Newsletter for w/c 25th January 2016

I'm writing this on Burns Night, so I hope you've all spared a thought for the man and his works, maybe even had a wee Burns supper yourselves, and if so, I hope our tatties and neeps did a fine accompanying job. I'm from Ayrshire and proud of Rabbie, so I don't let this time of year pass without a meal in his memory.
We increased our hen total by two this week, after taking a couple of rescued Black Rock hens from the charity A Wing and a Prayer. They have settled in really well and are looking great - fully feathered and well-fed. We've had Black Rocks before and they've always proved to be good layers so we should have an abundance of eggs this Spring.
I've been given the chance of a new experience later on in Spring by a friend. He knows some guys who are involved in re-enactments of medieval battles and things of that ilk. Their group have been invited to a Fete in Orleans to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the execution of Joan of Arc and were a couple of men short. It looks like I may be enlisted in the ranks for the occasion. All I've heard so far is that I'll be dressed in a kilt, throwing stones and tossing cabers, but won't need to be near the pointy end of any swords or lances. Should be interesting!
The boys are still piping and drumming with the Novice/Juvenile band at Boghall and Bathgate Pipe Band. The senior (Grade 1) band have played at Murrayfield for the rugby internationals on a regular basis, and this year, the young band has been asked to perform at the Womens rugby internationals. These games are held at Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld on the Friday evenings of the international weekends. The summer tends to get quite tense for the bands, with the serious business of competitions taking place most weekends, so these kind of exhibition outings are a welcome break from the practice and good for the band funds too.

This week's  standard vegetable bag contains: potatoes, onions carrots, broccoli, leek, parsnip and garlic
The large bag also includes: savoy, cauliflower and celery.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. Some of you may get washed potatoes. These have been washed to check for blemishes and disease. Soil acts as a natural preservative, so the washed tatties may not keep quite as long as the dirty 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.

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.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

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.

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa (350g). Source of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.  Peel the root thickly and slice the flesh. Boil in lightly salted water for 30 minutes. Alternatively, parboil for 10 minutes then roast for 20 – 30 minutes. Here’s a recipe I found for: Fried Parsnips; Trim the tops and roots off the parsnips then peel and cut in half lengthways. Put the parsnips in a pan of boiling water ( lightly salted)  and cook for 15 minutes. They should still be firm and not quite tender. Drain thoroughly. Lightly beat an egg and dip the parsnips in it before coating them with breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt 2oz(50g) of butter in a frying pan and shallow fry the parsnips until they are golden and crisp on both sides, turning once.

Newsletter w/c 18th January 2016

The Baltic weather conditions of the last week have been a bit of a shock to the system after the mild (relatively) temperatures, we'd been experiencing. It was only in last week's blog that I was dreaming of extended growing seasons and bumper crops. Of course, we need the low temperatures to kill off pests, and veg like parsnips and swede have an enhanced flavour once they've endured a frost, so I'm not complaining. it's also perfect conditions for walking out in the countryside. I'd rather be walking over a hard frost-covered moor path than stumbling up to my knees in mud every few metres.
The low temperature isn't great for all veg though and frost damage is very hard to detect in its early stages. should you be less than happy with the quality of the produce you receive - please let me know.
Keir and Finn have both been out socialising with friends last weekend, and spending plenty of time out in the snow, so we havent quite got round to ordering the seeds yet for this season's crop, so we need to get onto that this week and get things started.
We still havent got up to speed completely with eggs yet. We are short again this week, new orders and back-dated deliveries have meant that a few deliveries on Wednesday will miss out on eggs again. I hope this will resolve itself soon.
The standard veg bag this week contains : potato, carrot, onion, kale, red cabbage, beetroot and leek.
The large bag has the same in larger quantities and in addition has : pumpkin, tomato and broccoli.

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.

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.

Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group..(1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the  has contiutough coresand shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz.(50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, season to taste with sugar. The cabbage will have a fairly sharp flavour. Cover with a lid and simmer

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’. 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.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum.  Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast.

Newsletter w/c 11th January 2016

Well, we almost got ourselves back in our routine last week. One or two New Year Hangovers meant that fruit was a day late in arriving and eggs couldn't get delivered to us in time for deliveries at all. I'm glad to say we're confident that barring weather problems, deliveries should be back to normal. 

With Burns Night  on the horizon, we've included the neeps and tatties in the selection this week with a wee bit of parsley to accompany your haggis. Let us know if you're going to be hosting a Burns Supper at home with your Whole Shebag veg, and how far you  go with the ritual poems and addresses. Up til now we've always addressed the haggis and thats as far as we've gone. This year I fancy trying to get the family to read a bit of the Bards work during the meal too. Whether the others fancy it - I'm not so sure. We'll see what happens.

Keir and I will be sitting down this week to go through the seed catalogues and pick our choice of varieties for this seasons crops. When the seeds get delivered, we feel thats the signal that the new season has begun. We'll get the polytunnel frame covered again at the beginning of February and start sowing.

So, that means i have a month to get as much of the maintenance and one-off jobs done, that I never have time for once the veg starts needing attention. its just a case of grabbing the opportunities we can to get outside when the weather suits and there's enough daylight.

Please let us know if you ever have any problems with the quality of the produce you receive. When veg is dirty or has a skin its sometimes difficult to detect any damage until its cleaned and cut open in the kitchen. We will be happy to replace any un-useable items with additional items in your next delivery.

Please also remember to return the empty net bags

This week, the Standard vegetable bag contains: potatoes, carrots, onion, swede, savoy, fennel and parsley

The Large vegetable bag also includes the above plus mushroom, kale and leek

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.

Parsley Petroselinum sp.  This is the more traditional moss-curled type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into saladsor, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the  stems by about an inch.

Savoy Cabbage Brassica oleracea . 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  as it has a big 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.
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 chicken.

Newsletter w/c 4th January 2016

After a long break, one of the New Years resolutions for this year is to get the blog up and running again on a weekly basis. Happy New Year to you all, we're looking forward to a good year in the field. The weather is causing all sorts of problems at the moment, but the mild conditions may mean that we have a longer growing season if it continues the way it is. Of course, the usual cold weather may come yet, and with the ground being so wet it will need a good dry spell before we can get to work on it without causing damage to the soil structure.
We've had a busy Festive break, visiting friends and family and spending a bit of time in Peebles. it has been badly affected by flooding, but there's a great community spirit in the town. Over the weekend we joined teams of volunteers to help clear up public areas and help people clear homes and gardens of debris and damaged furniture and carpets. The rugby club's main pitch needed a lot of work done to fencing and advertising boards, although the actual pitch doesn't seem to have been affected too badly.
Our holiday has been extended by one day as our main supplier for fruit and more exotic veg took an extra days holiday. This means that all deliveries this week will be one day later than anticipated. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
This week's standard bag contains potatoes, onion, carrot, cauliflower, leek, white cabbage and garlic.
The large bag also contains Butternut Squash, celeriac and pepper. Substitution may occur. Please note that we can omit any veg that you'd rather not receive - we'll substitute something else. The same applies to amounts of potatoes in the bag from week to week.

Potato Solanum tuberosum.. The variety for the most part is Valor. Some of you may get washed potatoes. These have been washed to check for blemishes and disease. Soil acts as a natural preservative, so the washed tatties may not keep quite as long as the dirty 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.

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.

Cauliflower 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. Cauliflower is also good in stir-fries as it has a lovely crunch to it if you don’t cook it for too long. It’s often served boiled or steamed with a cheese sauce and makes an excellent hearty soup.

Garlic  (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or  toast to make a tasty snack.

White Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group. 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.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO RETURN THE NET BAG