Vista Alegre Baserria Month by month in the farm
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October 2022 PDF Print E-mail

What did we do in October?



What was the weather like?

What was the weather like? We unfortunately continued to suffer many

days of strong drying south winds with abnormally warm temperatures

of up to 29,8 ºC. The usual October rains did not make their appearance

and we only collected 19 litres in the rain gauge. Thus, the situation is

very worrying despite the rain we had in September.

We had foggy conditions some mornings


and beautiful sunsets others.




¿Qué comieron las vacas?

Despite the lack of rain in October, the little rain we had in September

(99 litres) meant some fields recovered sufficiently for the cows to

graze a little and let us collect freshly mown grass for the cows from

the fields furthest from the farm-house. Even so we also gave the

dairy herd some feedstuff and dried forrage .




Recipe of the month: Creamy lentils

300 g pumpkin

300g lentils (previously soaked in water overnight)

250g spinach (shredded). Swiss Chard leaves may be used instead

of spinach.

2 onions

2 tsp ginger (or 20g root ginger)

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbs curry (optional)

500 ml vegetable broth

300 ml milk

200 ml cream

400g tomatoes, previously cooked.

Salt and pepper to taste

Halve pumpkin, remove skin and sedes and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Peel and finely chop onion, garlic (and root ginger).

Heat olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Add pumpkin and sauté

for about 5 minutes. Add onions, garlic and ginger (as powder or root)

and sauté for 2 minutes. Add lentils (and, optionally, curry) and sauté

for 3 minutes.

Add vegetable broth, milk, cream and tomatoes to pot, stirring tho-

roughly. Put lid on pot and simmer until lentils are cooked through,

stirring occasionally.

When cooked, add the spinach and gently stir into the lentils. Add

more water if necesssary to reach desired consistency. Season with

salt and pepper to taste.



Flower of the month. Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)
alt

Cymbalaria muralis is native to Mediterranean climates in south and

southwest Europe, the Southern Alps, eastern Yugoslavia, southern

Italy and Sicily.  It has spread throughout the world as an invasive

plant, including the United States, the British Isles, Australia and New

Zealand.

It is said to have been introduced into England by accident when a

shipment of sculptures was brought to Oxford in the 17th century

and its presence in the wild was first noted in the 1640’s.

It grows on old walls on the farm, taking advantage of cracks be-

tween stones and any moisture it can find in mortar or accumulated

debris. It has no forage value.



We really didn’t see many reptiles over the summer, despite the very

hot, dry conditions and we have actually seen more snakes at the be-

ginning of October such as a slow worm (Anguis fragilis)


and a viper.
alt


We went to many fairs in October, hoping in this way to counter ba-

lance the falling sales we (and just about every other business we

have spoken to) have observed over the summer and the start of

the autumn. Thus, apart from going to the weekly farmers’ market

in Bilbao we also went to fairs in Arrigorriaga, Karrantza, Galdames,

Santurtzi, Derio, Zalla y Barakaldo.

One bull calf and two heifer calves were born. We have only kept

one of the heifer calves as the other was a mixed milk/beef breed.

We prepared firewood taking advantage of a large oak that su-

ccumbed to some high winds about a year ago.



The quality of our milk






Parameter

Optimum result

Farm result




Fatcontent

>3,70

3,91

Protein

>3,10

3,15

Bacteriology

<100.000

10.000

Somatic cell count

c.150.000

242.000

Presence  /absence antibiotics

Absence

Absence


 
Schools


Special corner for schools: visit our special corner for schools for special information about our farm and the farm dairy. There are resource materials for teachers. In this corner you can find out how to arrange a class outing to our farm.



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