Vista Alegre Baserria Month by month in the farm
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April 2019 PDF Print E-mail

What happened on the farm in April?


We received quite a few visits in April, particularly during the Easter

week. This family visited on the 18th

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and on the 20th these families from Rio Seco, Karrantza came to see

the farm.

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We also had a visit from two couples from Luxtana, Barakaldo on

the 4th and from 39 Secondary School students from Muskiz on the

11th. On the 28th a Brazilian family living in Donosti visited the farm

and dairy.



Recipe of the month: Golden fish lasagne

This recipe can be cooked in a large dish or in individual ones.

Adjust the cooking time accordingly. Make sure the top layer

of pasta is covered with sauce or it will be too dry to eat.

Serves 8.

350g each of smoked and fresh haddock

1,1 litres milk

2 bay leaves

One small onion, sliced

Two sliced carrots

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

350g lasagne

225 mushrooms

75g flour

90g butter

150g soft cheese

45ml chopped parsley

30ml sherry

125g peeled prawns

125g cheddar cheese, grated

 

Place haddock fillets in a large frying pan and pour over half the

milk and add the bay leaves and slices of onion and carrot. Bring

slowly to the boil, cover and simmer gently until the fish begins to

flake. Cool slightly. Strin off the milk, but keep. Flake the fish, dis-

carding skin and bones.

Meanwhile, bring two large pans of salted wáter to the boíl Add a

dash of olive oil and the lasagne to each. Boil gently until the lasa-

gna is tender, about 12 minutes, and then drain and rinse under the

cold tap. Immediately spread out on kitchen paper to drain. Cover

with another layer of kitchen paper and leave for 10 minutes, but

no longer.

Meanwhile, wipe and slice the mushrooms. Melt 90g butter in a large

saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring all the

time. Off the heat add the strained milk and remaining fresh milk,

stirring continually and replace on heat until boils. Cook for two

minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soft cheese, parsley, sherry,

mushrooms, flaked fish and prawns. Season well, remembering that

the pasta itself is bland.

Lightly grease a 3.1 litre shallow oven proof dish. Layer up the pasta

and sauce beginning with sauce. Finally top with grated cheddar

cheese.

Stand the dish on a baking tray and bake at 200ºC for about 30 minutes

or until golden brown and bubbling.



Flower of the month: Holly (Ilex aquifolium).
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Holly is native to western and southern Europe, northwest

Africa and southwest Asia. Holly flowers are pollinated by

bees, another reason to be concerned about the failing of

native been populations. Holly is diocecious, meaning that

there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be

determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between

4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are

yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers

are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or

slightly pink. The fruit only appears on female plants, which

require male plants nearby to fertilise them.

The fruit is a drupe (stone fruit), about 6–10 mm in diameter,

a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October

or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin

content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost

has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by

rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to

4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring.

In traditional medicine, holly was used as a diuretic, a relief

from fever, and a laxative. Nowasays holly has no forage value,

but between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before

the introduction o turnips, Ilex aquifolium was cultivated for use

as winter fodder for cattle and sheep in some parts of Europe.

Obviously, less spiny varieties of holly were preferred and in

practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far

fewer spines, making them more suitable for fodder.



What was the weather like?

The weather was extremely varied during April with light frosts a couple

of mornings, a hail storm and a smattering of snow on the hills both at

the start and towards the end of the month, whilst midday temperatures

sometimes reached 20ºC (and others barely reached 14ºC). There were

often strong northerly or southerly winds, but both quite cold. We collec-

ted 131 litres in the rain gauge, 40 of which were collected in a single

cloudburst in the middle of April.

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What did the cows eat?

The mixed weather, with a cycle of sunny days followed by rain meant

the cows could graze and we could give them freshly mown grass. We

also gave them a little feedstuff.



As mentioned, the weather conditions have been almost

ideal for grass. However, towards the end of the month

we had to start crossing our fingers as we need a stretch

of dry weather to be able to harvest the grass. Finally on

the 28th we started mowing grass for silage.

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In some respects, the weather has also been very favourable

for the allotment (with the exception of the hailstorm). The

peas are already in flower

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and the potatoes, onions, carrots, lettuces and Swiss

chard are all growing nicely.

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However, we have already found aphids in the allotment,

on some of the Swiss chard plants that are going to seed!

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The warmer weather at the end of the month meant reptiles such

as this slowworm (Anguis fragilis) could be observed.

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Only one cow calved in April


We went to the fair in Urduña. farmers market in Bilbao every week. Additionally,

on April 27th, we went to the annual organic farm


This moth spent a whole day on the dairy wall. Possibly

a sort of tussock moth?

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The quality of our milk

Parameter

Optimumresult

Farmresult

 

 

 

Fatcontent

>3,70

3,69

Protein

>3,10

3,20

Bacteriology

<100.000

10.000

Somaticcellcount

c.150.000

167.000

Presence  / absenceantibiotics

Absence

Absence


 
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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