Two groups visited Vista Alegre Baserria in October.

Firstly, Sara and her friends for a birthday outing on

October 13th

Recipe of the month: Slow cooked creamy fennel soup

Ingredients:
a large knob of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
1/2 a tsp of fennel seeds
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and roughly chopped (reserve any of the

ferny fronds to serve)
450ml chicken or vegetable stock
100ml white wine (optional)
100ml milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
smoked salmon, to serve

Gently fry the onion and garlic in the melted butter, together with

a pinch of salt, for about 10 minutes until beginning to soften, stirring occasionally.

Add the chopped fennel bulbs, and continue to sweat in the buttery

onion mixture, in a covered pan, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasio-

nally.

Add the wine if using and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the fennel

seeds and stock. Simmer for another 25 minutes. Set aside to cool a

little before blending. (Do not try to blend when hot, as this can be

dangerous, particularly if using a jug blender. It is much safer to let it

cool a little!). When slightly cooler, liquidize until smooth. It can also be

sieved if a very smooth and silky soup is wanted.

Return to the pan. Add the milk and reheat gently (do not boil after you

have added the milk), and season to taste.

Serve with a little of the chopped fennel fronds together with a few

strips of smoked salmon.

We went to the Farmers’ Market in Bilbao every Saturday and to the

new farmers’ market in Balmaseda on the 19^th. We also went to fairs

in Karrantza (5^th October), Zalla (7^th October) and Galdames (27^th

October) and the organic fairs in Gasteiz (5^th October).

We received third prize for our cheese in the cheese contest held

in Gangas, in which our cheese competed against sheep’s cheese

and even so received third prize! Congratulations Miren!

Flower of the month.  Knotgrass / Knotweed (Polygonum aviculare)

Knotgrass is also known as prostrate knotweed, birdweed, pigweed

or lowgrass. It is an annual found in many fields and wastelands

with white flowers from June to October. It is thought to be native

to temperature Eurasia and North America but is naturalized in many

more southerly regions. It formed a traditional ingredient in porridge

in parts of Europe and has been found in numerous autopsies of peat

bodies. Knotgrass has no particular feed value for cattle. (We

apologize for the poor quality of the photo)

Once again the weather was very changeable. We had hot days

with midday temperatures in the mid-high twenties, whilst other

days the thermometer barely reached 15-16ºC. A succession of

damp days were followed by sunny days, a pattern which repeated

itself towards the end of the month. Of course this meant lots of

grass grew for the cows and heifers to graze! We collected a total

of 99 litres in the rain gauge.  We had some very colourful dawns.

The cows ate alfalfa, silage and some feedstuff and grazed in the fields.

Three cows calved, each giving us a bull calf. The lack of heifer calves

is becoming quite suspicious.

Amongst other farm chores, we topped some fields

We sometimes have to mend dairy-related machinery

aswell, in this case a tank linked to the system for

heating water. 

We also spotted this magnificent caterpillar, which

we think is from some sort of Hawkmoth… if anyone

can help us identify it we would be grateful.