A growing number of local associations and small shops are trying

to help promote local and if possible organic food sourcing. The

EcoTienda (Eco-shop) in Castro Urdiales organized a session of

Show Cooking on April 6^th in which we summarized our farm and

dairy project and then presented five recipes using our milk,

yoghurt and cheese.

On the 9^th the fourth edition of “Alimentando Alternativas en

Ezkerraldea! (Feeding Alternatives in Ezkerraldea) was held in

Portugalete during which environmental ideas and projects were

presented concerning aspects considered vital for everyday such

as water, food production, correct consumption of goods,

recycling…. The event included the presentation of a catalogue

of local food producers, a compost-making project and offering

“tapas” using local produce including our mature cheese in one

of the local bars. The same day we presented our farm and

dairy project in the II Book Fair in Sopuerta, the organizers of

which also promote local produce.

Apart from going to the weekly farmers’ market in El Arenal (Bilbo),

we sold our produce in a small fair organized by the Karrantza Parish

Council outside the Pozalagua caves in Ranero (Karrantza) on April

15th and on April 29th in the anual organic fair in Urduña

This plant is native to most of Europe, Turkey, Iran and the western

Himalayas. Its flowers are hermaphrodite…  the inner flowers are male

and soon fall off whilst the other flowers are bisexual and produce the

fruit. The flowers smell of honey. The plant has no particular forage

value.

This toad appeared by the alloment.

Whilst topping in one of our fields César spotted this long-eared owl

(Asio otus) caught on a barbed-wire fence. As the photo the feathers

of the tip of one of its wings were very badly mangled. The local “Base

Gorria” (equivalent of nature wardens) came and collected the owl to

take it to the Wildlife Hospital in Gorliz (Bizkaia) and informed us that

no bones were broken and that they would try and replace the mangled

feathers with those of another owl that had been handed in, unfortuna-

tely dead. The owl needed feeding up which suggests it had spent

some time trapped on the fence.  As this species is quite rare in the

area, if it recovers properly and is able to fly they will release it here

in Karrantza.

What was the weather like?

We had cool, rainy days at the beginning and cold wintry weather at

the end of the month with two weeks of hot, dry weather in between.

Maximum temperatures during these two weeks were over 20ºC, whilst

dawn temperatures went down to 0ºC and even -1.5ºC on morning

and we even had a light frost on the 20^th. We collected 83 litres in the

rain gauge and the rain at the end of April was very welcome, particu-

larly as we had mown most of the fields and needed rain for the grass

to start growing again. The precipitation on the 26^th was in the form

of snow on the hills! In any case, total precipitation was low for this

time of year.

What did the cows eat? The cows were able to graze outside

but we also took them freshly mown grass to the barn and gave them

some hay. We gave them a smaller ration of feedstuff than during

march.

Two bull calves were born in April.

Recipe of the month: Swiss chard and cheese boats

4 large stems of Swiss chard

Filling: onion, tuna or minced meat

Soft cheese

Sail: mature cheese

Steam the Swiss chard. In the meantime, finely chop and fry onion,

adding tuna or minced meat and fry until thoroughly cooked. Place

the Swiss chard on baking tray and put onion and meat mix on top of

each piece. Place a slice of soft cheese on top and place under a

medium grill until the soft cheese melts. Just before eating, cut

triangular “sails” of mature cheese and place on the top of each

boat, if necessary with a cocktail stick.

We made silage for the first time this year. The sunny weather

enabled us to leave the grass for two days on the ground after

mowing and before baling, thus improving the quality of the finished

silage as it contains less water and is less acidic. This is better

for the cows and, in fact, for cheese making. It is also worth

noting that with less water there is actually less grass to bale and

we thus use less plastic and less energy, with positive impacts for

both the environment and our farm economy.

This month we updated the section on research proposals in order to

include the proposals we made in the November 2016 R&D meeting we

attended in the Basque Univesity in Gasteiz.

On April 25th the Basque Organic Council (ENEEK) came to inspect

the farm and dairy.

There are now peas, broad beans, potatoes, spinach, Swiss char

d and leeks growing in the allotment. We have also sown tomatoes

and beetroot which are beginning to germinate.