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