Cherry clafoutis

We finished picking cherries from our orchard last week, it has been a bumper harvest this year. Before all the new season cherries are gone (cherry season only lasts a matter of weeks/a month), i want to make  clafoutis.

On the Sunday farmer’s market i work at ( https://www.lfm.org.uk/markets/parsons-green/ ), i asked one of my many French customers what they would be doing with the cherries i was selling, and this is one classic French dish to use up all those cherries while we have them. I have been told many other things work well as a clafoutis, including savoury clafoutis also.

Here is the recipe i used, taken from the BBC recipes, by Raymond Blanc: ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cherry_clafoutis_18623 )

And here is my clafoutis after 3 bites:

 

Spidermite and friends.

One of the hard parts about growing food naturally/organically, is dealing with pests and diseases when they arise. last week, there was an independent crop inspector on the farm. He went through the whole farm listing any problems he found, and the main problem was spidermite infestation on our raspberry, and aubergine leaves.  

Spidermite are very hard to spot in their very early stages, but are visible within a few days – if you know what to look for. Here we can see, healthy leaves directly behind the raspberries, below – the paler green leaf has the very early tell-tale lines/patches of white, where spidermites have been attacking the leaf (you can see the, small perfectly round, insects on the underside of the leaf: with a magnifying glass). Finally to the right we see leaves that have advanced evidence of spidermite infestation; the whole leaves clearly yellow/brown (and spidermites will be clearly visable, on the underside – with the naked eye).

There are two main options for us, to treat these pesky pests: 1) spray them, with organically certified compounds (which are natural based- and not harmful to crop or soil). 2) Use a natural predator that eats the insect, and so keep the population growth in check. We also plant different types of flowers that are a natural deterrent to some insect pests. In our case, the crop advisor recommended using a natural predator insect to keep the spidermites in check (the foliage was quite dense, so spraying would not reach the inner leaves). Also, as we have had this problem before – and used predator insects – there is an existing population of predator insects present on the raspberry leaves (clearly visible on the undersides of leaves: large white insects) , they just need some reinforcements, to help in their battle with the spidermites – and with a little luck should devour the pests, before the pests devour our raspberry leaves.

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Our second problem of the week, is in one of our cucumber tunnels. The cucumber leaves have developed leaf mould, which in this case is mildew – with round patches of mould covering the leaves. Our solution here is to use sulphur crystals, melted in ‘hotboxes’ as a non-toxic (sulphur: think volcanic activity – or maybe some brands of household matches) airborn treatment.  Fingers crossed this will cure our problem.

Growing food without using harmful pesticides, is difficult; but by catching any problems, in their early stages – we can use a variety of natural based weapons to help win each battle. The extra effort is worth it, to bring healthy, great tasting food, to our tables.

 

Farmer’s Markets, the people you meet – and things you learn.

Every Sunday, at a farmer’s market in London, i sell the things we grow on the farm. In the year and a half i have been doing the same market, i have met some really interesting people – customers as well as other stallholders/farmers and the managers of the company that runs the London Farmers Markets ( https://www.lfm.org.uk/ ). I have learnt much from the other stallholders, especially when they are the actual farmers selling their own produce, but especially from our customers, many who really “know their onions” as they say.

Today i talked with a lady who buys from me most weeks, who was a herbal practitioner, gained a few cooking tips/recipe ideas for cooking/marinating courgettes with miso paste (i get at least one recipe or recipe idea each week), chatted with another regular – about her memories of growing up in farming communities in South Africa, and also Zambia, and at the end of the day had a chat with a man – who is at the markets most weeks, and likes to know about the fruit and vegetables we sell, how we grow them and the different varieties we have on our farm. This week i happened to mention the farm’s social media site (we are in the middle of the cherry season, and their are lots of pictures of our cherry orchards  and harvesting online right now, a bumper harvest this year,  and really worth a look), and also of the blog of a former market manager, who is a freelance writer, with a passion for food and food sustainability issues (her dissertation for her masters degree was on the topic of Genetically modified crops in Africa, and she writes for various publications on many environmental issues, as well as agriculture).  My friendly customer, who likes to chat about our fruit and veg,  was interested to read the blog of my old market manager (she is a very young, and pretty market manger actually ), and told me about his own job briefly, where he works for an international agricultural research and development company, where he is involved with Chinese farming (he mentioned Chinese farmers, fed a population of 1.3 billion, when i asked about the Chinese farming industry: a sobering statistic).

The story of the food on our plate, is such an important story, with so many different people involved – from the seeds we use in our modern world to grow, to the actual farmers who then grow and sell, and the people who buy and cook and feed their families. Each week, there are many people fresh out of their yoga classes, clasping, yoga mats (and many others fresh out of the gym or playing field) with shopping bags full of fresh veg. Many families with newborn babies and buggies, buying pesticide-free produce for the table. And many who also are directly or indirectly connected to the agricultural industry.

I am back on the farm, to be ready for work Monday morning, and ‘my’ onions will need watering, and some TLC to be in top condition  for the market next weekend. It’s late and i really should be heading to bed, so i can play my part in the vast supply chain that feeds our planet.

Summer fruits = summer pudding.

I was at Parson’s Green farmers market again today,  selling the fresh produce from our farm. Today was the first day i had red-currents (and white-currents) for sale, the first of the season (although they have been out a week or two in small numbers).  Last week i had a couple of ladies asking me when i would have red-currents, as they are – along with blackcurrents, and raspberries (which have both been out for a while now) – both essential ingredients for a true English classic: “Summer Pudding”.  Delia Smith, on her wonderful website says: “If you going to make just one pudding this summer, then this should be it”. I’ll leave it to Delia to show you how. I used her recipe last summer, and was very pleased, as were a few of my friends.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/english-summer-pudding

The lady who last year bought red-currents for summer pudding,  and was shocked when i told her i had not heard of this, “English Classic” – bought lots of currents again this year, some to freeze as well as some for making a fresh pudding. I have two tips for summer pudding

1. get a one litre bowl – i used a larger glass mixing bowl last year, and the pudding collapsed in a heap when i turned the bowl upside down to serve. It still tasted, and looked delicious.
2. this tip from the lady i served today: do not use thick slice bread to line the bowl (as i did ) and let it go ever so slightly stale/hard. This will help keep the pudding in a nice roundshape like in Delia’s picture from her site, hopefully.

I will post a picture here of my summer pudding, hopefully a perfect upturned ‘bowl’ shape, when i make it soon.

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And one week later, i finally made my summer pudding.

And after two bites:

I’m pleased it didn’t collapse in a heap this year (using thin-slice white bread helped, i am sure) – and it tasted great even though i didn’t have the proportions of fruit Delia used (i used half of the proportion of raspberries, instead using white-currents, red-currents and more black-currents, aswell as 200g of raspberries).

Saturday 8th July, i’m a (healthier)flapaholic!

Today i worked on the farm, and made a tray of flapjacks after i had my evening meal.

I used to buy flapjacks from the shops nearby, all the time, a few years ago. Now, after much experimenting i have settled on my basic favourite flapjack recipe. This one uses no butter-but over ripe bananas instead, for a much healthier (vegan i suppose too) flapjack:

4 medium bananas (150g +)

100g mixed dried fruit/currants/or dried apricots

100g light brown sugar

200g porridge oats (maybe some more if the mixture is very wet)

6 tbsp  rapeseed oil/sunflower oil

One 10 inch by 7 inch by 2 inches deep, baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper.

12 to 15 minutes in oven (180 Deg+)

 

Mash up the bananas in a mixing bowl

Add the fruit, sugar and oil – stir well

Add the porridge oats, mix, place mixture into baking tray and bake @ 180 deg for 15 – 20 minutes (or more even, if you feel like it ). Remove from oven, leave in tray for 5 mins, divide in tray, then remove to cool on a wire rack, for at least another 5 mins –  if you can. 🙂

 

 

 

Monday, a new week, and some new growing tips.

Monday starts with unloading all the weekend market vans, and the yard is full of people sorting boxes of fruit into pallets.  My job is to look after the irrigation, so during the summer months, i rarely help out with this Monday morning routine. As my friends lug boxes and forklifts come and go, i start by cleaning the filters on the pumps in the main irrigation shed,  making sure all the pumps are working and all the tanks are being filled.

As i fill the main feed tank (liquid ‘organic’ fertilizer gets added to the watering cycle of each crop, the dose, along with time and frequency, is controlled automatically by a computer in the shed) i have time to speak with one of my colleagues who used to farm fruit and veg in his native Portugal. It is very interesting to hear how he would keep his crops irrigated and fortified with feed.

We grow most of our salad crop, and soft fruit in poly-tunnels – Spanish tunnels (all the strawberries and raspberries, and large tunnels more like greenhouses (tomatoes, aubergine, cucumber beans etc…). At the start of the season, we clear and plough the ground in the tunnels, spread manure and compost and plough this in before using a tractor with a different attachment, to make metre wide beds from the now soft rich soil. On top of these beds we lay 16mm pipes, which have small ‘soaker’ holes @ 300mm to 500mm intervals,  all are connected to the main water feeder pipes which are directly connected to one of 30 plus valves, and then the pump. After being tested, the pipes – and beds – are covered with a plastic sheet to keep the moisture in. Now the beds are ready for planting.

My friend from Portugal explained how he would plant his produce in open beds with no covering, using an ingenious system of: bedding soil + plant + manure, heaped in beds + another layer of soil to cap/seal the beds in. He said this system helped with watering, instead of the water draining into the ground – which would over the season become compacted, the heaped, and sealed in beds would draw the water up into them – the earth capping retaining the moisture, much as the bedding plastic we use. The resulting beds were better fed with fertilizer, better watered, and better drained; resulting in better/stronger plants. At the start of the season, where the first crops commanded the best prices this method, along with a very early pruning of the resulting ‘early’ stronger growth; would mean the plants would bear fruit up to a month earlier than usual.   Changing the dose of liquid fertilizer, and frequency of waterings each day, would also make a big difference to the crop. Most Mondays, especially the mornings, are routine; some days you really do learn something new.

Farm to farmers market, and back again.

Today, Sunday,  i got up early and left the farm with a van loaded with fresh produce from our farm. As i do each Sunday, i swapped my, often muddy, farm workwear for more civilized clothing of: clean shoes, jeans and T-shirt, and headed for a ‘farmers market’ in London.  The market is in Parson’s Green, which is near Fulham, not far from putney bridge, where the Oxford v Cambridge university ‘boat race’  starts each spring.

At the end of the market day  (we open for business at 10am and finish at 2pm), i was talking with the market manager, about how life and work on the farm would be good material for a blog; so here it is- my first post. Thanks for the inspiration Racheal! 🙂

Today as usual i had apples and pears, which were harvested, last season from our farm; apple juices, and mixed fruit juices (all pure fruit juice with no added water or sugar – the best in the west!); lots of naturally grown salad leaves and vegetables; strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, and for the first week – cherries: the very first of (the very short) season. Next week i will be selling more new season produce as it becomes ripe (tomatoes maybe, courgette soon, red-currents, white-currents maybe).

For me, a weekly outing to London, is a nice change from working on the farm all week. It is always good to meet new customers, and welcome back regulars each week. At the market, i get a chance to answer many questions about the farm, and what is grown there, and to chat with many interesting people. I have learnt alot from speaking with the people who buy our produce, (including a few tasty recipes) and enjoy describing the methods we use to produce what i sell, and about the family run company i work for.

Back at the farm, life is easy and relaxed on a Sunday evening.  The working week for most people here, begins Monday.  which can wait till the morning now – as i end my first blog entry.