Newsletter w/c 9th October 2017

The holiday cottage has been the taking our work time up this week. We’ve decided to take a section off of the back of what is the dining room at the moment, and make it a shower room. The current bathroom only has a shower head over the bath on the taps, and the room itself is built into the coomb of the roof, so is restricted for space and head room. Our friend Gordon is doing most of the work, with Lynda project managing and me as main gopher or spare pair of hands. Of course, I get any digging jobs required, as usual.

We took Finn down to Ayr, last Wednesday, to attend their Open Day. This meant that I ran out of time and didn’t finish my Wednesday delivery run until Thursday morning. Apologies to all those affected. The campus is very new and really central for town. Finn is interested in a career in music and the University of the West of Scotland runs a Commercial Music course. I think we were all impressed by the facilities and the enthusiasm of the staff was tangible. I think he came away quite inspired.

There’s nothing that should cause me any delays this week, so everyone can expect their bags to arrive on the correct day.

I hope you’re enjoying getting the newsletters again. I had meant to do one or two to get us through the weeks where the deliveries were disrupted, but I’ve had so many comments about how good it is to see them again that I’ll try to keep them going. I am aware that I need to get some new recipe ideas down rather than cutting and pasting the same ones that I’ve done for the last 10 yrs, and I promise I will get onto that as soon as I can.

PLEASE RETURN ALL NET BAGS PLEASE. WE RE-USE THEM.

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

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto our maincrop potatoes now so we’re back to the full amount in the bag. The variety for the most part is Nicola. 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  vitamin B3 and Iodine. They are also an excellent source of Vitamin C and 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.

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.

Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group Excellent source of Vitamin C and folic acid. 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. Also good in stir-fries. Please use as quickly as possible as it doesn’t keep well..

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.

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.

Fruit and Vegetables
Organic Vegetables	£13.50 per standard bag
	£16.50 per Large bag
Organic Fruit	£4.00 per Small Bag
	£7.00 per Large Bag
Organic Pasteurised Milk ( full cream/semi skimmed)	£1.20per  litre
Organic Single cream ( 250ml/500ml)	£1.20/£1.60
Organic Double cream ( 250ml/500ml)	£1.30/£1.70
Eggs
Organic Free Range Eggs	£1.80 per Half Dozen Box

Cheques should be made payable to ‘D Murray’

For more information or to place an order please contact us on 07931 738767 or e-mail us or alternatively you can check out our website at  www.thewholeshebag.com or e-mail  thewholeshebag@aol.com

South Cobbinshaw, West Calder, West Lothian, EH55 8LQ