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..
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..
posted by thewholeshebag at 11:28 PM
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