Well, it's been a while since we posted anything, so here's the last update of 2008 from the G and S farm!

All the stress of Christmas will hopefully soon be behind us, as Christmas deliveries go out next week, on Monday and Tuesday. Only the non-farm related stress of the day itself left to survive!

Our turkeys put up a fight this week, in a last ditch attempt to avoid the christmas dinner tables of the north east, but thankfully everything is now under control. Until the next thing goes wrong that is...!
On that subject, it looks, from my window at least, as if the Longfram village christmas tree is on the verge of falling over, probably taking our electricity/wall with it!

Thanks to all our customers for your business over the last year, and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year. We will be back delivering on the 7th of January.

See you all then,
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year,

Lee, Beth, Sue, Steven, Katie, John
The G and S Organics Team

Well another week over as we march closer to the Christmas holidays. We hope you are all looking forward to the holiday and New Year as much as we are.
Lots of planning going on at G and S. Lee is spending hours agonizing over seed catalogues and muttering about heads of cabbage per acre!
The whole team - well, nearly the whole team - was out in force on Monday planting fruit trees. Thank you to all who volunteered to help. Just be grateful you didn’t have to play out. We had every kind of weather on Monday: Weak sun, heavy hail and driving rain. A fantastic day, however; all the trees planted. We have staked, composted and mulched them in, so look out in spring for beautiful fruit blossom and hopefully no late frost to kill off the fruit.

no trees...

Trees!

The turkeys are all looking happy and healthy, enjoying running around the farm. The weather doesn’t seem to bother them. In fact, we have to call and call them for teatime and bed.

Some great cook-ahead ideas this week to get you in the Christmas spirit and reduce the stress on the day.
By the Way, Check the website for special offers, we are doing our best to help all our customers tailor deliveries to better suit their needs.

Let us know what you are planning for Christmas and when you will want your delivery. Please note Christmas orders close this weekend. To book a delivery slot tel.07894622256.

Deliveries will be as normal on the 18th and 19th of December. Christmas orders will be delivered on the 22nd and 23rd. No deliveries at all on the 1st and 2nd of January, then we are back to normal on the 8th and 9th of January 2009.
So stock up now!

Well what a change in the weather we have seen this week! We actually had a little snow in the village, quite rare for this time of year. We don’t normally see any until the new year. All the puddles and the drinking butts for the animals have been frozen over in the mornings for last few days. going around and breaking the ice so the animals can drink is just another job to add to an already long list!

Here is a view of Lee's brand new(!) digger.

We are currently digging trenches to border our fields. this is part of our long term plan to improve the quality of our heavy clay soil. The trenches should help drainage and make the soil lighter. We will eventually dig a grid of channels accross the fields, to improve water and air circulation. these will drain into our stream, which in turn feeds our pond.

At this time of year, much of our time on the farm is spent preparing for next year. Anything that doesn’t move needs to be painted, and anything that does needs to be greased.
We have been putting beds into the walled garden, mixing in compost to improve the soil, and mulching to suppress weeds, ready for planting in the spring.

I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that Rufus, the Labrador who injured himself on the new fences, has now made a full recovery, and is ready to injure himself again as soon as he gets the chance! Hopefully he will resist the temptation, even though we know he loved all the attention it got him, as the vet’s costs are astronomical!

We are looking to put the Tup in with our ewes next week. This should give us lambs in April of next year. We will keep you up to date on their progress each week in the newsletter.

Oh, and don’t forget to get your Christmas order in on the website, as the deadline is December 1st. It may seem a long way off, but it will be upon you before you know it!

Latest News from the G and S farm:

Nothing ever runs smoothly, it seems this week. On the positive side, the fencing is finally finished, with the exception of a couple of gates still to hang. It looks fantastic. Unfortunately the dogs took a little while to realise that the fences are now secure, sturdy structures. Rufus, one of our Labradors, tried to jump the fence expecting it to still be slack, and ripped his leg. He has had to go to the vet 3 times so far, but seems to be loving the extra attention, and can't wait to get in the car to go for another trip! (Which is OK for him, but very expensive for us!)

Lee has a new toy, a digger, although new is probably the wrong word for describing it:

It has been working virtually non stop since it arrived, with the exception of the times it gets stuck in the mud! Mainly digging ditches and general drainage work.

Our turkeys have arrived and are settled in, happily pecking about in their new home. Their arrival has really made us aware that christmas is fast approaching. They are selling out fast, so if you want a G and S farm turkey at the best price, delivered to your door for christmas, head over to the website now and get your order in.

There is still plenty to do on the farm, still some vegetables left to pull up and store, as well as making seed lists for next year, and composting and general tidying up and maintanance.

We've certainly had more than enough rain recently, but at least we can enjoy the beautiful sight of a rainbow when it rains, even if its to wet to do anything...

see you all next week.

Latest From the G and S Farm:

The Weather is really starting to change now, it's noticeably colder this week. Autumn is definitely in full swing, and the animals are starting to feel it as much as we are.

We spent some time last week putting in extra bedding for the pigs, although they seemed more interested in watching us work than snuggling down in all that warm, cozy straw.

Even Fearnley the cat came along to help:

The Pigs have also been pigging out(!) on the remains of our courgette harvest. They are not as fussy as us, and have happily eaten the whole plants:



Whinnie the mare is eating us out of house and home, but doesn't seem to putting on any weight at all, which is more than can be said for her foal, who is looking fat and extremely hairy! some pictures will follow in the coming posts.

This week we have finally managed to source some turkeys. We will rear them at home on the farm, however, we will not be able to call them organic because their lives will not have started organically. We will rear them to organic standards from now on, but will be selling them as free range. They will be reared to our usual high standards. No GM or nasty chemicals.
On that note, Christmas is fast approaching, and the time has come to get your Christmas food order in with G and S organics. You can order your turkey, veg, Christmas pudding, and any dairy and meat products you need from the website, http://www.gandsorganics.com/. get your Christmas orders in by December 1st, and it will all be delivered to your door between December 21st and 23rd. Happy shopping!

Shopping for Sheep...

This week we have been checking out a group of mature ewes with the aim to adding them to our flock. We went to Overgrass Organics, just up the road from our own farm, where we met six ewes and gave them a quick once over. We are hoping to get them purchased and onto the farm next month, after they have been visited by the tup. They will lamb in April.

When they get here they will join our flock of a dozen young ewes. Our ewes will be lambing in April too, their first, and they will be able to learn from the new, older ewes how to look after and feed their lambs.

The older ewes are also used to human contact, and will help to keep their younger companions calm at feeding time, sheering, and when the vet comes to check on them.

Here are some photos from our visit to Overgrass Organics:

the new sheep

From the newsletter this week:

What a week! Several things have gone badly this week, and that doesn't include the weather! Today I filled my diesel car with petrol... I felt like such an idiot; just too many things on my mind in one go and, Wham! I go and do something extra dippy to cap off a difficult few days. Lee and John came to my rescue on the side of the road. Thanks Boys!

One of our old sows died, a bad and sad day all round. It rained. On a lighter note, Lee and I fell out over getting the tractor stuck. As a result I wasn't speaking to Lee when i got my feet stuck in the mud and had to call him to come and physically pull me out! He came up from the bottom field laughing and took a photo. We both started laughing at the situation, and just like that, my mood was cleared. So you see: three feet of mud is good for something!

Thanks to all who have given or promised ground cover materials, it is all useful and much appreciated. Progress is definitely being made in the walled garden, raised beds and borders for perennial vegetables such as artichokes and asparagus. We are even talking about a cascade of strawberries for next summer. I may even sneak in some flowers...

There is loads to be getting on with, even in this awful weather, including construction and groundwork; and lots of carrots still to be harvested and stored for the winter.


Latest news from the G and S farm:

Here are some photos from the farm this week, showing the work that's in progress, and what we are currently harvesting:

Composting toilet. A work in progress...

walled garden: building in progress

A selection of fruit and veg from the farm

Unripe Squash

Autumn is pumpkin time!

News from the farm this week:
We have been super busy this week. Planting, fencing, topping the paddocks, planning where the cattle shed should be sited for the planners. Working out the dates to put the tup (ram) to go to the ewes for the lambing.
The new “walled” garden, at the top of the big vegetable field, makes me grin every time I look at it. The raised beds are just what I want and the extra shelter will allow us to grow some more fruit and vegetable varieties that need more care and attention. So if there is anything weird and wonderful you might remember from childhood that you would like us to have a go at let us know as soon as possible.
This week we have had some lovely meals made out of very little, a sort of use everything up week. The colder weather helps to make this happen because more substantial meals are ,I think, easier to prepare and adapt to what you have.
We have had a lovely meaty lamb and potato stew with lots of mint in the gravy served in big fluffy Yorkshire puddings with some quick cooked greens.

This weekend, we were at the Taste of the Tyne Festival. It was good for us to meet other local suppliers, and we look forward to adding Beckleberry's Organic Ice cream and Steve Oldale's Northumberland Mussels from Holy Island to our own kitchen as well as yours! Both of these suppliers are as committed as we are to supplying great quality local produce.

Some Photos from the farm this week:

Whinnie the mare and Mr Lovage, who was born in June:
Carrots fresh from the groud:
Taste of the Tyne Festival:

Great news: Tree planting has well and truly begun and the fencer has arrived.

New fencing is in process of being installed, this is a great investment in the farm and should hopefully last 15 to 20 years. We have warned May that her days will be numbered if she decides to smash her way through these new fences just to take herself off for a little walk and a sleep in the depleted courgette bed! The picture belows shows the new fencing, both strong wire fencing, and an electric fence too.


So smiles all round at home this week.

Another 650 Christmas trees were planted on Tuesday with more plum, pear and apple trees arriving next month.


The walled garden is marked out and taking shape, although we desperately need weed suppressing materials (old carpets and dust sheets are ideal, if anyone has an of these type of things going spare, please get in touch: info@gandsorganics.com).
I think I may even have glimpsed the sun at the weekend.
The shooting season is well under way and to take advantage of this we have been eating a bit of the Duke of Northumberlands game, and very nice it was too. We hope to put some of Northumberland estate’s game in the boxes in the coming weeks and months, with lots of recipes and ideas on how to cook and use it. For those who haven’t eaten game before, don’t be nervous, we haven't met anyone yet who hasn’t really enjoyed it once they have all the “how to” information.
If anyone is really set against the whole game idea, please let us know and we will make sure you don’t get any nasty surprises in your box. However, there is nothing to stop you giving it a go before making up your mind.
Northumberland estate game is all reared and shot on the hills, heather and woodland around the market town of Alnwick, wild and free range. It is not organic.

From this week's newsletter:
The beginning of this week found us in the fields planting Christmas trees, partly as shelter belts, partly as a crop, which would have been more enjoyable if the heavens hadn’t opened! Despite getting soaked, it’s very satisfying to know that in three or five years we will have a lovely crop of trees for sale. You will be able to come up and select your tree, and pick your vegetables and collect your Christmas turkey.
We’ll all be pleased to hear that the forecast for the weekend is good. We are still harvesting carrots, squash, beetroot, courgettes, and hope to dig the last of our potatoes. Beth is very excited about the new raised beds going in for next spring/summer’s soft fruits.
Autumn is approaching faster than we’d like, and this weeks recipes should be warming and help make the box go further.
If anybody has any paving materials going spare for wheelbarrow paths, also any old carpets for mulching and weed suppression in the beds (planting beds, not the sleeping sort!), these would be much appreciated. Please contact us via the email address at the end of this newsletter, or by phone
Check the website, www.gandsorganics.com for more news from the farm, and new products.

News from the farm:
Despite the very wet weather, the carrots seem to have survived, and are looking good.
The same cannot be said for the potatoes. They are looking poor, and we would like to apologise to all customers for this, however noone is able to supply good quality potatoes now as a result of the bad weather.
We are also coming to the end of the courgette harvest. There are only a few small ones left, which have been attacked by slugs. We have some photos of the destruction, which we will upload soon.
On top of this, numerous pig escapes have ruined the potential pumpkin harvest. Thankfully, the fencer arrived this week, and started putting the defences in place to prevent this happening again.
Update: here are the photos of the terrible weather and damaged and slug eaten produce:

Spring finally springs?

At last we have some fantastic weather. After what seems like non-stop rain for the whole of last week we had a fantastic sunny weekend and this week too seems to be going well.

Its been enough to finally get the veggies into action with our long suffering tomatoes turning from green to red after hanging around for a few months waiting for some sun to ripen them up.
We have had our first berry crop this week so some may have berries in the boxes others will get them in the next week or two.

We've been enjoying cooking outside mostly and had the best leg of lamb I have ever tasted last night. B slow cooking it on an open fire, spiked with garlic and some of our berries and then dowsed with all manner of lotions (mushroom ketchup, soy sauce, brown sauce) we ate this with fresh new potatoes boiled in a wok(?) and salad from the garden with a home made mustard.
The lamb was the same as went in the boxes last week and had the benefit of a weeks hanging in the chiller as the rest but then we hung it for a further week to really bring out the flavour, it was fantastic.

The puppies are up and about now, they are wanting our constant attention. First to be let out, then to be let back in, then back out. They just can't seem to decide where is more fun! Attacking laces and trouser legs seems to be the order of the day. We have earmarked half with new owners but still have five to go. Do tell your friends...if they don't go soon B will start hatching plans to keep them all, which will destroy my plans for another terrier.

We also managed to get out and do some much needed leafleting in our local areas, we have been neglecting the new business side of things whilst setting up the farm but now things are coming out of the soil rather than just going in all the time, we can concentrate on getting some more lovely customers. We've added a lot more products to the website in the hope that we can help people find the good organic things they need and make it more convenient to get them. Although adding excellent Italian wines was an expensive idea with us drinking to selling at a 6:1 ratio! Check out the site at http://www.gandsorganics.com/ and register with the site to receive event information, offers, news and other nice stuff that may be handy.

We also had a reminder of how obsessed we've become with the box scheme when last night George climbed into a box and started telling us he wanted to be delivered...so if theres any interest......

The family grows

What a month June has been. We've been run off our feet with the various tasks associated with running a food/agricultural business.

We started the month with a good head of steam getting all the paths and paved areas in, ready for our open day. The open day was a great push to get all the unneccessary jobs done that bring the farm together like painting steel containers green, putting nice bark chippings around the polytunnel and hardening off areas, paving round the cold frames and the 'field kitchen'. Steve and Kate spent an afternoon erecting our marquees for Steves organic wine tasting and only to be left a bit deflated when 20 minutes later we were jumping on there bent, unturned frames trying to hold them down in the forthcoming gails!

We have spent a day going through our first vat inspection which went surprisingly well, don't believe the hype when it comes to the inspectors. We found ours very approachable and helpful.
Add to this a environmental health inspection and over a day spent on the phone trying to sort our new herd and flock marks with variuos councils and government agencies and you get an idea of whats been keeping us away from the blog.

The good news has been flooding in from all directions throughout the month, with the slowest soil in Northumberland gradually starting to wake up..we will be harvesting our strawberries, rhubarb and various berries and currants very shortly albeit in very small quantities this year.

Lettuce and salads are doing well, as are the tomatoes despite the polytunnel being completely under water at one end. We have lost a few plants but nothing major. We have lots of flowers coming on the courgettes, squashes and melons promising a healthy crop. We managed to get all the brussell sprout plugs planted along with our romanesco brocolli.

The bad side of all the growth is that the rabbits are now our constant companions but we will start working our way through these when they are nice and fat!

New additions to the family this month have been Mr. Lovage the foal, who is huge but very friendly and surprisingly easy to handle. Treacle finally gave birth to a litter of ten strong, fat puppies. So we are now looking for homes for five lovely chocolate labs and five sleek black labs of both sexes. Do let us know via the website http://www.gandsorganics.com/ if you would like to come and have a look at them. We'll add some pics as soon as they open there eyes and are settled in.

Hugh and fearnley the pussy cats have also taken up residence in B's garden store, and love to venture out when the dogs are running around outside. Although Pip, our jack russell has taken to taking them around in his mouth. I'm sure the cats will get there own back when they get a little older with those nasty claws that cats seem so happy to deploy on interested doggies noses.

The county show, more planting and some other excuses..

Sorry we have been away from the blog for over a week, things are starting to get extremely busy for us.
We had a great day at the county show catching up with customers old and new, even getting chance to watch a bit of the show ring happenings. Its a great event for people to get an insight into farming in Northumberland although it seems a divide is growing between the farmers present and 'punters'. The blame does not lie with any party alone, with the organises needing to appeal to a massive market to keep the show financially viable and this means adding attractions that are more suitable to the mass market. So we end up with more people in the crowd outside the waitrose freebie tent than watching the cattle judging??

As usual it was disappointing to see all the franchise style catering vans selling outstandingly overpriced rubbish, most of them coming from outside the county and some even having the nerve to sell meat that wasn't reared in the UK. As is the norm these days the same farmers who complain about the price they get paid were queuing at the stands with the cheapest burgers or shortest ques not the stands advertising local or British and thereby supporting the intensive, substandard farmers that they would otherwise criticise.

On a lighter note things have been moving on with the vegetable activity, we now have 600 pumpkin plugs planted out and a further 400 seeds in the ground. We have 1000 courgette plugs desperate to get out of the tunnel and into the field and with all the watering they get, we want them out too. B's now up to 20 mins at a time in the tunnel watering, which would have me on my knees. We have carried on with the last of the carrots and peas all but finished.

Looking ahead we have ordered our turkey chicks to get ready for Christmas, we will take delivery of them in July. The brussel sprouts we sowed in the tunnel a few weeks ago are being pricked out into plug trays and will hopefully go into the field in the next few weeks. We are trying to clear space in the tunnel so we end up with space for the cabbage plugs we need to get on with and give the tomatoes, peppers and chillis room to grow.

Away from the farm we have been awaiting the exciting news on a planning decision to allow us to get on with the roads and putting our packing shed up, only to find that the council have rejected the plans and want another full planning application and so we must go up to another 8 weeks before work can commence. We rather naively thought that keeping four people employed, developing a locally biased sustainable business that generates thousands of pounds for the local economy and providing a service to local people that otherwise wouldn't be there would help our application but these things seem to have no bearing on the ever important decision makers that seemingly wish to grind this country to halt. We'll keep you posted with whats happening and may try to set up some sort of online petition to show support of our business.

It was a sad day on Friday due to our beloved Landrover being sold. We had a nice drive up to Edinburgh and handed her over to a great guy who seemed really pleased with her. The train journey home was reflective and quiet as we had planned to keep her till she passed away but we just couldn't justify the horrendous mpg any more without the vast amount of pigs and other stock we used to move around we just didn't use her enough. B's not relishing the thought of another van as the family transport, although I've promised seats for everyone in the next one. The boys never complained about sitting on the spare wheel in the back with the three dogs in the little van but I did feel guilty, and could see the horror on B's face.

Speaking of dogs, treacle the black lab is a few weeks of having her first litter of puppies. She has calmed down a lot lately and tends to spend most of her time sleeping, which though not unusual for Labrador's is very unusual for this particularly sprightly doggy.

The pigs are still disappointed with there new living arrangements and not a day goes by when one doesn't have to be ushered back into the pen we have for them. A bigger battery for the electric fence is added to the ever expanding wish list!

The great escape....

After many escape attempts over the past week, we decided to move our 6 sows.

The past few mornings have been made a little busier due to finding the odd pig raking around the farm, looking in the poly tunnel and going in the sheds! They haven't caused any damage but it is rather unsettling to think of the devastation they could have caused.

Despite having food, water and plenty of straw and hay to sleep/chomp on they seem to have decided that the grass is greener. We thought it might be nice to set up the new paddock down by the little beck that supposedly drains our top field so when they piggies get hot and bothered they can get in the cool wet sludge and roll around to cool off and protect themselves from sunburn.

All these considerate thoughts were contradicted when we went down to check them after the first night in the new place to find that 2 of them had returned to the old paddock crossing electric fence, over the beck and under the old pig netting and barb wire in the process. We moved them back only to find the next morning the 2 had become 4!

We have pushed them all back in the paddock once again and hope the wanderlust dies down sometime soon...

The shopping channel

South charlton pre school, where the boys used to go. Were having a fund raising cookery gadget demo, and I was only to glad to attend.

After quite a productive planting day I rushed to school to pick up the boys. Dashed home made wheat and gluten free chocolate chip cookies and a quickie tea of pasta. Through the boys in the bath and chucked on some clean jeans.
Left the boys in front of a dvd with the baby sitter. (We don't do television normally)
Well with a little make up and some smelly I looked and more to the point, smelt better than usual.

On getting into the landrover I noticed fat tummy was with me and no amount of persuasion would ensure it stayed at home. Then hag hands thought they should also be invited, well if hag hands were going gardeners nails were coming too.
So off we set, fat tummy, hag hands, gardeners nails and me, looking absolutely fabulous darling.

The cookery demo was rather more like the shopping channel, but with no remote.
Some fantastic gadgets that the demonstrator simply couldn't live without, but you would need a kitchen the size of the local swimming pool to display them all to your friends, then cupboards space similar to the tower of London to condemn them to when they go out of favour.
But I have to say, all in all a very enjoyable night out. Thank you little acorns pre school committee.

Sunday steaks

Had another great hot and dry day yesterday. Managed to drive upto the farm steading area for the first time since back in September!

Spent some time arguing with B over bedding plant locations around the shed and summerhouse/kitchen, B's love of people means she would be quite happy having our own 'personal garden' right next to the commercial side of the business leaving me nowhere to hide on open days. I disagreed on locations and took to the summerhouse roof with hammer and nails to make some noise, B took to the firepit and made us a lovely steak and salad lunch. Obviously I agreed she was correct about the locations and got stuck in to the steak.(served on makeshift tin foil plates)

Taking shape

We have had some back breaking days on the farm this week, but really feel we have turned the corner. Lots of jobs to be ticked off the to do list.
Polytunnel sheeted, tomatoes planted amongst other things. Really gearing up to have you all over for the open day on the 15th of June. The summer house, which will be our commercial kitchen, is coming on with only the roof to go on before we can get inside with the shiny stainlees steel stuff. If any of you would like to camp on the Saturday night before the open day please let us know numbers. Facilities are very limited, but that could add to the fun!
Every meal this week has been cooked and eaten out side, great, very limited washing up and tidying up. I think it has also improved our diet. No sticky puddings and loads of salad and raw veggies along with the meat dishes. In fact we have eaten so much meat this week we are both craving a veggie curry for supper. Hot and tasty, a great way of using up the left over vegetables. Like cauli, fennel, red onions, carrots, leeks and potatoes.
The school pick up has held some scary moments these last few weeks, with me appearing “fresh” from the veggie garden. But Tuesday was the funniest day by far. I am normally running late. But Tuesday I appeared at school, much to the heads amusement , on time. Well what I thought was on time, I had forgotten the children were signed up to the schools gardening club 3 till 4 on Tuesday. ( you would have thought they got their fill of gardening.)
“ Oh great mummy, you can help. “ shouted Billy before I could make my escape. “ She’s organic” announced George my youngest, to the rest of the group of 4 to 9 year olds . Who all nodded their heads, staring at me, with rather a knowing look.
“Your 5” I wanted to shout , “you shouldn’t care if “I’m organic”“, but “have you brought me a present! “
Actually we all had rather a nice time gardening together in their raised beds. It will be lovely for all the children to grow and use their own produce.
Perhaps it is the right time for even our round faced babes to understand about organics and even a little about self sufficiency . Look out school I may need to do a take on compost toilets!

The hot Bank holiday Monday

Well what an absolutely fantastic start to the week. We spent a very wet Sunday indeed, planting and tidying on the farm. We were so wet we ate our lunch outside, with a roaring hot wood fire to dry us off a little. It wasn’t worth getting dry to go in for lunch just to get wet when we went back out. “ The show must go on “ and we were starting to get our knickers in a twist about sowing dates and harvest intervals.

Monday morning arrived, as it does, and what a day! Clear blue skies and hot, hot, hot. We had arranged to go out for the bank holiday Monday, with the kids. I have to admit half of me was just itching to get back to planting, but luckily guilty mummy syndrome was far stronger. I truly believe that all working mums suffer from the disease.

Off we went to the little train at Heatherslaw. ( http://www.ford-and-etal.co.uk/) The boys had a terrific day with only a few “can I haves and awh!“ We took the train to Etal and had a picnic of fruit, cold cured roast beef (from the slow roast joint that I stuck in a brine cure a couple of weeks ago) cheese and cake by the river as the boys splashed around. Then we had rather a well earned ice cream and pint ( work that one out for yourselves) in the Black Bull at Etal. Taking the little steam train winding its way back to the water mill at Heatherslaw, a lovely day out with only two obligatory parental torture chambers ( child high, plastic, toy, gift shops).
Thank you Heatherslaw for a great family day out. My tip is to get there early and miss the rush, or make a whole day of it, which you easily can.
Tuesday dawned and sun again. What luck. We spent the whole day on the farm planting, sheeting the poly tunnel , fencing and this time a rather leisurely lunch in the sun. Great root veg slaw and spicy chicken wings and garlic croutons made from last weeks loaf and far too many chocolate beetroot muffins (recipe on the web site) and cowboy style coffee from the fire. Ye hah!

Have a lovely week. Please email me and let me know what you are up to.
Look at the website to check out the dates of our cookery demo/courses in June. “Plain and fancy “is the theme and we hope you will join Lucy and I at The Estate House at Chillingham for these cookery days.
Cured Beef
This is a long , but easy process. Well worth the effort and free from any nasty preservatives and colour.
One joint of slow roast beef, you can use bone and rolled shoulder of lamb or pork to make an equally nice and useful cold cut meat for picnics and sandwiches.

The brine or cure
2 litres of water
350g sea salt
150g dark brown sugar
1 bay leaf, 10 crushed juniper berries, 10 peppercorns, 1 sprig of thyme. ( use rosemary or mint if you are curing lamb) all tied up together in a muslin bag
Bring the water, salt and sugar to the boil in a large sauce pan. Then add the herbs and spices and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
Place the meat in a sterilised stone ware or plastic jar and cover with the cold brine, weigh down the meat with a sterilised plate to keep it below the surface. Soak for about one week, I leave it to soak in a cold larder or you could put it in the fridge if there is space.
When you come to remove the meat rinse it under the tap and simmer it in a large pan of water for several hours. Strain it, then take the still hot meat and press it under a weight. I use a cake tin and plate with about 900g -1.8kg of weight on the top. Any liquid that can be poured off can be boiled and reduced and poured over to set , like jelly. ( you can just pour off and discard if you feel you have done quite enough )Leave to cool.

This could keep in the fridge for up to one week

Planting at last

We finally managed to get a good chunk of seed in the ground yesterday, planting lettuce, parsley and loads more peas. The ground being perfect at the top end of the field but still a little underwater further down.

I managed to get the tractor stuck trying to rotovate more areas in burst of enthusiasm but driving straigh into a boggy hole with a fully loaded 2wd driving tractor turned out to be a silly idea. but onward and upward..

With the sheet fully trenched around the new polytunnel Beth got busy planting her nursed tomato plants, the heat in the tunnel was breathtaking...I swear I saw a bead of sweat forming on Beths brow, people who know her will know this is previously unheard of. I managed to make some doors up but we think we'll have to leave them open all day if this weather continues. Fantastic changes from being underwater in near horizontal rain on Sunday to now being sun burnt from being outside on Tuesday.

In went our apricot tree, 2 surviving bay trees and a fantastic looking cranberry bush purchased from woolworths for £2!! I'm already excited about the muffins and smoothies.

The cranberry comes in as part of B's plan to get us eating more berries, apparently its the thing we are missing in our diet. Despite my arguments relating to my love of strawberry milkshakes, raspberry flapjack etc apparently i just don't get it.

The ground is still a little too wet to get the big machinery on that will start digging our roads. We are still using a wheel barrow to bring everything into the farm steading but hope this sick torture will end soon. I had to laugh at the site of B yesterday with a stack of around 12 milk crates bouncing up and down on the barrow as she made her way across the field. Luckily stifling the chuckle before she came too close to catch me.

Rainy Sunday

What a day we had on Sunday... the rain never stopped all day.
We had planned to spend the day planting after hearing good reports on the weather forecast but what a disaster it turned out.
Because the fields have been so wet all our veggies are late going in the ground and we were desperate to get on the land to get them going, we even had two willing helpers lined up. I don't think they'll be back anytime soon. we just had to brave the water and get on with other jobs.

I had the delightful job of making our big composting bay with the muck from the chickens and pigs we have been saving in a corner of the field. We will add some organic compost too this and use it on the pumpkins and courgettes next year. Organic rocket fuel for veggies.

Beth had to wrestle with Bandit the pony and Gracie her 2 yer old to get them into a newly erected starvation paddock. Bandit is piling on the pounds now the grass is growing and we need to pen him into a small area with a lot less grass to munch on. This is always going to be a problem with an animal that is used to grazing the welsh mountains and now finds himself living in the lush lowland pastures of Northumberland. Beth says the breed live of 'sucking stones' normally! What a luxury to be here, although it has looked a bit like the Brecon Beacons of late.

We had the guys going round pulling up all the old barb wire off the old fences and out of the ground along with pulling out any old posts and other farm rubbish that has been buried over the years by previous owners.

Lunch was an excellent fry up of bacon and sausages with fried bread that Beth had cooked on a fire that we had going to try and get dry. What a site we must have looked huddled in the corner of a waterlogged field with the rain storming down on us, but it really is moments like this that make us both truly happy. The challenge changes every day but the humour is a constant.

After lunch we set up the rotavator on the tractor ready for the dry we are expecting on Tuesday and put a load of nice dry straw into the pig arcs, although they have been stood out all day. The wet weather bringing up the worms to find.

Plans for the future now include digging a pond to help with drainage and also enable Beth to get some ducks around the place. We regularly have ducks and swans overhead and would like to increase our chances of being a must see destination for them! And then there is the highland cattle, Dorset sheep, turkeys and geese for Christmas, field shelter to put up..........

The poly tunnel rises

Today we finally got chance to put the our much awaited poly tunnel up. Beth has been excited about this since its arrival in deepest winter and she now 400 sq.ft of space for planting all the plugs that our customers will hopefully be helping us plant on our open day on the 24th of May.

We didnt manage to get the cover tonight as my two helpers had to get off at 7pm. Apparantly there are some people kicking a football around and they could not miss it. I must try to check the sporting calender prior to booking them next. Thank god we aren't in the middle of some life changing experience like the world cup. (that is football isnt it?)

With any luck the weather will stay good and we'll manage to get the area we ploughed today dried and ready for rotavating at the weekend. Then Beth will be straight in with the beetroot seed. I'm still trying to persuade her that just because the boys really love the fact it turns there pee a fantastic red colour it may be a bad idea to plant an acre of the stuff. Look out for special deals on beetroot bulk buys later in the year!

Spring is in the air

Yeah,
The sun is shinning, yeah yeah yeah. I am so happy the sun is high in the sky. The air is starting to warm and the ground is at last starting to dry out. I really hope I’m not speaking to soon, but I can feel a spring in my step.
The children went off to school full of pancakes, we have a glut of eggs and milk. They still complained that it was a school day! Heres my recipe-
Breakfast fruity pancakes
Pancake mixture.
1 egg
4 oz of plain flour
½ pint of milk
Beat egg, flour and milk together . Heat a little oil and butter in a large frying pan or griddle. Ladle a little mixture into the hot pan and cook, on both sides. The pancakes can be made in advance or kept warm whilst you heat up the fruit.
Chop up some nice ripe fruit, like bananas, plums, apples, warm the fruit in a heavy bottomed pan with a little runny honey.
Wrap some warm fruit in a pancake and serve.
Not be long before “ its too light to go to bed, It cant be bed time “ But we do love the light nights, tea out side, dogs lazy and snoozing in the sunshine. Half the washing, no woollies to wash by hand. Now I’m running away with my self. I can almost smell the drop scones sizzling on the griddle on a smoky fire, home made summer berry jam and butter at the ready. I really do have the best life!
But what of this weeks work load. I must, I must plant the pumpkin seed for the planting day on May the 24th. We are all looking forward to it , excited and nervous ( check the web site for event details.) We hope to have small plug plants for planting direct into the ground in a huge pumpkin bed which we will nurture ready for the boxes for Halloween. I feel a competition coming on. Oh I’m so much more enthusiastic when the weather is kind to us growers.

The first Blog

This is our first blog. I'm not sure wether to keep it short and sweet or to fill you in on our full story? I'm sure the nerves will settle as we get used to this but it seems a strange idea to be talking to somebody without being able to see how they react, without any chance of adjusting your view as you go along and share ideas. Here goes..

The purpose of our blog is hopefully to give readers a taste of what its like to be a smallholder in rural Northumberland. We have 33 acres of land on which we keep pigs, chickens, horses, sheep and a few cattle. We grow vegetables and some fruit and sell these through our Organic box scheme.

I'm sure an easier way of giving you an authentic experience of organic farming in Northumberland would be to get you to withdraw any cash you might have in the bank and burn it, jump around in deep muddy puddle for a while (without the waterproofs you thought you would'nt need) and then go back in to your kitchen to find the dogs have enjoyed your roast beef that was left on the top and are now sleeping in your chair, but despite what a lot of old school farmers may have you believe it's not all doom and gloom.

Things are on the up for forward thinking food producers and as consumers become more aware of health, animal welfare, food miles and other food issues. We have the reassuring joy of knowing the simple items of meat and vegetables we produce bring great pleasure to our customers every day without having a detrimental effect on the earth.

Our days are a mix of feeding and checking animals, planting and harvesting vegetables, packing and delivering boxes, begging our bank manager and telling lies to our accountant! We hope to write a daily blog to record the highs and lows of the coming months.

With the weather starting to pick up after the usual 'snow at Easter shock' we have plenty to get on with and with that in mind I better get back to it, Beth is putting finishing touches to her sowing date calender and its look like a late supper for us.