These beautiful blue mating butterflies appeared in mid september.

There are several small blue butterfly species with speckles on the

undersides of their wings so we can only hazard a guess at this

being a common blue (Polyommatus icarus).

In September we went to the farmers market in Bilbao every week and

also to the yearly organic fairs in Astrabudua (9^th September), Algorta

(15^th September) and Mungia (22^nd September).

We showed visitors from Cantabría around the farm and dairy on

September 1st.

On the 28^th a group of four people, including an Italian, visited the farm

and dairy as part of a Basque Government initiative to promote tourism

linked to local products and gastronomy.

September has been worryingly dry and hot and we only collected

21 litres in our rain gauge. There was very little grazing to be had

and the month ended with a big question mark over the usual

autumn grazing. Temperatures rose to the high twenties and

several days minimum temperatures were upto 17-18ºC. Luckily

the predominant winds were from the north as south winds would

have left us with no grass at all.

The cows could only graze a little this month due to the dearth of

grass in the fields. We gave them dry forage and a little feedstuff.

Flower of the month: Common amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus).

This species is native to the tropical Americas but has become wide-

spread in other continents. It has a variety of common names, one

being hogweed, given that it grows where pigs used to feed, perhaps

because it is nitrogen loving. This may explain why we find it (to our

great annoyance) in our allotments, which we periodically fertilize with

manure. The plant is, however, eaten as a vegetable in different parts

of the world. The leaves contain oxalic acid and may contain nitrates

if grown in nitrate-rich soil, so water should be discarded after boiling.

The seeds are edible raw or toasted and can be ground into flour and

used for bread or as a thickener. Due to the high oxalate content of

the plant, cattle should not consume it in large amounts, although in

moderation it is considered to be an exceptionally nutritious fodder.

This month three she calves and a bull calf were born.

After eight years of struggling to deal with seemingly endless red tape,

permission was finally given for the Urduña school canteen to use the

neighbouring Old Peoples’ Home’s kitchen to provide freshly prepared

meals for school children. Many people have been involved in this

struggle, but local Rural Development worker, MariJo, has been par-

ticularly persistent. Following the example of the Old Peoples’ Home,

the school will source local farm produce for the meals, including our

natural yoghurt and milk, something the local authorities could

promote in all school canteens in general.

Recipe of the month: Marrow, ginger and lemon jam

OK, this recipe obviously uses no dairy products at all….. however

once made it is excellent with, for example,  slices of cheese, melted

cheese on toast, natural yoghurt or yoghurt cream. As marrows are

in season and very plentiful this year, the recipe can help use up part

of the marrow crop.

2 kilos marrow

2 kilos sugar

100g crystalized ginger or 10-20g ground ginger (more or less depending

on required flavour)

2 lemons

Use ripe but not hard marrows. Peel and cut into small pieces, cutting

away pips, etc. Cut lemons into quarters.

Place marrow pieces into preserving pan. Cover with ginger and then

sugar. Place lemon quarters on top fleshy sides down and leave until

the next day. The juice from the marrows will have partly dissolved the

sugar and ginger.

Bring to boil slowly and stirring continually (amongst other things to

make sure the sugar is completely dissolved) and then boil rapidly for

about 20 minutes. Do not over cook. The jam should be a golden brown

colour. Squeeze and remove the lemons before cooking.

Once ready, introduce the jam in preheated jam pots and close imme-

diately.

As mentioned above, this jam goes really well with slices of mature

cheese, as a flavouring in natural yoghurt or even on top of cheese

on toast.

Given the number of marrow and tomatoes we are harvesting this year

we have made “marrow mix” ("ratatouille" or "pisto") and marrow, tomato

and onion puree, both of which we have bottled ready for the winter

months.

Despite the hot weather we have spotted no snakes this month.

However their characteristic call and discarded snake skins remind

us they are around.