On February 9th 11 students from the Derio Farm College came to

visit the farm and dairy with two lecturers.

El 9 de febrero vino un grupo de 12 personas del alumnado de

la Escuela de Hostelería de Derio. El 18 de febrero vino un grupo

de  personas de distintos lugares de Bizkaia como parte de las

visitas a distintas entidades del Valle que organiza periódica-

mente la Oficina de Turismo de Karrantza.

Apart from the weekly farmers' market in Bilbao we went to the annual

San Blas fair in Abadiño.

White ramping-fumitory has other common names such as climbing

fumitory, White fumitory and White-flower fumitory. The species begins

to flower in winter. It prefers nitrogen rich soils and can thus be found

in grazing areas or along their boundaries. It has no grazing value,

however.

The first few days of February were marked by rainy, stormy weather

with generally low temperatures. A cold front passed us on the 5th of

February, as the frequent changes in the  temperature during the day

reveal: 3ºC, 6ºC, 2ºC, 8ºC, 2ºC, 4ºC…. It hailed on the farm and snow

appeared on the hills. We then had quite a few warmer days with dry

south winds with a few interspersed rainy days. We collected a total

of 80 litres in the rain gauge.

Once again, we gave the cows dry alfalfa and vetch, grass silage and

hay and a little feedstuff. This month, however, the cows were able

to graze outside several days.

Recipe of the month: Chicken and lemon soup

3 cups chicken stock

Finely grated rind one lemon

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup long grain rice

2 ½ cups natural yoghurt

1 tablespoon cornflour

3 tablespoons water

2 beaten egg yolks

½ cooked and chopped chicken meat

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Put stock in a medium sized saucepan with the lemon rind

and juice. Season to taste and bring to the boil. Add the

rice, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer until the rice is

tender, about 20-25 minutes according to the type of rice.

Place the yoghurt in a large saucepan and whisk until runny.

Combine the cornflour and water in a small bowl and then

mix with the yoghurt. Beat in the egg yolks. Gently heat the

mixture until it boils, stirring constantly in one direction (to

avoid it splitting) until it thickens. Gradually add the stock,

still stirring. Add the chicken. Check seasoning, adding extra

lemon juice to taste. Stir in parsley and serve piping hot.

(The yoghurt should not curdle in this soup as it has been

stabilized by the additional of egg).

We spotted this bird near the house, but haven't fully identified it...

can anyone help?.