On June 8^th an afternoon workshop on women involved in changing farm

production and marketing models was held in on our farm with lady farmers

from farms from different parts of Bizkaia, as part of a series of workshops

organized by the Regional Government specifically for women farmers. Some

of the points raised by the participants were repeated over and over again:

difficulties for continuity on farms, lack of appropriate or adequate support for

socially and environmentally friendly farming, lack of appropriate information

for consumers on the consequences of differing types of farming and the enor-

mous impact of lobbying by vested interests on the availability of such infor-

mation…..

The big hospital in Cruces (near Bilbao) once again offered an organic meal

for patients on June 5^th, International Environment Day. The menu included

Vista Alegre mature cheese and natural yoghurt. The big night fiesta held on

the Eve of Midsummer’s day in Bilbao also used Vista Alegre produce, in this

our milk, for the traditional hot chocolate they offer.

Flower of the month. Yellow bartsia (Parentucellia viscosa)

Yellow bartsia is native to Europe and actually belongs to the broom-

rape or Orobanchaceae family. As such it is a hemiparasite plant (a

plant that gets some of its nutrition from another plant), in this case

on grass and leguminous plants. We have seen it in one place, a bit

of waste ground.

Recipe of the month: Pumpkin and cheese risotto

400 g peeled and chopped pumpkin

600 ml vegetable stock

200 g rice (risotto rice if available)

3 shallots or small onions

1 clove garlic

50 ml white wine

60 g grated cheese (parmesan or similar)

40 g butter (cubed)

Oil for frying

Nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

If not already prepared, peel and deseed the pumpkin and cut

into relatively small cubes. Peel and dice the onions and garlic.

Warm oil and butter in a medium pan over a medium heat and

add the onion. Cook for about five minutes until soft but not

brown. Add garlic and pumpkin, cover with lid and cook for about

another five minutes or until soft. Then mash the pumpkin to

obtain and rough puree.

Add the rice and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the wine and

enough stock to cover the rice. Keep adding a little stock as the

previous amount is absorbed, stirring now and again to make sure

the rice does not stick.

When the rice is cooked and the stock absorbed, stir through most

of the half the grated cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Sprinkle

the rest of the cheese on top and let melt. Serve hot.

What was the weather like?

The weather was quite varied in June although generally the tempe-

ratures were higher, even reaching 31.4 ºC one day. We had a mix-

ture of sunny, dry days, damp grey days and several thunderstorms,

one of which came with hail stones that destroyed some of the plants

in the allotment, although we came off quite lightly…. some allotments

in other parts of Karrantza were left with only stalks of pepper, tomato

and maize plants. The rainy days gave us a total of 132 litres in the rain

gauge more than we would expect in June. Some mornings the cob-

webs mirrored the degree of humidity.

What did the cows eat?

As in May, the dairy cows were able to graze and we also gave them

dried alfalfa and peas, freshly mown grass and some feedstuff.

Four cows calved, two bull and two heifer calves. The former will be

sold on, whilst the latter will eventually join the milking herd.

Amongst other farm chores we topped some fields, using strimmers on

the steeper slopes and made another batch of silage.

This is one of the biggest we have seen recently. Unfortunately we haven’t

been able to positively identify the species (some grass snakes do not have

the collar around their neck and thus look very similar to smooth snakes).

Despite widespread fear or mistrust of snakes, these are an important part

of farm ecosystem and, as such, help control insect, reptile and even rodent

populations.