Newsletter w/c 25th July 2011

With a lot of help from the Hamilton family, we finally removed the last of the structure of the old barn last week. The view from the house has completely changed and with the beautiful weather we’ve had over the past few days, is looking fantastic. We’ve still got a lot of clearing up to do as there was a lot of rubbish in the barn that was never going to be needed again, but just seemed to accumulate. We can then look at transforming the area left into a garden. I’ve been looking forward to that for a few years now. It’ll be an enjoyable Winter job, planning and designing. It’ll take a few years to implement.

I attended the farmers market at Juniper Green on Saturday. Again, it was a lovely day, which always makes for a better market day. The sunshine brings people out and makes for happier stall-holders too.

In the field, we’re switching from maintenance mode to harvesting mode now. Potatoes and salads are taking up most time now, as the potatoes are being hand-dug as the tubers are still too small to be harvested mechanically. The major bonus for you is, that with our own tatties, the quantities in the bags go back to normal again, so the standard bag will go back to 2Kg of potatoes. If you have recently joined the box scheme and find this is too many potatoes for you, let me know and we can reduce the amount for you.

We have a fine mix of salad leaves this year and they will appear in the bags regularly over the next couple of months. Again, if you have plenty of home-grown salad of your own, let me know and I’ll substitute the salad for something else.

The boys are really enjoying the summer holidays so far. The inflatable paddling pool was out in the courtyard yesterday with about 7 children running riot round the courtyard having water fights and splashing about. Good weather makes such a difference. If the weather holds, we’re going to try out a tent I received as a birthday present, at the weekend. I’m not sure how far we’ll venture and I expect we won’t get a lot of sleep, but I’m sure it’ll be fun. We’re also planning a cycle along the canal path from Ratho at some point as well.

Here’s a list of the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto our own new potatoes now. The variety for the most part is Pentland Javelin. If I came across any ‘volunteer’ plants (potatoes left in the ground from last years crop) I dug them too so there may be one or two different tatties in your bag. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. 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. 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.

Cucumber Cucumis sativus. 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.

Pointed Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group. (1 head) This is the first of the real spring cabbages. They are a little bit soft yet but still have enough of a heart to work with. Treat as Spring greens if the heart is soft. To cook, simply wash in cold running water, removing any marked outer leaves. Quarter the cabbage, then cut out the core. Shred the leaves, then boil or steam for about 8 – 10 minutes until the leaves start to wilt. You want to retain a bit of a crunch! Drain thoroughly and tip into a warmed serving dish with butter melting over the top

Mixed salad various –Excellent source of phytochemicals and a good source of Vitamins A, B and C, calcium, fibre and potassium. The ground was pretty wet when we picked the salad so some grit may be mixed in. Rinse it well. To store, it is best to rehydrate the lettuce. Rinse well, two or three times, renewing the water with each rinse, then drain thoroughly in a colander or salad spinner. Store in the fridge and you should get it to last all week

Spring Onion They’re excellent cut into salads or cut into stir-fries. Often used in Chinese recipes. Please use them up quite quickly as the leaves will start to yellow.

Newsletter w/c 18th July 2011

With the weather being so poor, we’ve spent little time in the field. It gave us time to continue with some of the other wee jobs around the farm. We’re finally removing the old barn which has half collapsed under the winter snow, then has been blown apart by the gales in the Spring. It’s becoming a safety concern, so it’s a great job to get out of the way. My friend and neighbour, Matthew, is apparently very experienced in shed demolition. I think he’s even meant to do it a couple of times. Anyway, he’s coming up to give me help and advice tomorrow, so by tomorrow night we could be well on the way to getting garden design under way.

We’ll be back at Juniper green market this Saturday at 9am until 1pm. Come along and see us if you have the time. The Gorgie market has been suspended due to lack of interest but will continue on a one-off basis for special occasions. I’ll let you know when these are happening as soon as I know.

The boys are very excited this week as our family car broke down on our way to Livingston last week and had to be taken to the garage on the back of a breakdown truck. We’ve been informed that it’s going to cost double the amount to fix it than the car is currently worth. The decision to go out and look for another car was academic and that’s what we spent the weekend doing. It’s very hard to choose a car when you’ve no confidence in your mechanical ability. The boys seemed to get over the fact that most of the sporty cars they liked were about 5 times our budget and completely impractical as family cars. They’re happy with the final choice and hopefully it’ll be ready for the road on Friday.

I haven’t mentioned them for a while, but we still have our holiday cottages for rent for minimum three night stays. You can get all the information about them at www.cobbinshawlochcottages.com .

Here’s a list of thein the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto new potatoes now. Colleen is the variety. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. 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. 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.

Courgette Cucurbita pepo . Good for Vitamins A and C, calcium, fibre and iron. The courgettes may be green or yellow this week. Courgettes can be eaten raw or cooked in butter or stirfried or even roasted, so very versatile. Just give the skin a good wash first and drain it off then prepare.

Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C, folic acid and phytochemicals and good for Vitamn.B6. 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. Broccoli is also good in stir-fries as it has a lovely crunch to it if you don’t cook it for too long.

Spinach Spinacia oleracea Good source of vitamin C, B2, B6 and A, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, protein and phytochemicals. No wonder Popeye did so well on it. This size of leaf will be best used as a salad item though could be cooked if you really want. Rinse it well, as the rain last week was heavy enough to spatter soil onto the lower leaves. This variety is a bit more prone to bolting (running to seed), maybe the weather conditions have affected it too. Whatever it is, the leaves just aren’t as meaty this time as they were a month ago, when we had the previous sowing in the bag. It’s still tasty and nutritious though.

Beetroot Beta vulgaris Beetroot can be eaten fresh, cooked or pickled. The least messy way to cook them is to wash them but boil them before you peel them. After boiling the skin rubs off very easily and the flesh doesn’t bleed all over the place. The small beetroot we have this week will cook in only half an hour. They can be used for soup, grated into risottos, boiled and eaten as an accompanying veg, pickled or roasted. Very versatile indeed.

Newsletter w/c 11th July 2011

Well, I did write the newsletter for 2 weeks ago in plenty of time, but, me being me, I forgot to add it to the blog. I’ve added it now. Better late than never. You’ll have realised from the previous post, that we were on holiday last week and that there was no delivery.

We spent the week, at the seaside, in Crail, in the East Neuk of Fife. The weather was as good as it gets in Scotland. We had three days of blistering sunshine, one day of light showers and the other days were warm with broken cloud and dry. We walked, cycled, picnicked, fished and generally had a good time. On the wet day we visited the Secret Bunker which is a couple of miles down the road from Crail. It’s a refuge and control centre from the Cold War era and is worth a visit. There’s a lot of historical information as well as all the military and political memorabilia you’d expect. I’d avoid the café though. Lynda had done her homework on the accommodation, as the cottage we’d rented was right on the harbour, one window in the lounge looking over the lobster boats and the other one looking over the beach. It took until Friday for the boys to venture into the water, the first couple of hot days brought a shoal (not sure what the collective term is!) of jellyfish into the shore. I thought this would put them off, but it resulted in a huge jellyfish fight where a few lads on the beach started throwing them at each other like snow balls. I thought they stung or gave you rashes or something, but by the time I hauled our two out of it, they had been hit a few times and were unscathed, thankfully.

Anyway, we’re back to the normal routine this week and things seem to have slowed down a bit so I’m holding off with salads and milans until later in the week or possibly longer. We have new season carrots, so we can forget washed ones for a while.

Holidays always cause a bit of confusion and some customers who don’t receive a bag weekly, will find that although their delivery week, wasn’t while we were away, they still will be a week later getting a bag. Everything will have settled down again by the end of next week, then we’ll be back on our normal cycle for everyone.

Here’s a list of the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto new potatoes now. Colleen is the variety. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. 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. 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.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum. Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast. A good way to store them is to go along the sun-dried tomato line. Put a tablespoon of oil in a baking tray. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Lay them on the baking tray, sprinkle over another tablespoon of oil and put in an oven at 150oC and cook for 45 minutes. Take out of oven and leave to cool. You can either eat them like this in salads or pasta, or store them in a jar filled with good quality olive oil. They can be stored like this, unrefrigerated, for up to 6 months.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. (100g) This is the more traditional moss-curled type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into saladsor, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the stems by about an inch.

Garlic (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or toast to make a tasty snack.

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. Waldorf Salad is quite simple to make. Take 85g of raisins and soak them for an hour, drain them. Peel and core 3 apples, slice them thinly, then put in a bowl with 50g of walnut halves that have been toasted lightly in a frying pan. Add 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced and half the raisins. Coat it with mayonnaise, season to taste and toss well. Arrange a shredded lettuce around the base of a salad bowl, then add the celery mixture. Sprinkle the remaining raisins over the top and a few celery leaves and a tablespoon of chopped parsley leaves.

Newsletter w/c 11th July 2011

Well, I did write the newsletter for 2 weeks ago in plenty of time, but, me being me, I forgot to add it to the blog. I’ve added it now. Better late than never. You’ll have realised from the previous post, that we were on holiday last week and that there was no delivery.

We spent the week, at the seaside, in Crail, in the East Neuk of Fife. The weather was as good as it gets in Scotland. We had three days of blistering sunshine, one day of light showers and the other days were warm with broken cloud and dry. We walked, cycled, picnicked, fished and generally had a good time. On the wet day we visited the Secret Bunker which is a couple of miles down the road from Crail. It’s a refuge and control centre from the Cold War era and is worth a visit. There’s a lot of historical information as well as all the military and political memorabilia you’d expect. I’d avoid the café though. Lynda had done her homework on the accommodation, as the cottage we’d rented was right on the harbour, one window in the lounge looking over the lobster boats and the other one looking over the beach. It took until Friday for the boys to venture into the water, the first couple of hot days brought a shoal (not sure what the collective term is!) of jellyfish into the shore. I thought this would put them off, but it resulted in a huge jellyfish fight where a few lads on the beach started throwing them at each other like snow balls. I thought they stung or gave you rashes or something, but by the time I hauled our two out of it, they had been hit a few times and were unscathed, thankfully.

Anyway, we’re back to the normal routine this week and things seem to have slowed down a bit so I’m holding off with salads and milans until later in the week or possibly longer. We have new season carrots, so we can forget washed ones for a while.

Holidays always cause a bit of confusion and some customers who don’t receive a bag weekly, will find that although their delivery week, wasn’t while we were away, they still will be a week later getting a bag. Everything will have settled down again by the end of next week, then we’ll be back on our normal cycle for everyone.

Here’s a list of the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto new potatoes now. Colleen is the variety. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. 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. 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.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum. Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast. A good way to store them is to go along the sun-dried tomato line. Put a tablespoon of oil in a baking tray. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Lay them on the baking tray, sprinkle over another tablespoon of oil and put in an oven at 150oC and cook for 45 minutes. Take out of oven and leave to cool. You can either eat them like this in salads or pasta, or store them in a jar filled with good quality olive oil. They can be stored like this, unrefrigerated, for up to 6 months.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. (100g) This is the more traditional moss-curled type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into saladsor, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the stems by about an inch.

Garlic (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or toast to make a tasty snack.

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. Waldorf Salad is quite simple to make. Take 85g of raisins and soak them for an hour, drain them. Peel and core 3 apples, slice them thinly, then put in a bowl with 50g of walnut halves that have been toasted lightly in a frying pan. Add 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced and half the raisins. Coat it with mayonnaise, season to taste and toss well. Arrange a shredded lettuce around the base of a salad bowl, then add the celery mixture. Sprinkle the remaining raisins over the top and a few celery leaves and a tablespoon of chopped parsley leaves.

Newsletter w/c 27th June 2011

As you’ll have seen from the notes in your bag we’re going on holiday next week and there will be no delivery for one week only. We’ll commence deliveries from the 11^th of July again. Whether you are due your next bag that week or the next everyones bag will be one week later than expected. This keeps everyone on the same scheduled delivery day.

Many of you are on holiday as well. The best time to let me know of any break in deliveries is a note when I leave the delivery previous to the holiday date, or by e-mail. By the time we all get back from holiday, the veg situation should have eased a bit. We’ll have dirty carrots again, which means all the staples will be new season. We also have the first of our own produce for this year, with spinach and radish in all the bags. I’m really pleased with the spinach, which has really benefitted from the wet weather and cool temperatures. It has produced the best crop I’ve ever had at this time of year. Hopefully the successive sowings will fare just as well.

There’s been a lot happening at home over the last week or so and it’s kept me away from the field, but work has still been carried out by the group of youngsters who are carrying on a fine battle against weeds and rogue tatties, in all weathers, so I have to give them a big thank you.

We should also be starting to make up mixed salad bags when we come back from holiday and Milan turnips shouldn’t be too far away. A week or two after that I hope to have the first of our new potatoes ready to lift too.

I hope you don’t miss the bags too much while we’re away.

Here’s a list of the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto new potatoes now. Colleen is the variety. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. 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. 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.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the tough cores and shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz. (50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, season to taste with sugar. The cabbage will have a fairly sharp flavour. Cover with a lid and simmer until tender.

the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 30 minutes and mash with cream and butter.

Spinach Spinacia oleracea Good source of vitamin C, B2, B6 and A, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, protein and phytochemicals. No wonder Popeye did so well on it. This size of leaf will be best used as a salad item though could be cooked if you really want. Rinse it well, as the rain last week was heavy enough to spatter soil onto the lower leaves.

Radish – The radishes have done well this year, and, as usual, are all ready at once. The wet weather kept the beetles off of them while they were tiny seedlings, but have helped other little pests into having a nibble at some of the skins. You may need to trim them up a little before they reach the salad bowl.

Spring Onion They’re excellent cut into salads or cut into stir-fries. Often used in Chinese recipes.