On July 23rd, just 8 days before our dairy's 9th anniversary, we were

awarded theEnkarterri Open Lab 2020 prize for innovation in farming

in the Las Encartaciones region. The prize was awarded for our

innovation in how we produce milk (change from intensive to organic

farming), howwe market our milk (from sales of all milk tobig dairies

to using our milk to make and sell our own dairy products: pasteurized

milk, natural yoghurt and four sorts of cheese), innovation in commu-

nication links with consumers (visits, trilingual website with monthly

updates...), innovation in sustainability (re-use of glass bottles,

closed circuit for cold water, solar panels, minimizing use of plastics...)

and, additionally, for creating and maintaining jobs. Setting up and

running this project, or making so much innovation viable, has obviously

been a huge undertaking, but it would definitely not have been possible

without the support of many organizations and individuals, particularly

the Basque Farmers' Union EHNE, the Organic Council ENEEK, Irantzu

Duro, Marije and Mikel from Urduña, the farmer-consumer group Neka-

sare, the farmer coop SAT-Karrantza.... our and thanks to all of them.

Mullein is native to Europe, northern Africa and Asia. It produces many seeds

which can persist in the soil. However it is not considered to be a nuisance

because although it prefers disturbed soils for seed germination and well-lit

soils for growth, it does not tolerate shade from other plants. The plant has

no fodder value.In the 19th century mullein had over 40 different common names

in English, the most unusual perhaps being “bullocks lungwort”, “big candlewick”

or “Adam’s-rod). It has been used in traditional medicine and to dye hair, using

it’s yellow pigment.

Recipe of the month: Macaroni with pumpkin sauce and cheese

Serves four

300 g macaroni

400 g pumpkin

100 g grated cheese

1 medium sized onion

1 big leek

100 ml single cream

100 ml full cream milk

Olive oil

Parsley

Ginger

Salt and pepper

Peel and dice the onion. Wash and chop the leek. Put both ingredients

into a saucepan with two tablespoons of olive oil and let cook until translucent.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Dice the pumpkin and add to the onion and leek

and sauté briefly. Add 250ml water, the cream, milk, salt and pepper and a little

grated ginger (or powder). Cover and leave to simmer for 12-15 minutes, then

liquidise and put to one side.

Put water to boil in a big saucepan. When boiling add the macaroni and salt and

pepper to taste. When ready, place the macaroni in a large bowl, add the pumpkin

sauce and mix thoroughly. Put all the mixture into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle

all the cheese on top. Gratinate until golden brown.

Garnish with parsley leaves just before serving.

As mentioned in our June update, the Health Department of the Basque Government took

samples of our mature cheese to check for Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella ssp o

Estafiloenterotoxina. The result have again been good good, as none of these elements

were detected.

We have had a mixture of warm, cloudy, damp days but with little precipitation

and hot, dry and sunny days. During the latter the predominantly north wind kept

the land quite humid and we only had a dry south wind towards the end of the

month when the maximum temperature rose to over 30ºC. During the rest of the

month maximum temperatures fluctuated between 25 and 28ºC. We only collected

30 litres in the rain gauge.

The cows grazed very day and we also gave them some freshly mown grass, alfalfa

and a vetch legume.

Organic livestock farming rules stipulate that at least 75% of a farm’s livestock’s diet

must be covered by grazing, hay or silage from the land run by the farm. Strict rules

also apply to how the remaining (up to) 25% is produced, obviously to guarantee it is

sold with organic certificates. This year we have once again bought alfalfa from Antonio

Ruiz an organic crop farmer from Aragón.

This month two mixed usage (beef/dairy) calves were born which we will sell on.

A third heifer calf was also born which we will keep for the dairy herd.

We went to the Farmers' Market in Bilbao every Saturday. This year the Market will

also be held during August.

As often happens, this year some vegetables prosper and some don't give a very

good yield, usually due to a mixture of wildlife activity and weather conditions.

This year the weather was not good for peas and the field mice helped themselves

to most of the potatos before we lifted them. On the other hand we are gathering

a bumper green bean harvest and the onions are quite spectacular (only two had

been nibbled by mice and only one had rotted in the ground).