Newsletter w/c 28th May 2012

We’ve managed to make a proper start to the ground preparation at last. With such a late start, the pernicious weeds have already got a good hold so are needing some attention. It’s mainly couch grass, thistle and cowslip that are causing concern at the moment. I just need to be religious about cultivation and starve them into submission. The tatties are poking through at last and the Jerusalem artichokes are about 300mm high already. I’ve a busy week of deliveries and parental taxi duties ahead, but hope to get quite a bit of sowing done too. I think the weather has to cool down a bit, I just hope it doesn’t rain too much. A light fall each night would be perfect gardening weather.

The other projects are progressing slowly as well. I’m almost at the stage to start building the structure of the new log store. I just have a little more groundworks to do. The soil that is being removed from the log store base is being used to form the slopes for the green in front of the house where the barn used to be – nothing is wasted! Although it’s taking ages, it’s still satisfying to see the little progress we have made at the end of each week. It’s all going in the right direction.

We’re heading down to Peebles at the weekend to have another cycle round the mountain bike tracks at Glentress. It’s a great day out. The last three times we’ve been it has snowed – surely that can’t happen this time.

If I’d known the temperatures were going to be so high, last week, I wouldn’t have organized to have broccoli in the bags. I checked each head as I delivered them and if there was even a hint that the broccoli was on the turn, I discarded it. If it sat on your doorstep for a while though, that situation might have changed quite quickly. Please let me know if you had any problems with veg going off before you got it to the fridge and we’ll try to sort out the problem.

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.

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.

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

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

White Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1/2 head) . To cook, remove any damaged outer leaves, cut into quarters and remove the central core. It can be cooked in quarters like this in boiling salted water or else shredded and boiled or steamed. Here’s a recipe for Cabbage soup which will use up a few items in the bag this week: Prepare and wash the cabbage and shred it finely. Prepare and roughly chop, 2 carrots, the leek and 1/2lb(250g) potatoes. Put all the vegetables in a pan with 3 pints(1.5l) stock and a bouquet garni, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.

Newsletter w/c 21st May 2012

It looks like we might have a good week of dry weather this week, so by Friday, I hope to be able to get the plough out and turn over the beds that are supposed to be already showing signs of verdant growth. One week of good weather won’t be enough so lets hope it continues for two or three weeks and we can seriously catch up with where we’re supposed to be. The ground needs lots of sunshine to warm it up and dry it out. We’re not panicking yet, but it would just be good to be out there planting the crops that we all want to be eating later in the year.

I struggled to drag myself out of the house to get any wee projects progressing in the right direction, the weather was so wet and cold. I managed to get a bit more of the base area of the old shed sorted out. It’s right in front of our house so I just want to level it out and get grass down just now, then work on adding plant beds through time. There’s quite a step down from the level of the house to the level of the excavated bottom of the shed and loads of rubble. I’m trying to use the rubble to form the base of a slope that I can eventually grass seed and join the two areas. It has to be a slope that can be mowed easily. I’m in the process of blinding the rubble with smaller gravelly subsoil and once that’s done, I’ll spread some topsoil then seed it. I was out in the pouring rain last week pouring barrowloads of the gravelly stuff onto the rubble and got about half way. At least it was something but it definitely was not enjoyable.

This is a difficult time of year for us from now until the first of the crops are ready to harvest. We’re getting towards the end of the stored veg from last year and the over-wintering crop in the field is past it’s best or setting seed. Carrots and tatties may have soft bits or sprouts now. If you do receive any veg that is less than top-quality, let me know and I’ll compensate you in your next delivery. We do have a good quality control system during packing but when dealing with dirty veg, some small blemishes can slip through. I’d rather know about them than not, so please believe me, I do appreciate the feedback.

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.

Courgette Cucurbita pepo (1 head) Source of Vitamins A and C , calcium, iron and fibre. Prepare by wshing and trimming both ends. Courgettes can be coked whole or in slices, or they can be cut in half lengthways filled with stuffing and baked. Boil courgettes in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Sliced courgettes may be steamed in butter for 10 minutes. Halved courgettes may be parboiled for 5 minutes the finished in the oven, in a well-buttered dish for 25 minutes at 190oC (375oF) Gas Mark 5.

Calabrese Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head). Calabrese is and excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamins A, B2 and B6, Phosphorus, fibre Iron and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Roast Calabrese with Chilli and Soy that I gave a couple of weeks ago as a romanesco recipe. It is fairly versatile. :

Toss 350g of Calabrese, broken into florets, in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cut the stalks into thick batons. Spread them all out on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven for 10 mins at 200oC/Gas Mark 6 for 10 mins.Add 2 thinly sliced cloves of the garlic, ½ a red chilli, finely chopped and ½ a tablespoon of sesame seeds and mix through. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle with soy sauce and serve. I haven’t tried this one yet but I hope to this week.

Rocket –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 rocket. 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

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 14th May 2012

The field is still wet and cold, so there has been little progress in the last couple of weeks. At the moment I have a flock of Matthew’s sheep in it, grazing off as much of last years greenery and the boundary grass strips to get it as tidy as possible before we get to work. Even they are cutting up the shorter patches of grass. It doesn’t look like a good week this week either, but the forecasters can be wrong sometimes!

We haven’t been idle though. It’s been a busy weekend of family stuff. Last Saturday Finn took part in his first pipe band competition at the Dunbar Pipe Band Championships. He plays the bagpipes with Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia, in their Novice/Juvenile band. They sounded great and came away with a 4^th place. Then on the Sunday both boys played rugby at a Tournament in Peebles and Keir scored his first ever try for Biggar. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it, but it seems to get better and he beats more players, with each time he tells the story. With two holiday let changeovers in the weekend too, we haven’t had a lot of time to do anything in the field anyway, so maybe the weather is a blessing in disguise.

This is a difficult time of year for us from now until the first of the crops are ready to harvest. We’re getting towards the end of the stored veg from last year and the over-wintering crop in the field is past it’s best or setting seed. Carrots and tatties may have soft bits or sprouts now. If you do receive any veg that is less than top-quality, let me know and I’ll compensate you in your next delivery. We do have a good quality control system during packing but when dealing with dirty veg, some small blemishes can slip through. I’d rather know about them than not, so please believe me, I do appreciate the feedback.

I’ve now completed my first 4 weeks of my London Marathon 2013 training program and so far I haven’t had too many aches or pains. I’ve even managed to get the rest of the family out on their bikes to keep me company. I’m still at the easy stage – just trying to get my body used to running 4 or 5 times a week again and building up the mileage slowly. To save my legs a bit, I’ve been running out on the moor and over onto the Pentlands. The peaty paths are far more forgiving on my old knees than the tarmac would be – I just have to watch that I don’t twist my ankle.

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.

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.

Celery (1 head) The central stalks of the celery are best fro eating raw, while the outer ones are probably best cooked or braised or cooked into stocks or sauces. Here’s a recipe for a Waldorf Salad. Put 85g of raisins in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Leave it to soak for an hour then drain the raisin. Peel and core three apples and slice them thinly. Put them in a bowl with half the raisins, 50g of walnut halves that have been lightly toasted in a dry frying pan and 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced. Add enough mayonnaise to coat, season to taste, toss weel to combine. Arrange some lettuce leaves on a serving dish and place the salad on top. Sprinkle with the remaining raisins, plus one tablespoon of chopped parsley and some celery leaves.

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.

Aubergine egg plant Traditionally used to make vegetable lasagnes or moussaka, the aubergine has more versatility than that. For example, they can be great barbequed in stacks as follows: Cut the aubergine into 1cm thick slices and score across with a sharp knife, brush with olive oil and roast at 170oC for 15 minutes. Spread the aubergine slices with a tomato sauce and then a slice of mozzarella, roughly the same size as the aubergine slice.repeat the process til you have a stack of three or four aubergine slices and skewer. I’ve heard it done with rosemary twigs but kitchen skewers will do. Place on a tray over the BBQ and heat through untilt he cheese is beginning to melt but not collapsing and serve with basil leaves and salad and some nice fresh bread.

Newsletter w/c 30th April 2012

The family headed down to Peebles this weekend. Lynda took Keir into town with his Aunt Fiona, while I took Finn to Glentress with his Uncle Peter. We met up with Steve and Gavin Lamb in the Car Park and the 5 of us had about 5 hrs cycling through the hills and forests. It was cold, so a good incentive to keep going and produce our own central heating. The Lambs headed home and the rest of us headed to Peter and Fiona’s in Edinburgh and arrived just in time to watch Edinburgh lose out in the Semi-Final of the Heineken Cup. They were not far away from a winning performance, just the old story of too many costly mistakes at crucial times. At least we had another Killie victory to celebrate.

On Sunday we headed to Currie where the boys were playing in a Mini-Rugby tournament. Biggar played with a lot of heart but none of the p4,P5 or P6 teams managed a win in any of their games. It was bitterly cold, and they suffered a wee bit for that but I think they still enjoyed the experience.

The weather is stalling preparations for planting etc this year. The ground is really cold and very wet. I can’t get onto work it at all, but even if I could get seed sown, in these conditions, I wouldn’t get much germination anyway. It’s not a crisis and there are always plenty of other jobs to do. Another section of dyke had been knocked over by sheltering sheep, so that took me a couple of hours this morning to re-build. I still have a log store to build – I’ve only three of the six post holes dug for that so far, then two more holes to dig for gate posts and once the gates are built, I need to build walls along to seal them in. I have a deck to build for the garden for the summer- when it comes! –and the compost area is still to be constructed as well. The poly-tunnel still has no cover on it and needs looked at too, so you can see, there’s plenty to keep me busy.

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.

Courgette Cucurbita pepo (1 head) Source of Vitamins A and C , calcium, iron and fibre. Prepare by wshing and trimming both ends. Courgettes can be coked whole or in slices, or they can be cut in half lengthways filled with stuffing and baked. Boil courgettes in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Sliced courgettes may be steamed in butter for 10 minutes. Halved courgettes may be parboiled for 5 minutes the finished in the oven, in a well-buttered dish for 25 minutes at 190oC (375oF) Gas Mark 5.

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

Calabrese Brassica oleracea Italica Group (1 head). Calabrese is and excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamins A, B2 and B6, Phosphorus, fibre Iron and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Roast Calabrese with Chilli and Soy that I gave a couple of weeks ago as a romanesco recipe. It is fairly versatile. :

Toss 350g of Calabrese, broken into florets, in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cut the stalks into thick batons. Spread them all out on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven for 10 mins at 200oC/Gas Mark 6 for 10 mins.Add 2 thinly sliced cloves of the garlic, ½ a red chilli, finely chopped and ½ a tablespoon of sesame seeds and mix through. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle with soy sauce and serve. I haven’t tried this one yet but I hope to this week.

Butternut Squash Cucurbita sp. (1 head) An excellent source of phytochemicals and vitamins A and C. Also a significant source of fibre and potassium. Pumpkins are very versatile and can make excellent soup, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks, with chicken or vegetable stock and an onion, carrots and a clove of garlic. Simmer it til tender then liquidise for a hearty soup. Also good roasted. You can either cut it up and remove the seeds and roast it around a joint or chicken, or you can roast it whole, just make sure you cut a hole right through to the seed core first or it could blow up in the oven. Some mess!

Newsletter w/c 23rd April 2012

Sunshine and showers all week – I think that’s what we’re supposed to expect for April. It’s nice to get the weather we expect for a change, although with the droughts in East England it’s obviously not the norm throughout Britain. It’s still just a wee bit chilly to be great growing conditions, but we can get out and do a little bit in the field between showers, getting the ground cleared in preparation for the new season. The potatoes are planted and Jerusalem artichokes are almost all sorted out. In the next couple of weeks I hope to start sowing direct into the field. Most of the crops will be successively sown throughout the next couple of months.

My marathon training started last week as well. With the wet conditions running shoes hardly had time to dry out after one run before I had to pull them on again. Conditions will improve soon I’m sure. My first month of training is very easy, just to get my body back into the idea of training regularly. I don’t want to rush things and strain my old body!

On that subject, it was my birthday last Saturday and coincidently Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band held a concert at Bathgate Academy. The band has three separate bands at different grades. Our son Finn plays the bagpipes in the Novice/Juvenile Band and they put on a great performance along with contributions from the Grade 1 Band and the Juveniles. We wish all the bands well for the coming competition season. It starts in about three weeks at Dunbar. My Mum and Dad came over to watch the performance too so we all went out for a birthday tea and then back home. I wasn’t the only one celebrating on Saturday. My Aunt Margaret and Uncle Deryck were celebrating their Golden wedding anniversary on the same day, at their home in Toronto, and today (23^rd April) my Aunt Anne, in Boise, Idaho is 60 years old. So a lot of the clan are in party mood at the moment.

I meant to put kale in all the bags this week, for the last time this year, however, there wasn’t quite as much left to pick as I thought, so I’ve put the kale in the large bags only and substituted 3 or 4 different veggies into the place where I had kale before. This shouldn’t have a major impact this week but you may receive a repition in the veg selection you receive in the next two or three weeks. I’ll try to avoid the same veg two weeks running where I can.

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.

Cucumber Cucumis sativus (1/2 head) Source of Vitamins A and C and also a source of potassium. Cucumbers are generally eaten fresh in salads. Just give them a wipe over and slice or cut into chunks. For an alternative to this, try peeling the cucumbers thinly, then slice crossways into slices 0.5cm thick. Cut the seeds in the centre out to form a ring. Melt some butter in a frying pan and add a little salt and the cucumber rings. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the cucumber is tender but still crisp. Serve hot.

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.

Pepper Capsicum sp. (1 head) Good source of vitamin C. Wash the pepper, then slice off the top. Scoop out the seeds and membranes. Can be eaten cooked or fresh in various dishes including pasta sauces, pizza, salads. Peppers can also be stuffed with various fillings.

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.