We received two visits in October. On the 13^th, about 20 people took

part in a visit that was organized as part of the “2018 European Heri-

tage Meetings”, focusing on women in projects that promote womens’

welfare and the environment (amongst other things).

On the 24^th three people from the local Rural Development Agency

(Enkarterrialde) visited to see if we were interested in a pilot scheme

for renewable energy on farms (we are actually investigating implanting

solar panels for producing energy given that a new ruling has overturned

a very anti-renewable energy stance of a previous Madrid Government).

Flower of the month:  Galinsoga (Galinsoga sp)

There are two very similar species of galinsoga (Galinsoga parviflora and

Galinsoga ciliata). They are native to the Andes but can now be found

in most parts of the world. On the farm the plant is mainly present in

our allotments where it is pretty persistent. It has no fodder value.

Recipe of the month: Fried Cheese sticks

We posted a recipe for fried cheese on our website in October 2017.

This is an alternative recipe forwarded by a friend from the USA.

330g Soft Cheese (that melts well like our soft cheese, for example)

Liquid coating (1/4 cup beer, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup whole milk)

Dry coating (2 cups flour, 1 cup breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and oregano

to taste)

Cut cheese into fingers (about finger size in width and length) and

freeze solid.

When frozen, bread the cheese well and then cover in liquid, then dry

and allow to rest before repeating the two coatings again.  For best

results a solid layer of breading is needed.

Deep fry for roughly 3 minutes. The fingers must be fully submerged

for even cooking. If they begin to bubble cheese remove them imme-

diately or they will be empty.

Best served hot.

We are going to leave the allotment fallow this Winter and thus prepared

a small plot in the corner of one field ready to plant a few cabbages,

cauliflowers and leeks. Given the presence of animals such as deer,

hares and field mice, we have protected the plot with netting.

One of the most important activities in the dairy this month has been

preparing for a change in our milk packaging. To date we have been

using plastic, stand-up bags. For both practical and environmental

reasons we decided to change to bottles. This apparently simple

change actually involves a huge amount of work: finding out if buyers

would still buy our milk in bottles, where to source bottles, where to

source the appropriate crates, where to store the bottles in the dairy,

what price to sell the milk at in its new packaging, designing a label

given that the current plastic bags have information printed straight

onto them, changing the accountancy and order forms in the dairy,…..

In the end we have had to opt for two sorts of bottles, glass and

plastic… despite our long term aim of getting rid of plastic packaging

for pasteurized milk, disappointingly about half our clients have said

they would prefer plastic. We can only hope they recycle the plastic

bottles. To encourage the change to glass bottles we will run a 10c

return scheme for each glass bottles returned to us whole, clean and

with the label and top removed.

During October we have been topping fields, muck spreading,

cutting back hedges and mending fences.

What was the weather like?

The weather continued to be sunny, warm and dry during most

of the month with one or two rainy days (giving us 58 litres of rain)

and maximum temperatures reaching 26ºC . Temperatures only fell

right at the end of the month when dawn temperatures were down

to 3ºC and midday temperatures only reached 8-10ºC. We had our

first snow fall on the hills and rain, sleet and hail on the farm. We

collected over 140 litres of rain in just four days the last week of the

month.

Once again, the cows could only graze a little  due to the dearth of

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

The abnormally warm sunny weather means we could observe some

wildlife that would not normally spot in late October, including a slow

worm (Anguis fragilis)

and a viperine snake (Natrix Maura).

In October we went to the farmers market in Bilbao every week, to

the yearly organic fair in Gasteiz and the annual farm fairs in Karrantza,

Zalla, Colindres, Arrigorriaga and Galdames. Given the success of the

weekly farmers’ market in Bilbao, contacts have been made with the

Getxo Town Council to see whether such a market could be held

every Friday in a covered market in Getxo. The negotiations to date

were outlined in a meeting held on October 10^th, the outcome being

that the market will hopefully commence in 2019.