Vista Alegre Baserria Month by month in the farm
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February 2018 PDF Print E-mail

What happened on the farm in February?


We received three groups of visitors in February. On the 7th,

about thirty secondary school students from Durango braved

the cold and wet.

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On the 10th several families from Gasteiz and a couple from

Bilbao visited us and on the 14th, 15 students from the Agricul-

tural College in Derio (Bilbao).

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Only one cow calved in February, giving us a cross breed Friesian

Charolais calf which we will sell for fattening.

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We have spent some time locating sources of semen from Friesian bulls

from more rustic strains of Friesian cattle and not those for which high

milk yields have been almost the only factor taken into consideration in

“genetic improvement” (not transgene). The heifer in the photo is the

daughter of a bull from such a breed and is smaller and stockier than the

other Friesian heifers we have.

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Flower of the month: Hazel (Corylus avellana). 
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This species of hazel is native to the temperate zones of the Northern

hemisphere. The masculine flowers are the long dangling light yellow

“catkins” and the female flowers are tiny, red and hardly visible. In the

photo one can be seen above the two male flowers. Hazel trees not

only provide shade and shelter to livestock and wildlife, but also nuts,

sticks and wood for many different uses.

The purple hazel cultivar Corylus maxima purpurea has been introduced

in many gardens and hedges and the colour of both its leaves and male

flowers make it easy to distinguish from the local hazel species.

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What was the weather like?

Snow returned to the hills on the first of February,

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by the second it had covered the fields around the heifers’ barn
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and on the third had even covered the lower fields.
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It continued to snow on and off during the first 10 to 12 days of

February accompanied by rain and hail. The rains persisted until

nearly the end of the month when we had a spell of sunny but

very cold weather with nighttime temperatures dropping to -6ºC.

The clear weather meant we had some very fine sunrises.

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However, we woke to snow again on the very last day of the month.

In total we collected 362 litres of precipitation in the rain gauge.

Towards the end of February we saw the first signs of new leaves on

some of the deciduous trees, the elder (Sambucus nigra), being one

of the earliest to sprout.

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Recipe of the month: Spinach dumplings

We have included this recipe as, despite the weather, our overwintering

spinach plants are beginning to provide some fresh young leaves. This

particular recipe suggests the use of fresh chives and parsley. Both are

available here at this time of year (parsley in the allotment and wild

garlic in the fields) but can always be substituted for other herbs or

dried parsley if not.

 

900g spinach

50ml milk

350g flour

3 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

125g butter

225g fresh bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped chives

125g mature grated cheese

Steam the spinach for no more than five minutes. Then drain

thoroughly and chop finely. Place the flour in a bowl and add the

eggs, milk, salt and pepper and mix to a soft dough. Melt half the

butter in a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and fry until crisp and

golden. Add to the dough with the nutmeg, parsley and chives.

Add the spinach and mix to a stiff dough. Roll the dough between

floured hands to long sausage-shapes about 12.5mm in diameter

and leave to set.

Cut across the dough into roughly 2.5cm lengths and cook in boiling

salted water for about 10 minutes till they float to the surface.

Lift out the dumplings with a draining spoon, drain thoroughly and

arrange in a warmed serving dish. Melt the remaining butter, pour

over the dumplings and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Toss lightly before serving.



We went to the weekly farmers’ market in Bilbao every Saturday,

aswell the annual San Blas fair in Abadiño on February 4th and a

special Carnival fair arranged for the 10th in Bilbao, which persis-

tent rain and low temperatures made rather unsuccessful.



Two piglets were brought to the farm to be reared and fattened

throughout the year, ready for making chorizos and black puddings

next winter. Half way through the month in fact, we tried this years’

chorizos which were declared to be ready for eating!

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The quality of our milk

 

 

 

Parameter

Optimum result

Farm result

 

 

 

Fat content

>3,70

4,13

Protein

>3,10

3,21

Bacteriology

<100.000

7.000

Somatic cell count

c.150.000

109.000

Presence  / absence antibiotics

Absence

Absence


The quality of our milk

 
Schools


Special corner for schools: visit our special corner for schools for special information about our farm and the farm dairy. There are resource materials for teachers. In this corner you can find out how to arrange a class outing to our farm.



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