Newsletter w/c 6th December 2010

We’ve been having a bit of bother with the weather for the past two weeks. It all started with a failure to turn-up at the Juniper green farmers market because of a snow-fall. We couldn’t get the van up from the shed to the top of the drive to get over towards the Edinburgh road. Little did we know at that stage that the snow we had then was but a light decorative dusting in comparison to what was to follow. From Monday to Wednesday last week, we must have had about 20 snow showers that lasted for no longer than an hour each, but the amount of snow accumulating, marooned us. I must have arms like Popeye from all the snow clearing, trying to keep access open. It’s been accessible by 4X4’s, but the vans wouldn’t have stood a chance. Things seemed to improve over the weekend and I drove the Connect down to West Calder and back on Sunday, just to prove to myself that we were safe to go, and after a successful mission, looked forward to an un-interupted week of veg delivery. At 9am on Monday I texted the packing team to let them know we were ‘green for go’ for the week. At 11am with the schools closing and white-out conditions all around, I retracted the statement and told them to give it 24hrs. As I write this, it is Monday night and we’re postponing Tuesday’s deliveries to Wednesday and we’ll take it from there. Lets hope for an improving weather picture.
With Christmas falling on Saturday this year, delivery days will be unaffected, for the week leading up to Christmas with our last deliveries on Friday 24th. We will then take a week off between Christmas and New Year and start up again from w/c Jan 3rd 2011. Let us know if you need any extra veg , fruit, eggs, milk or cream to see you through the festive season.
We’ve done our best to protect the veg from the freezing temperatures, however, some damage may occur that is invisible to the eye at packing time. Please let us know if you have any damaged veg, potatoes are particularly susceptible to frost damage, and we’ll replace and compensate with your 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.

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. For a simple way to incorporate the ingredients in the bag this week you could try taking a quarter of your savoy and shred it into strips about1cm or less across. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok. Peel 2 cloves of garlic and crush them lightly so that they are still whole. Cook in the pan for 20secondsand add the savoy before the garlic browns. Cook for 2 minutes, turning the cabbage in the oil constantly. Add 2 or 3 shakes of soy sauce. Cook for 15 seconds and serve immediately.

Beetroot Beta vulgaris Contains Vitamin C, folic acid and potassium. Beetroot can be eaten fresh, cooked or pickled. Much of the beet I sell at the market is going to the juicer fresh, although I have never tried this, it is the most beneficial way to eat beetroot. Cooked it can be boiled, stewed or roasted, and of course, after boiling, can be pickled. The time for boiling depends on how big the root is. A golf ball sized beet would boil in 20 mins, while a tennis ball size may take over and hour.

Cauliflower Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group (1 head) – Excellent source of Vitamin C and also a decent source of Vitamin B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, fibre and potassium. To prepare, cut off the outer leaves. There is no need to remove the inner, tender leaves and the pale green base leaves. Trim the end of the stalk flush with the base of the cauliflower and cut a cross in it with a sharp knife. Boil the cauli in lightly salted boiling water for 12-15 minutes if whole or 8-10 minutes if the florets are split up.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. The 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 popult in our household, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter.

Newsletter w/c 22nd November 2010

We’ll be at the Juniper Green farmers market again this Saturday. It starts at 9am at the car park of the Kinleith Arms, which is the pub beside the Iceland Store on the Lanark Road. It’s been well attended and is well worth a visit.
On the farm we’re still getting the shed organised just the way everyone wants it. The picking in the field takes less time now that we don’t have salads to pick, which is handy, with the days being that bit shorter.
At the weekend, we stayed with my Mum and Dad in Kilmarnock. We’d been invited to a friends 50th birthday party in Pollockshields, so I decided it was easier if I drove. The party was great with a lot of drinks laid on and a band. Obviously, I was on water and coffee all evening. At the end we were invited back to the flat and as I was driving I offered to take the presents back. So, the parking in Strathbungo being what it is, there was one space to park in the whole street, over someone’s driveway. As it was well after midnight and I was only going to have a coffee and leave I took it and carried all the pressies up to the flat. I was settled in the kitchen having a chat, when Steve came in and asked if anyone was driving a silver Zafira, on his shoulder was a very grumpy looking policeman and I could see blue flashing lights outside the door. The policeman kindly asked me to move the car, and there was much hilarity at the fact that I was the only sober one at the party yet I was the one removed by the police.

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 Good for Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. Peel, then cut into chunks for boiling or roasting, also can be grated into soups or kept in chunks for soups or stews. Here’s a recipe for: Curried parsnip couscous. Prepare your parsnips and cut them into batons about 7cm (3inches) long, the thicker sections will need to be quartered. Mix together 1 teaspoon each of sea salt, paprika and ground cumin, a tablespoon each of sunflower oil and honey and a dash of tabasco sauce. Pour this over the parsnips and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF/Gas 6. Cover the parsnips tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Turn them regularly, making sure they are tightly wrapped before returning them to the oven. Sprinkle them with water from time to time to stop sticking. Towards the end of the cooking time prepare some couscous. Serve the couscous with the parsnips, sprinkled with coriander leaves. Have mango chutney on hand, just to finish it off.

Pumpkin Cucurbita sp..(1 head) An excellent source of phytochemicals and Vitamin A and also contain Vitamin C, folic acid, fibre and potassium.: Leek and Pumpkin Soup:- Take a chopped onion and 50g of chopped leek and soften them in 2 tablespoons of chicken stock. Dice 500g of pumpkin flesh and 250g of potatoes and add this to the leek and onion with a little salt and plenty freshly ground black pepper. Add 1 pint of chicken stock and 1 pint of milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes stirring frequently. Blend the soup in a liquidiser then return to the pan and add 125g of cooked rice and most of a 150ml tub of natural yoghurt. Reheat gently and serve topped with a little of the remaining yoghurt and a sprinkling of parsley.

White Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group There’s nothing like the crunch of bit of white cabbage with a bit of melted butter enhancing the flavour. Great winter accompaniment to any dish. Cabbage is a source of phytochemicals, Vitamin C, potassium, fibre , calcium and Vitamin B6. To cook, cut the cabbage into quarters, take out the central core and either cook it whole for 20 minutes in lightly salted boiling water, or shred it an cook it for 12-15 minutes. Serve up with melted butter over the top.

Leek Allium porrum The leek is a mainstay of Scottish cookery, used primarily to give a creamy texture to soups. It is also good as a vegetable in it’s own right, boiled; steamed; braised or fried. The leeks collect soil in the leaf axils as they grow, so, once sliced, give them a good rinse to clear the grit. If cooking them whole, make a slit into the white part far enough to allow you to prise the leaves apart but not far enough to split it in two.

newsletter w/c 15th November 2010

With Scotland 3-0 up after about 3 minutes, at Murrayfield last Saturday, things were looking good and Finn was really enjoying his first rugby international. He was almost in tears 15 minutes later when New Zealand scored their third try. Quite a few Scotland supporters felt the same way and left the ground at that point. The final score was 3-49 to the ‘All-Blacks’ and the two consolations I could give Finn were:1) it was possible that he’d never see Scotland getting beaten so badly again, and 2) He’d seen possibly the best team in the world at their best and could take what he’d learned into his next ‘mini’ game for Biggar Rugby Club. His next game was supposed to be the next day and he was practising his Haka and little ‘pop’ passes, but the snow overnight on Saturday meant it was called off. He’ll just have to wait til next Sunday.
On the farm, we’re still knee-deep in mud, the rain and snow just won’t stop. The wind’s dropped a bit though so that’s a bonus. My wee poly-tunnel has survived unscathed so far, but it’s taking a battering. I might need to plant some fast growing protection for it. We’ve been organising the shed now that it is fully functional. I’m sure we’ll be moving benches and tables back and forward for weeks, just trying to get it ‘right’. I know already that no matter how much tweaking we do, it’ll end up the way we have it to start with.

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.

Kale Brassica oleracea Acephala Group..(200g) 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, make a depression in the centre and pour in some melted butter.

Celery Apium graveolens (1 head) This biennial veg is high in Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. The stalks are generally eaten fresh or used in soups and stews. To cook it, boil it in a little salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or steam it for 25-30 minutes. Serve in cheese or parsley sauce or smothered in butter.

Fennel (1 head) This stem base 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.