Newsletter w/c 27th February 2012

It turned out to be a bit too wet to carry out many of the little projects I had planned last week. The road pot-holes were full of water and the holes for concreteing the tunnel poles into place were swimming too. I also ran out of time to lift Jerusalem artichokes for the second half of last week so hope to manage to lift some this week instead for the Thursday and Friday runs.

It was another dismal sporting weekend with a Killie defeat at home and a Scotland defeat to France, albeit with a couple of great Scotland tries for a change and some fine sparks of brilliance from the younger players which may bode well for the future. Andy Robinson must wonder what he has to do to get a win.

I’ve been trying to clear out the swede plot so that we can get the ground prepared for spring. Some of the turnips are slightly smaller than I would have liked and if this is the case I’ve put two in the bag. I’ve been guilty of maybe over-doing the number of times I put Swedes in the bag in recent years and have tried to reduce it a bit this winter, so I hope two small ones won’t be too much of a nightmare. The flavour has been intensified by the frosts at the end of last year.

We are starting to donate some of our excess leaves and small produce to Edinburgh Zoo this week. The boys think this is a great idea and want a run-down of which animals are going to be eating Cobbinshaw produce. It’s a good excuse to go and have my lunch break there each week – I might even get to see the Pandas.

In the current financial climate, it’s always a hard job to identify and bring in new customers. Word of mouth recommendations are by far the best form of advertising, so if you are happy with the service we provide and enjoy your veg deliveries, please let other people know and try to encourage them to give us a go even if it’s just a one-off trial. If you have any niggles about our service we need to hear that too. We are always grateful for constructive criticism – Honest!

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 is Valor. 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.

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.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamins B6 and C and also a source of potassium and fibre and phytochemicals. To cook, cut into quarters, cut out the hard core shred and wash under running cold water, then boil or steam for 7-10 minutes. This recipe is quite close to the traditional bubble and squeak:- Prepare the cabbage as above and put in a pan of lightly saltd boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Remove the rind and gristle from 6oz ( 175g) of bacon, chop crossways into narrow strips and put in a heavy based pan. Fry the bacon until crisp, and the fat begin to run then add a finely chopped onion and cook until soft. Add the drained cabbage, stirring continuously until well coated. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cook through.

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.

swede Brassica napa. (1head). Swedes are one of Scotlands Winter staple veggies. It is completely frost resistant so needs only to harvested as required rather than having to be stored. The only problem is lifting when the ground is frozen I’ve seen us lifting them with pick axes in frosty weather. Cut off the top and bottom of the swede then peel thickly. Cut into cubes or big chunks and boil for 30-40 minutes or alternatively, parboil then set around a roast in the oven for the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Excellent boiled, then mashed with butter and cream.

Newsletter w/c 20th February 2012

The poly-tunnel renovation is taking longer than I anticipated. The obvious damage caused by the storm didn’t look too bad, but once I got down to re-positioning the clamps and brackets, I found a lot of them are damaged and bent out of shape, so it’s taking quite some time to get each section to fit together again at the correct angle. I will get there though. I’m hoping to be sowing seeds by the end of the week.

I’m not short of jobs to do though, as the road has taken a pounding from all the winter weather as well and is needing a day spent on it to fill potholes and save the bone-jarring journeys we all have to face, just to get to the main road. I’ll try to get it done by the weekend too.

On the veg front, we have Jerusalem artichokes in the bag this week. I think this will be the second last lot I’ll manage to harvest this year. I’ll have them in the bags again in three weeks time and then I’ll lift the rest for seed and re-plant them. We’ve also got Brussels sprouts again too. There has been a really good crop of them this year and I’ve probably got 2 more pickings than usual out of them. I just hope it’s not too much for you all. This should be the last picking of this season, so savour them. It’ll be the last we’ll have for about 10 months.

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. 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.

Celeriac (1head). To prepare celeriac, treat it much as you would a swede. Peel it thickly and slice. As you slice the flesh drop it into a pan of cold water with a couple of drops of lemon juice to avoid discolouration. Here’s a recipe fpr Celeriac with mushroom stuffing: Prepare as above but slice crossways into discs 1 inch thick. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and keep the celeriac warm under a dry cloth. Meanwhile, take 250g (1/2lb) mushrooms, keep whole if small and slice thickly if large. Fry the mushrooms in 50g (2oz) butter for 5 minutes until golden. Arrange the celeriac slices on individual plates, top with the fried mushrooms and sprinkle with paprika. Serve as an appetiser.

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

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 also contains Vitamins A and B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. These sprouts this year are so sweet, I’m sure we can convert all those sproutiphobes out there. To prepare, wash the sprouts in cold water and peel off any ragged or marked leaves then cut an X into the base of the sprout. Cook in a minimum of boiling salted water for 8 – 10 minutes, NO LONGER, or they’ll go soggy. They are mini-cabbages and as such can be shredded and stir-fried. Here’s an example; Heat some oil in a wok and add an onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 chilli, all finely chopped, and fry for 2 minutes. Add the sprouts in your bag, shredded and a piece of fresh ginger, cut into fine strips. Stir whiel cooking for 2 minutes, add 3 tablespoons of water, cover and steam for 3 minutes. Season to taste and serve.

Newsletter w/c 13th February 2012

The school holidays have led me to start my delivery runs early this week. I thought it would be good to spend as much time with the boys as possible while they were off, so I apologise if I’ve caught you unawares and delivered before you expected it. If I’ve missed any payments, don’t bother wasting a stamp on sending it to the farm – I’ll easily just collect it when I next deliver to you.

The weather has been far more encouraging this week and we’ve all been out working and making the most of it. I’ve made a start on restoring the poly-tunnel to it’s former glory, or something close to it anyway!. We’ve also been out cutting up some old trees that had been hammered by the winter storms. We’ll get the wood processed and stored away for next winter.

I’m keen to get moving with first sowings of brassicas and hardy salads, so I need the protection of the polytunnel to get the plants germinating.

There will be Jerusalem artichokes in the bag next week again and I think we’ve probably got enough for another picking in 2 or three weeks time before we dig the rest up for seed and re-plant the whole plot. They are an easy crop as they don’t need a lot of weeding once they’re established, so once the tubers are planted I can forget about them until I’m stating to lift them again.

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. 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.

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.

Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group. (1 head) Broccoli is extremely good for you. It contains phytochemicals, Vitamins C, A, B2 and B6, phosphorus, folic acid, fibre, calcium and fibre. Treat as for cauliflower, so wash then it can be boiled or steamed whole or else split up into florets and stir fried.

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa A source of Vitamin C and folic acid, potassium and fibre. There are many ways to cook parsnip but I believe the best thing to do is to peel the parsnip cut off the ends, toss in a little olive oil, quarter them and roast them alongside the pumpkin above. Or on their own. You can’t buy parsnips like these in the supermarkets.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleraceaCapitataGroup (1 head) – If the cabbage is really big this time, I will half it. This is in response to customer comments after the last red cabbages 5 weeks ago. Some of you may even have some left. 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

Newsletter w/c 6th February 2012

Well, after the build-up to the massive sporting weekend, our two results couldn’t have been worse. Kille out of the Scottish Cup and Scotland beaten by an England team who almost looked embarrassed to have won the Calcutta Cup. Still there’s always next week – ever the optimist. Finn decided it was too cold for busking on Saturday – I didn’t try to hard to talk him out of that decision. It must have been perishing on the stands at Murrayfield.

The weather affected last weeks bags a little. Trust me to re-order bananas for the fruit bags on the week when we get to -5 degrees. I have tried to keep the fruit warm but in some instances the bananas got chilled in the back of the van or on the chilly doorsteps. Let me know if you didn’t manage to use them and I’ll compensate you in the next delivery. I thought I had lifted enough Jerusalem Artichokes to see us through the whole week, but it turned out I only had enough to get us to Thursday. Most customers on the Friday delivery run ended up with a substitute instead of the leeks and artichokes because we couldn’t get them out of the ground.

The hard ground isn’t all bad news – I’ve managed to start getting manure onto the plots for this year’s crop. The rhubarb has been weeded and composted and the plan for this week is to give the fruit bushes the same treatment although I may decide to transplant them again if I can figure out where the best place for them is. I’m also trying to clear out our log storage area and get a good covered storage area with a concrete floor, to make it clean and easy to work in. We’ve also got to repair the polytunnel in the next couple of weeks as it’s time to get some seedlings going. If the tunnel was still intact I would probably have done some sowing already.

It’s Keir’s birthday at the weekend, with his Uncle and 2 cousins all one day after the other so we’ve got a few surprises laid on for him and some of his mates. Lets hope it’s a bit warmer than last weekend.

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. 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.

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.

Beetroot Beta vulgaris 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’. 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.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamins B6 and C and also a source of potassium and fibre and phytochemicals. To cook, cut into quarters, cut out the hard core shred and wash under running cold water, then boil or steam for 7-10 minutes. This recipe is quite close to the traditional bubble and squeak:- Prepare the cabbage as above and put in a pan of lightly saltd boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Remove the rind and gristle from 6oz ( 175g) of bacon, chop crossways into narrow strips and put in a heavy based pan. Fry the bacon until crisp, and the fat begin to run then add a finely chopped onion and cook until soft. Add the drained cabbage, stirring continuously until well coated. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cook through.

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.