In November we gave the cows alfalfa, peas forage, hay and grass

silage, plus a little feedstuff. The heifers and dry cows grazed out-

side and we also gave them a little hay and feedstuff.

Flower of the month:  Oregano (Origanum vulgare)

We apologise for the very substandard photo. Marjoram is not usually

flowering this time of year, another sign of climate change. This herb

doesn’t grow in many places on the farm, in fact the photo is from

marjoram in one of the farm gardens. It is sometimes known as wild

marjoram and has a very close relative known as sweet marjoram

(Oregano majorana). The name oregano originally comes from two

Greek words that mean “brightness of the mountain”. Oregano’s main

uses are culinary and medicinal.

Recipe of the month: Pumpkin sweet

1 pumpkin

200g brown sugar

100ml single cream

2 eggs

(Adjust quantities according to taste, more/less sugar, cream…)

Peel and roughly chop the pumpkin and place in a culinder to drain

for half an hour. Boil slowly in a saucepan for half an hour. Liquidise,

add sugar and mix thoroughly. Add the cream little by little stirring

continually. Beat two eggs and add little by little, stirring vigorously

all the time. Pour into an oven-proof dish, sprinkle brown sugar on

top and place in cool oven, about 150ºC. After about  an hour switch

off  the oven but leave the pumpkin sweet in the oven without open-

ing the door, until the oven is completely cool (the best option is ma-

king the sweet in the evening and leaving it in the oven overnight….

But remembering to switch the oven off before heading to bed!!).

Eat cold.

The weather was again very mixed. A high pressure system brought

sunny days, that warmed up considerably at midday, the thermometer

even surpassing 20ºC, whilst the dawn temperatures were cold, around

3-6ºC. Other days, southerly winds brought higher morning tempera-

tures. We collected only collected around 30 litres of precipitation in the

raingauge.

In November a technician from Gessyma (a food technology company)

gave us a talk on, amongst other things, COVID, mainly to reinforce the

knowledge we already have and the measures we are already taking. We

are still relieved to say we have had no COVID cases in our work team

and that the results of the latest batch of analyses of water, work sur-

faces and dairy produce in our dairy have all been highly satisfactory.

Our major effort continues to go into maintaining a high level of hy-

giene in the dairy, thorough and frequent hand washing and appropriate

use of face masks and gels. Following the course we have introduced

stricter measures for reception of goods such as yogurt pots, milk

bottles and other inputs. Many families continue to experience economic

difficulties due to COVID and we took part in a new campaign organized

by the Bizkaia Food Bank.

mending fences, topping and continuing to clear around some swa-

llow holes. This month our livestock was subject to routine testing

for tuberculosis and brucellosis with good results to date. We have

also been checking our silage bales for small holes made by the

claws of some animal or other as they jump onto and along the bales.

One she calf and one bull calf were born in November.

Autumn clearance in allotments, hedges and garden has disturbed

toads (Bufo bufo)as usual. If we disturb toads we try and put them

as close as possible to where they were and in suitable vegetation

if they cannot be left where we found them (in the middle of an

allotment, for example).

Our delivery vans were inspected to make sure their cold storage

systems work properly.