The 17th of February we let the dairy herd out of the barn for the first

time this year as there is quite a lot of good grazing and conditions were

dry enough to prevent the cows churning up the land. They spent occa-

sional days in the barn when it rained but in general they grazed from

the 17th onwards.

On th 25th  we gave them freshly mown grass for the first time,

gathered from outlying fields. When the cows eat freshly mown grass

and/or graze the percentage  of water in the milk rises and the fat

content falls. However, the percentage of healthy non-saturated fats

such as Omega 3 rises and the Omega 3 / Omega 6 ratio improves.

The heifers also left their barn

One of the heifers went into a swallow hole and needed help to get

out. In this case it wasn't a deep hole and Christian climbed in help

the heifer out. If a heifer falls into a deep swallow hole we usually

have to use a tractor to get the animal out. It is obviously worth fen-

cing swallow holes.

This recipe makes a good breakfast bread

100 ml tepid whole milk

125 g natural yoghurt

100 g sugar

80 ml sunflower oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg

500 g plain flour

7 g yeast

Grated rind of one lemon

Mix flour, yeast and two spoonfuls of sugar in a bowl.

In another bowl, mix thoroughly the milk, yogurt, the rest of the sugar,

the lemon rind, the vanilla and the egg. Gradually add the flour mix from

the other bowl until a sticky mixture is attained.

Place some flour on a table with the mixture ob top. Knead, adding flour

little by little until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers, The finished

dough should de elastic and spongy.

Sprinkle some flour in a bowl and place the dough in it. Cut a cross shape

on the top, cover with a cloth and leave for two hours in a warm place. The

dough should treble in size.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Place baking paper on baking tree.

Sprinkle flour on the table again and place the dough on top. Stretch with

fingers to form an approximately 8cm side square. Fold in from the top to

the center and from the bottom to the center, then roll out to  0.5 cm thick

rectangle. Cut the dough into 1cm strips lengthways, making sure the total

number is divisible by three. Cut each strip in half.

Plait in groups of three, squashing the beginning and end so the plait doesn't

open in the oven. There should be 8 plaits.

Place on the baking tray, cover and leave for 20 minutes

After taking out of the oven, use a baker´s brush to put a little water on each

plait and then place on a grid to cool.

We welcome Jose Miguel to the Vista Alegre Baserria work team, after

a month long period helping out whilst Mikel was off work.

The two bull calves born in February will be sold shortly, as will a "mixed"

(beef/milk) heifer calf. Twin calves were also born, the bull calf being sold

on and we will see if the heifer calf becomes a good milker and if not she

will also be sold. 

The mimosa is can grow to be a bush or a shrub that belongs to the

family of the legumes (Fabaceae). There are many varieties of mimosa,

most from Australia and Tasmania. It is considered to be an invasive spe-

cies in many places and is registered as such in the Catalogue of Non-

native Invasive Species in the Spanish Member State of the EU given

the threat it poses to native species, habitats and ecosystems. It should

not, therefore, be planted, transported or sold. We have five mimosas on

the farm and to date have not experienced problems.

Once again the weather was very varied. We had a wet start to the

month, then sunny and cloudy weather, followed by cloudless days

with midday day temperatures that reached 21ºC and the month

then ended with cooler, damper weather. Snow appeared again on

the hills the morning of the 22nd. We collected 147 litres in the rain

gauge, 44 of which we collected during February 6th and a further fifty

in a single night, from the 21st to 22nd of February. We are still being

treated to some spectacular dawns.

We are always looking for ways to improve hygiene and quality on

the farm and in the dairy and are thus going to buy a new glass milk

bottle and yogurt pot washer. A technician from one of the manufac-

turers visited to explain exactly how their machine works, to what

extent the bottles washed in the machine would meet Health Authority

stipulations, etc.

The Basque body, ENEEK,  in charge of organic certification inspected

the farm and dairy and ratified our Organic Status.

As far as the COVID pandemia is concerned, the whole team is at work

and we continue to follow the recommended Protocol  for Action in the

Food Industry during COVID (masks, gloves, gel, distance, disinfection...).

The parish of Karrantza was in tier four conditions for a few days (known

here as the red zone) but cases are now fewer. One of the shops we supply

had to close for what is known here as preventive quarantine, but is now

open again and all our other customers have managed to stay COVID-free.