On March 4th a group of people who work in or buy from the two shops

called “Pepe Navarro” visited the farm and dairy, shops that stock our

produce.

The dairy cows were able to graze and we also gave them dried alfalfa and

peas, hay and some feedstuff. When they were not able to graze outside we

also gave them some silage.

We had a wintry start to the month. It snowed on the first of March,

following a very “white and red” dawn.

Other mornings we had frosts including quite a hard frost one morning when

the temperature went down to -0.1 ºC and the dew droplets on the tips of the

blades of grass froze.

As the month passed, however, the temperatures rose considerably  and we

had warm sunny days with temperaturas that rose to over 20ºC. We also had

some very welcome rain but only collected a total of 42– litres in the rain gauge.

Recipe of the month: Octopus in olive sauce

For cooking the octopus

1 Kg de of previously cleaned octopus (some recipes suggest freezing the

octopus before use and defreezing just before use)

1 clove of garlic

1 bay leaf

1 stick of celery

For the olive sauce:

150 g stoned olives

1 clove of garlic

150 g de mayonnaise

1 natural yogur

Several sprigs of fresh parsley

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Several spoonfuls of the water used to cook the octopus

For serving:

I red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado in thick slices

Fill a sauce pan with water and add a clove of garlic, a bay leaf and the

stick of celery. Bring to the boil and add the octopus. Boil during 20

minutes and then leave a further 10 minutes in the hot water but off the

heat. Drain but keeping a little of the water for the sauce.

Place in a large bowl and liquidize the 150 g of olives, 1 garlic clove,

1 natural yoghurt, the parsley leaves, the lemon juice and the salt and

pepper until thoroughly mixed and an even consistency reached. If

necessary add a little of the octopus water to make the sauce slightly runny.

When cold cut the octopus tentacles into 1.5 cm chunks. Just before serving,

place a little sauce on each plate, place a few chunks of octopus on top and

garnish the plate with the red onion and avocado.

Abundant grass grew in the fields due to the suitable weather conditions and

we even made some silage and, as mentioned, could collect freshly mown

grass for the cows. As usual, after mowing we have spread slurry.

All farm machinery has to routinely checked in order to carry out these jobs

properly.

We have also spread mature on the allotment and planted onions.

Flower of the month. (Valerianella locusta) Corn Salad

The leaves of cornsalad or lamb’s lettuce can be used as a vegetable

green, whether cooked or in salads, using the whole leaf rosette which

adds a nutty taste to food. Like other formerly foraged greens, corn-

salad has many nutrients, including three times as much vitamin C as

lettuce, beta-carotene, B₆, iron, and potassium. It is best if gathered

before flowering. Nowadays many shops sell cultivated cornsalad leaves.

The word corn in the name refers to the fact that it often grows in cereal

crops, corn referring to cereal rather than maize. Cornsalad is native to

Europe, western Asia and north Africa.