Newsletter w/c 31st December 2012

Happy New Year – All the Best for 2013

After holding our veg prices for over 7 years, we’ve reluctantly been forced to increase the bag prices from the first of January 2013. The new tariff is at the foot of this newsletter and basically is a £2 increase on the veg bags and a £1 increase on the fruit bags. Eggs and milk prices will remain the same. The rise in fuel costs is affecting us in all sorts of ways and to keep the business moving forward and guaranteeing quality produce each week is getting more and more expensive to manage. I hope you won’t think this is out of order, we really do need the extra income to help cover cost increases.

We took the boys down to Biggar to see the bonfire on Hogmanay. It was a cold night, but I’ve never seen such a big bonfire – right in the main street. Once we got close enough, the heat from the raging fire kept the cold out easily and Lynda had her flask of mulled wine with her too so that helped her to warm up too. I was driver for the night and took our friends back to their house where we ended up spending the night. I got to bed at 9am on New Years Day so I’m definitely having an early night tonight with a full delivery run tomorrow. On the farm front – I’m still trying to use this quiet time to get tidying up done and have a huge to-do list. I’ve just got to take each job as it comes. First job is to finish the log store properly and get it filled with logs.

Please let me know if you need help in changing any standing orders or direct debits to take the new prices into account.

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

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part 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. 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.

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.

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.

Swede  Brassica napa (1 head) The staple of the Scottish winter vegetable garden. Just peel the tough skin off and chop up and boil the sweet, crunchy, orange root. Best served mashed with a dribble of cream and a dod of butter through it. A spoonful of this will partner mashed tatties wherever they’re used and, of course, you can’t have haggis without it.

Fruit and Vegetables
Organic Vegetables	£13.50 per standard bag
	£16.50 per Large bag
Organic Fruit	£4.00 per Small Bag
	£7.50 per Large Bag
Organic Pasteurised Milk ( full cream/semi skimmed)	£1.20per  litre
Organic Single cream ( 250ml)	£1.00/£1.60
Organic Double cream ( 250ml)	£1.30/£1.70
Eggs
Organic Free Range Eggs	£1.80 per Half Dozen Box