. He’s a real grafter and has been a great help. We’re hoping that we can get a full day at the lifting tomorrow (Tuesday) and fill a couple of big tattie-boxes.
We’ve got our broad beans in the bag again this week. I think this will probably be the last of them for this season for the standard sized bags, but we may have enough for the larges for a wee while longer. We’ve got some cauliflowers in the larger bags this week, The rain last week has marked a few of the heads, but generally they are very good.
I’ve had a request form the Primary school to have a visit to the farm to see where the vegetables that arrive at the door, come from.The children are exploring a topic on Local Produce. I think they’ll get a shock at just how untidy and weedy everything looks. Robbie and I have been busy trying to tidy up the bits that might help the children to actually see some vegetables. I’ll need to think up some activities that will make the visit more interesting for them. Any suggestions will be gratefully considered.
Finn had a Birthday party on Saturday and had a few of his mates over. Lynda and I devised a treasure hunt for them, but I think we made it a bit too difficult. I don’t think they found one clue without help and the birthday boy himself went home in the ‘huff’. Still it kept most of them occupied for a good hour and it worked up and appetite for their lunch. We made ‘Huckleberry Finn’ style fishing poles in the afternoon out of things we had lying about. I don’t think we managed to get one hook into the water though, as the line got tangled up on the way down to the waters edge. My party activity organisation will have to improve for next time and although we didn’t actually catch anything, we all had a good time making them and scavenging all the bits.
We don’t have any markets this weekend, but, all being well, we’ll be at Balerno Farmers Market a week on Saturday and Livingston on the Sunday of the same weekend.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are either Maris Peer or Orla, both are good general purpose potatoes. It’s so good to have our own tatties again. We’re bagging them straight from the field at the moment so the sizes will vary. 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. You may receive some of our own onions this week. They are the best onions I’ve ever grown. I have red and white varieites so could be either or a mixture. They haven’t been dried yet so they’re full of flavour. 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. We’ve started digging this seasons carrots again, so you may get the tops left on. Will probably vary in size quite a bit.They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Mixed Salad various. The salads are growing well this year. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group. (1head). Here is a recipe for Braised Savoy Cabbage: Prepare the cabbage and shred it finely. Put it in a pan of boiling, lightly salted, water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Remove the rind and gristle from 4oz (125g) streaky bacon rashers, chop crossways into narrow strips and put in a heavy based pan. Fry the bacon until crisp, and the fat begins to run, then add a finely chopped onion and cook until soft. Add the drained cabbage, stirring continuously, unitl weel coated; season to taste with salt pepper and allspice, and cook through.

Cucumber Cucumis sativus (1/2 head) Source of Vitamins A and C and also a source of potassium. Cucumbers are generally eaten fresh in salads. Just give them a wipe over and slice or cut into chunks. For an alternative to this, try peeling the cucumbers thinly, then slice crossways into slices 0.5cm thick. Cut the seeds in the centre out to form a ring. Melt some butter in a frying pan and add a little salt and the cucumber rings. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the cucumber is tender but still crisp. Serve hot.

Broad Beans Vicia faba Broad beans are an excellent source of phytochemicals and a source of Vitamins A, B1, B8 and C, calcium, sulphur and Iron. Shell the beans from the pods and use fresh in salads or as an accompanying vegetable.

Newsletter 23rd August 2010

The crop of milan turnips has been excellent this year and has been in the bags a lot more often than I had planned. Last week we ran out of radish mid-way through the week so had to put turnip in as a replacement again. It’s good for us that we had a substitute, but not so good for you if you’re not a great fan of milan turnip. Our stocks have depleted now to a point where I think I can safely say that although they may appear in the large bags now and again, there won’t be any in the standard bags for some time. I do have one more batch coming on, but they are so far behind that they may not mature before the colder weather comes in.
Talking of weather, we haven’t managed to get much potato lifting done yet, it just won’t stop raining long enough to get machines on to the field. It doesn’t sound as though we’ve got much chance this week either. Still. there is plenty of time yet, although we could do with a nice dry spell for a couple of weeks.
The boys are back at school now, so we’re trying to get back into the old routine. We were all down at Biggar rugby Club on Sunday as the two of them have started training there with Gregor, their cousin and a load of schoolmates. We made the most of the bit of sunshine available on Sunday afternoon to have a picnic in the park afterwards. It would have been relaxing if I hadn’t been thinking it was excellent tattie picking weather!
Andy’s off on Friday, so I’ll be carrying out the deliveries myself. Then next day, I was hoping to make an appearance at Linlithgow Farmers Market, however, it’s Finn’s birthday next week and he’s having a party on Saturday, so I wouldn’t want to miss that. Maybe next month. On the subject of Farmers markets, I’ve been asked along to the Livingston market on the 2nd Sunday of each month, so I’ll be there in September. That’ll be the day after Balerno market.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are either Maris Peer or Orla, both are good general purpose potatoes. It’s so good to have our own tatties again. We’re bagging them straight from the field at the moment so the sizes will vary. 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. The new season onions are quite small, so are a bit more of a fiddle to work with. 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.

Mixed Salad various. The salads are growing well this year. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily.

Kale Brassica oleracea Acephala Group..(200g) Excellent source of VitaminsA and C and phytochemicals. Also contain calcium and copper. To cook, strip the leaves from the tough stems and treat like spinach or add to soups. Here’s arecipe for Garlic Kale Wash the kale in cold running water then strip the leaves from the stems. Cut the leaves into strips. Boil in slightly salted water for 2-3 minutes until slightly wilted and drain thoroughly. In a wok, heat a tablespoon of oil and 50g (2oz) butter then add 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 finely chopped onion and about ½ inch of ginger root, finely chopped. Saute until the onion is softened. Add the kale, toss to combine then cover and cook until kale is tender, probably a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some lime juice over the top and plenty pepper.

Garlic Allium sativum (1 head) Good source of vitamin C and A, calcium and iron. Adds heightened flavour to any savoury dish and crushed and sauted in a pan with butter, is an excellent base in which to cook the mushrooms for a simple Garlic Mushrooms.

Calabrese Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head).. Calabrese is an excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamins A, B2 and B6, Phosphorus, fibre Iron and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Roast Calabrese with Chilli and Soy:
Toss 350g of Calabrese, broken into florets, in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cut the stalks into thick batons. Spread them all out on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven for 10 mins at 200oC/Gas Mark 6 for 10 mins.Add 2 thinly sliced cloves of the garlic, ½ a red chilli, finely chopped and ½ a tablespoon of sesame seeds and mix through. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle with soy sauce and serve.

Newsletter 16th August 2010

We’ve had decent weather when we needed it this week, with a particularly nice day for the Balerno farmers market last Saturday. The market was very busy as the newly renovated Main Street was being officially opened. I managed to pick enough of our own carrots and onions for the stand, so some of you may get them in the bag this week, although, I think I’ll need to give most of the crop a little longer as too many are a bit on the small side. They are looking great though. I hoped to put pea pods in all the large bags this week, but I think we’ll run out part way through. I’ve tried a new variety this year, called Palco and the pods are really big. The only downside appears to be that there are a lot less of them on the stalk. There are plenty to come over the next month or so. We should get them in the large bags at least in the next couple of weeks. I’ve never yet managed to grow enough to put hem in the standards as well. It takes a lot of pods to make a decent portion.
In the field, it’s harvesting from dawn to dusk at the moment. The boys are back at school this week. So the day is broken up with school runs again. It’s certainly a lot quieter. The weather isn’t really the best at the moment. Wet heavy soil makes lifting potatoes a lot more of a chore than it needs to be. We could do with a dry week or two.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Orla, a good general purpose potato. It’s so good to have our own tatties again. We’re bagging them straight from the field at the moment so the sizes will vary. 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. The new season onions are quite small, so are a bit more of a fiddle to work with. 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.

Mixed Salad various. The salads are growing well this year. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily. If you’d like more, let us know.

Broad Beans Vicia faba 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. Here’s a recipe to try Penne with Broad beans, bacon, mint and cream. Shell your beans from the pod and boil them in salted water for a few minutes. Cook 350g of pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, fry 100g of smokey bacon in butter until just beginning to brown and add a crushed clove of garlic. Stir for a minute without letting it colour. Stir in 200ml double cream, a roughly chopped bunch of mint and the beans and simmer for a few minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of parmesan and season to taste. When the pasta is done, drain, toss with the sauce and serve immediately.

Radish Raphanus sativus (1 bunch) A good source of vitamin C, potassium and fibre. Wash your radish, cut the top and tail off and cut into salads. Give a fine burst of colour and a little kick to the taste buds. If you take a cucumber and chop it into cubes, take the radishes and trim and quarter them and mix them in a bowl the heat of the radish is balanced by the cool of the cucumber. As a dressing you could heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan add a teaspoon each of mustard seeds and cumin seeds and cook for a minute until the seeds begin to pop. Add a chopped chilli and cook for 30 seconds, remove from heat and leave to cool. Pour the mixture over the radish/cuc mix add2 tblspns of lime juice, 75g of cashews and a tablspn of chopped coriander, season with salt and toss to combine. It makes a great Cucumber and radish salad.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum. Good for Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron. To cook tomatoes are used for many peoples favourite soup, they are added to casseroles, folded into omelettes and served grilled with a little butter and salt and pepper on top. Obviously, the most common usage at this time of year is fresh in salads.

Newsletter 9th August 2010

I’m a bit behind schedule this week, as Lynda, Finn and I took a trip up to Aberdeen to help clear some furniture from Lynda’s Mother’s house. Keir got left behind with Uncle Peter in Edinburgh and was taken in to see some of the festival shows. Anyway we ended up staying a night longer than originally planned, so I’m writing this at 1am on Tuesday morning.
The weather hasn’t been too good anytime I’ve wanted to get on in the field. Lifting potatoes is a lot easier when the ground is dry. The wet weather is also increasing the amount of slug damage in the tubers. There are broad beans in the large bags this week and by the look of the rest of the plants, I think we’ll be able to include them in all the bags next week. We’re not too far away from lifting our own carrots and onions now either. I’m halfway through weeding the bed now and the plants I can see are the best we’ve had in about three years I think.
We’ll have plenty of our own produce on the stand at the Balerno farmers Market on Saturday from 9am til 1pm. It’s getting bigger all the time with 20 stalls this week. it is also a special market as it is the day of the official opening of the renovated Main Street. Come along if you can spare the time.
So, the work for the early part of this week is weeding the remainder of the carrots and onions and harvesting the vegetables for the bags. I also need to give Skye a hand with weeds in the brassica bed. They are starting to really take over all of a sudden.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Orla, a good general purpose potato. It’s so good to have our own tatties again. We’re bagging them straight from the field at the moment so the sizes will vary. 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. The new season onions are quite small, so are a bit more of a fiddle to work with. 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.

Mixed Salad various. The salads are growing well this year. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily. If you’d like more, let us know.

Calabrese Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head). I have been corrected by one of our customers. What I have called broccoli up to now, is in fact, calabrese and should be called it’s proper name. Whatever it is, it is an excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamins A, B2 and B6, Phosphorus, fibre Iron and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Roast Calabrese with Chilli and Soy that I gave a couple of weeks ago as a romanesco recipe. It is fairly versatile. :
Toss 350g of Calabrese, broken into florets, in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cut the stalks into thick batons. Spread them all out on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven for 10 mins at 200oC/Gas Mark 6 for 10 mins.Add 2 thinly sliced cloves of the garlic, ½ a red chilli, finely chopped and ½ a tablespoon of sesame seeds and mix through. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle with soy sauce and serve. I haven’t tried this one yet but I hope to this week.

Milan Turnip Brassica rapa Rapifera Groups Contains Vitamins A and C, folic acid and calcium. Trim off the top and the root, then peel thinly. Boil in lightly salted water for 20-30 minutes. Drain thoroughly, toss them in butter and chopped parsley and serve immediately. An alternative is to prepare as above, parboil the sliced turnip for 5 mins, then fry them in butter til lightly browned. Add chopped garlic, parsley and chives and a bit of double cream. You now have turnip in a creamy herb sauce to accompany chicken or pork dishes or have it on toast, whatever you like in fact.

Coriander Use sparingly in summer salads, the flavour is quite intense. Can also be used more liberally in all sorts of Asian dishes. Save a little to use as a garnish..

Newsletter w/c 2nd August 2010

We were hoping to have some of Murray’s broccoli this week, but the heads haven’t quite developed as quickly as he’d hoped. Luckily he had a whole row of cabbages ready for us instead, so that’s in the bag this week. We’ll get his broccoli within the next two weeks. Our own brassicas are a little further behind, but they’re coming on well.
Over the last week, I’ve managed to get some of the tasks, I had laid out for myself, done. I sowed more spinach, mizuna and rocket, andy tied up the peas and Skye finished her turnip weeding epic. I got started on the carrot and onion bed and managed to get well into the bed then hit a big patch of couch grass, so it’s eradication is my job for this week. I’ve managed to get a bit of time for tidying up around the new shed and started sorting out which function each area will have. I’ve now earmarked a composting area behind the poly-tunnel and an area for storing kindling wood and an area for storing logs. I have invested in a log splitter that is driven by the tractor, so hopefully that will cut down on the time I have to spend on logs throughout the year. The next implements I want to by for the tractor are a snow plough blade and gritter. I know it’s a funny time of year to be thinking about that, but I thought they might be cheaper when there wasn’t an immediate demand for them. If anyone happens to know of such a thing for sale, let me know who I should speak to. Our stocks of wood are growing now, so please note that kindling is back on the price list.
The boys were over in Kilmarnock visiting Gran and Grandpa last week. They had a great time being taken on a trip to Rothesay and another trip to the Kelvingrove Museum. Unfortunately, Keir caught a bit of a bug and was under the weather for most of the three days they were away. He sends his apologies to the people on the bus down from Glasgow to Kilmarnock and says he didn’t feel sick ‘til the bus drew away. Finn was very impressed by the Spitfire hanging from the roof at Kelvingrove.
Next week we’ve got a few new vegetables coming to maturity. I hope to be able to pick broad beans for the large bags and we’ll have coriander in the standards. If we can get the broccoli from Murray, we’ll have that in the standard bags too along with our milans and salad mix.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Orla, a good general purpose potato. It’s so good to have our own tatties again. We’re bagging them straight from the field at the moment so the sizes will vary. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash. 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. Tge new season onions are quite small, so are a bit more of a fiddle to work with.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.

Mixed Salad various. Our mixed salad bags are on-stream again. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily. If you’d like more, let us know.

Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group (1 head) – Excellent source of Vitamin C and also a decent source of Vitamin B6, folic acid, , fibre and potassium. To prepare, cut off the outer leaves. Cut the cabbage into quarters then shred it. Steam or boil it in a minimum amount of water for 10 minutes, the drain thoroughly and serve immediately with butter melting over the top of it. A wee bit of pepper and you’ve got a fantastic accompaniment to any meal. Don’t think cabbage is boring.

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.

Pepper Capsicum sp. (1 head) Good source of vitamin C. Wash the pepper, then slice off the top. Scoop out the seeds and membranes. Can be eaten cooked or fresh in various dishes including pasta sauces, pizza, salads. Peppers can also be stuffed with various fillings.