On August 22nd a family from Barcelona visited the farm. For several years

they have been using their holidays to visit different parts of the Basque

Country (the French Basque Country, Navarre, Gipuzkoa) and now Bizkaia.

The first half of the month was exactly like the month before, high

temperatures (up to 36,1ºC) and hardly any precipitation… we only

collected 2 litres in the rain gauge. On the 17^th the temperatures

dropped considerably and between the 17^th and the 18^th we had

rain showers and collected 20 litres in the rain gauge.  The rest of

the month was characterized by fluctuating temperatures and a mix-

ture of humid, cloudy days and sunny dry days with occasional thun-

derstorms. We collected a total of 51 litres in the rain gauge, but strong

dry south winds sucked up most of the moisture leaving the ground

very dry.

Although the animals were in the fields most days, there was no grass to

graze due to the weather. We gave the dairy herd dried forage, grass silage

and a little feedstuff .

We went to visit Antonio and Feli in the Bárdenas Reales de Aragón, a couple

who supply us with organic alfalfa and other forage.

Given that there are serious problems caused by inflation and speculation with

animal feedstuffs and forage we are really grateful to be able to count on An-

tonio and Feli for a constant supply of good quality forage at non speculative

price. We do not tell them we don’t want their supplies if we could save a few

cents buying elsewhere, nor do they refuse to supply us if they think they could

earn a few cents more selling elsewhere. We have an agreement which benefits

both parts. 

One television channel rang us to ask if we had problems guaranteeing enough

food for our cows as they were aware that some farmers were having to sacri-

fice animals as they could no longer feed them appropriately. We feel there are

two points to bear in mind: firstly the degree of dependence on bought in feed

and forage and secondly the sort of relationship with the suppliers. We have

been able to both harvest and store grass as silage and hay and maintain the

above mentioned agreement with Antonio y Feli. Maximising profits at any cost

can have serious disadvantages.

As mentioned, the weather conditions mean we have basically lost all grazing,

leaving fields dusty and full of mouse holes.

We topped the last fields after letting any grass seed fall and then spread

slurry and hope the mid month rain will at least help the grass recover. 

In shady areas along hedgerows we were lucky to find some

quite lush blackberries which we used for breakfast fruit and

made blackberry jelly.

Lesser burdock is also known as little burdock, louse-bur, common

burdock, button-bur, cuckoo-button, or wild rhubarb. The plant is

native to Europe. It has no forage value but has been used in kitchens

as the younger leafstalks can be eaten raw or cooked, as can the roots

although these quickly become woody.

We also undertook the periodicial inspección and cleaning of

cows’ hooves that is recommended to check for wounds and

their consequences such as limping.

On the 1st of August we had an inspection of all our health

and production documentation . As usual new rules oblige us

to update certain aspects, although in some cases we feel new

demands are actually duplicating paperwork.

Recipe of the month. Vegetable croquettes

2 large aubergines

1 medium onion

5 cherry tomatoes

200 g strong mature cheese finely grated

Bread crumbs

1 green pepper

4 eggs

Plain flour

Salt, pepper and basil to taste

Wash and steam aubergines for 15 minutes. Remove from steamer

and chop finenly. Place in large bowl. Finely dice onion and pepper

and fry until onion translucent. Add to bowl of aubergine. Quarter

cherry tomatoes and grate cheese and add to bowl. Season with salt,

pepper and basil to taste. Mix well and let cool. Beat two eggs and

add to mixture, moving continually. Add enough bread crumbs little

by little until spoonfuls of the mixture can be shaped by hand into

balls about 2 centimeters across at most.

Beat the other two eggs and put into a shallow bowl. Put  three

spoonfuls of plain flour into another bowl. In the meantime heat

olive oil in a large frying pan.

When the oil is hot, roll each ball firstly in egg and hen in flour and

add to the hot oil until the frying pan is full but the croquettes are

not on top of each other. If necessary prepare more egg and flour.

Fry until the outer layer is golden brown, turning the balls to ensure

even cooking. When ready place on a plate.

The croquettes can be eaten hot or cold, with or without sauces such

as mayo, tzatziki or ali oli.