Newsletter w/c 28th November 2011

Someone else beat me to the farmers market at Juniper Green on Saturday, but considering the weather conditions, I feel quite fortunate that I missed out this time. I’ve been promised a pitch at the market on the 17^th December. Hopefully I’ll manage to get along to it this time.

During the festive season, delivery days will not need to be changed. We’ll deliver as normal on the week before Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Year. We’ll take our customary festive week off over the first week of the New Year, so there will be no deliveries on the week beginning 2^nd January with deliveries starting again on the 9^th January 2012.

We’re always looking for new customers, so please spread the word about the service we provide. We still have plenty of capacity as numbers of deliveries dipped slightly a couple of years ago when the financial crisis first raised its head. We want to be working as efficiently as we can so the more deliveries in each area we have, the less fuel we use per household. Also, if you have any suggestions on how we could improve the service, please let me know.

At Cobbinshaw, I’ve been trying to tidy up areas around the sheds and the polytunnel and improve the surfaces of the storage and access areas. It’s been a bit wet for it, but we’re getting there. We’ve also stripped the floor area from our old barn to form the structure and get the levels correct for the garden around our house. It’ll give us the blank canvas we need to start turning it into an interesting, colourful and enjoyable garden for ourselves and for a wide variety of birds, insects and other wildlife.

This is a list of the vegetables included in the standard bags this week. Substitutions may occur.

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.

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.

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. A nice idea for cooking leeks is to sweat finely sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes, pour in a glass of red wine and simmer until reduced. Season and serve as an accompaniment to grilled fish or roast meat.

Beetroot Beta vulgaris (400g ) Contains Vitamin C folic acid and potassium. Can be cooked in various ways, but don’t peel the beet until you’ve boiled it as this stops it ‘bleeding’. My recipe for you this week completely disregards this, so have a pair of rubber gloves and newspaper handy. I’m going to tell you how to make Super Boost Juice – Put on the rubber gloves, spread out a newspaper and peel your beetroot and cut it into chunks. Take 4 apples and quarter and core them. Take 4 carrots and trim and peel them. Take 1cm/1 inch of fresh ginger and peel it. This is easily done by scraping the skin off with the side of a teaspoon. Process all the ingredients through a juicer. Stir and serve immediately, adding ice if desired.

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.