Newsletter w/c 08/11/10

After a long week of hard work and tricky packing conditions, we now have a completed shed with a nice new smooth concrete floor. We laid the last piece of concrete this morning, (Monday) so we’re still not ‘in’ properly yet. The concrete needs a bit of time to harden properly before we start driving the vans or the tractor over it. That’ll just be a matter of a day or two. We couldn’t have had much worse weather for the work either. It definitely rained more than it was dry last week and when the showers came, they were torrential. We even had a fall of snow to contend with. A big vote of thanks goes to Donald Carmichael, who came in at short notice to run the job, after I ran out of confidence in my ability to get it right, and to everyone else who helped along the way. I need to sort something out for the access road next as the surface is really muddy, even more so after all the heavy traffic this week in wet weather. We also need to work out where everything is going to be put, after three years of just dumping things in temporary places, we’ve now got three sheds and a polytunnel to work with. I’m sure in a month, they’ll all be completely cluttered as usual.
We’ll be attending the Balerno Farmers Market on Saturday, from 9am til 1pm. Hopefully it’ll be a fine day, weather-wise, and there’ll be a good turn-out. I think there were 19 different companies and organisations at the last one so there is plenty of choice. Finn, our oldest son, is looking forward to Saturday too, as I’m taking him to his first big rugby game. We’ve got tickets to see Scotland take on the All Blacks at Murrayfield. Kick-off for that is in the evening so it works in well. It’s usually hard enough to get him to sit in one place for 10 minutes, so it’ll be interesting to see how we get on. I hope it’s an exciting match.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are either Robinta (red skins) or Valor (large, white skins), 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..They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Jerusalem Artichoke Helianthus tuberosus Source of Vitamin B1, B2, B3, calcium, potassium, iron and fibre. To cook scrub off the worst of any dirt on the root, then boil for a couple of minutes without cutting off the root or the top. This loosens the skin and allows you to rub it off quite easily. Then boil in slightly salted water for a further 15-20 minutes or until tender. Add lemon juice to the water before boiling to keep the roots white. Can also be roasted after parboiling, and makes very good soup. All you really need are the artichokes, some onion, simmered together until soft, add a stock, boil for 30 minutes maybe a little nutmeg. Puree it then reheat with a little milk added and bob’s your uncle. Delicious soup.

Brussels Sprouts Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals, and is also a source of Vitamins A and B6, potassium, folic acid and fibre. To prepare, pare the bottom off of the sprout and remove any damaged outer leaves. Sprouts taste best when they are quickly blanched in lightly salted boiling water and then topped with melting butter.

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.

Beetroot Beta vulgaris Good source of Vitamin C and folic acid and also contains potassium. Boil the roots with the skins, tops and roots still on. A small root will boil in 30 minutes while a large one ( larger than a tennis ball) may take 1 ½ hours. Once boiled rub off the skins and slice off the top and bottom.. You can then go in various culinary directions. The traditional way I suppose would be to slice them and pickle them in vinegar. You could also roast them. Just stick them in the oven for the last half hour of your meats cooking time basting once or twice. You could just dice them and have them as an accompanying dish on there own hot or cold and you could make Beetroot risotto by following any basic risooto recipe then adding the beetroot just before you start reducing the stock for the last couple of times. My favourite winter way to have beetroot is beetroot soup made from onions, potatoes,.stock and the boiled beetroot. Boil for half an hour then blend it. Fantastic colour and flavour.

Newsletter w/c 01/11/10

You probably thought I was being a touch negative about my chances of getting the floor down in the shed, last week. I have been proved correct, however, as our delivery of stone for bottoming never arrived. I now hope to start again tomorrow (Tuesday), so hopefully by the next newsletter, we’ll be a lot further ahead.
We’ve started harvesting Jerusalem Artichokes, as it looks as though we’ve got a good crop of them this year. The tubers, sometimes start to sprout by February, if the weather is mild enough, so I want to give ourselves plenty of time to lift them so we can get them to you in prime condition. We generally haven’t lifted them before Christmas in the past. On the other side of the coin, I don’t think we’ve managed to have salad lasting as long as this before. The large bags and some of the standards will have salads again this week.
We don’t have a market this Saturday, but will be at Balerno on the 13th. It’s really growing now, since the village trust took over the running of the market.
As a Halloween ‘treat’ for the boys, we all went to Edinburgh Dungeons last Sunday. They were both very cocky and sure of themselves when they went in, but they were holding our hands quite tightly by the time we got back into the gift shop at the end. We wandered back to Peter and Fiona’s house at Colinton and did a bit of late ‘trick or treat’-ing. It was a really good day out.
We try to keep the quality control as high as possible. This week, if I do end up putting the concrete floor in, we’ll have to evacuate our usual packing shed and re-locate. If you find any marks or blemishes on your veg or fruit that we’ve missed, please let me know and we’ll sort out some compensation with the next delivery.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are either Robinta (red skins) or Valor (large, white skins), 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..They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

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 caoting 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.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea CapitataGroup (1 head). Here’s a different recipe for you to try with it: Preheat your oven to 150oC/300oF/ gas mark 2. Remove any damaged outer leaves, cut into quarters and remove the stalk. Shred the cabbage finely. In a casserole, lay a layer of cabbage, seasoned with salt and pepper, a layer of chopped onions and chopped, peeled and cored apples, with a sprinkling of garlic, 1 clove should be enough, a little nutmeg, cinnamon and ground cloves and about a tablespoon of brown sugar. Repeat these layers until everything is in then pour in 3 tablespoon of wine vinegar and 1/2oz (10g) of butter. Put a lid on the casserole and let it cook slowly for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring a couple of times during cooking.

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.

Garlic Allium sativum.( 1 head) Good for Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. A crushed clove of garlic can enhance many savoury meals. May be substituted with pepper if you received garlic last week.

Newsletter w/c 25/10/10

I’ve scoured the field for the best swedes to turn into turnip lanterns, if you can be bothered with the work involved. We’ll be having a go ourselves so I’ll let you know how we get on.
Juniper Green market was a bit quieter, understandably, this time. We’re right in the middle of the holidays for West Lothian and Edinburgh and the second market never gets the advertising boost that the first market gets. Never-the-less, it was a good market. The veg was filthy as the weather had been awful right through from Friday morning, when I started picking, all the way til the Market started. The rain went off at 9am on the dot, and the sun even tried to come out. Our carrots and tatties are much sought after these days. Our next Market will be Balerno on the 13th November.
On the farm I’ve just finished moving the second shed from inside the old barn and re-locating it down beside the big new shed. I have hopes of getting a concrete floor into it on Friday, but how many times have you heard that before in the newsletter. We’ll wait and see what happens. At least we’re making some progress, however slowly.
The hard frost on Sunday night has encouraged me to take salads off the standard bag list this week. It hasn’t benn growing so quickly rercently and the stocks are being depleted. If you get a large bag or a standard bag with less potatoes, you’ll still get some this week, but it looks like we’re slipping into winter season veg now.
I’ll need to go and get my Halloween costumes sorted out. Have a good time if you’re out in fancy dress yourselves.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As usual, substitutions may occur.

Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are either Robinta (red skins) or Valor (large, white skins), 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..They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Swede Brassica napa. (1 head) Here’s a recipe for Mashed Swede with Crispy bacon Peel your swede and cut it into smallish cubes. Put them in a saucepan and just cover them with water. Add salt, bring to simmering point and cook gently for 15-20 minutes, then tip into a colander and drain thoroughly. Return the saucepan to the heat, add 1 oz(25g) butter and fry 6 rashers of bacon which have been chopped into small pieces to it. Fry unitl the bacon begins to crisp. Now, return the swedes to the pan, add another 1oz of butter and a little single cream and mash well to a creamy consistency. Season with black pepper.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. This flat leaved variety of parsley has far more flavour than the more common curly type, though I have to say the curly one is a far nicer plant to look at. Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into salads. Especially popular in our household, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter.

Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) . We’ve got two or three varieties of cabbge ready to pick at the moment, varying between the pointed sweetheart type to the traditional white cabbage shaped like a football. Some are a bit on the small side so we’ve put in two of these to a portion, just to save wasting them. 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 and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.

Leek Allium porrum. Leeks give a lovely creamy consistency to soups and are great in flans or quiches. They are also very nice chopped then fried in butter as a n accompaniment to roast meat dishes. Leeks are a great source of Vitamin C. Be sure to wash them very carefully though, as soil gets caught in the leaf axils as it is growing. Cut up the leek then rinse in cold running water in a colander.