February

Thankfully, the end of February turned out to be much better that the beginning, depending on whether you are a fan of snow or not. I love the look of snow and the landscape that is created, but the mayhem that it causes with flooding, etc I can do without.

On the plus side, the snow does create something unique and exhilarating in the countryside, and for me at least it evokes a special feeling that I treasure whenever it happens. The quietness of snow when it’s falling, the sense of stillness and peace when you first venture out into the pristine carpet of white in the morning and there is a peacefulness in the air almost as though all noise is softened by the insulating snow. When you experience such a moment, even the biggest problems seem to fade away and all is well with the farm and the world for that matter.

Of course the kids loved the fact that the school was shut and although the local roads were closed they did seem to spend an awful lot of time out of the house having fun, infact I nearly had to send a search party out to drag them off the sledging slopes for their tea!. Actually, it wasn’t just my boys that had a whale of a time as there were several instances of impromptu snowball fights in the yard, and yes I was in the thick of the battle. Great funindeed, so yes I really do believe that  ‘snowtime’ is a magical and exciting time, until it thaws and then reality kicks back in with  life on the farm becoming much harder and very, very muddy.

By the last week of the month however, all the snow had gone and we had managed to plant forty acres of spring barley into great seed beds.  Where we had ploughed the land before the frost and snow came and then with the temperature freezing and thawing, the soil is left crumbly and marvellous for a seed bed.  This is known as over-wintering the soil, letting the weather, if you like, do the working down of the ground for you.

We have applied the first application of urea fertilizer to all our oilseed rape and winter barley fields and as the photo this month shows the oilseed rape is looking very strong, growing nice and evenly over the whole field.  How quickly things can change from fields of snow, to fields of green and we are now very confident about the harvest in July.  This of course will depend on whether we can keep the crop healthy and away from disease during the spring, so that it can flower properly and therefore set a large amount of good sized pods!  Fingers crossed.

As February draws to a close most of the spring barley is planted.  We are still busy spreading chicken manure onto more spring barley ground and then frantically ploughing, ready for some good March weather.  We shall continue to plough the ground we had put aside for the sunflowers and I am sure that everybody in the area is looking forward to seeing them in all their glory again. I wonder if we will have as much extra curricular activity in there this year ? Must remember to keep my camera with me, just incase.

Recipe

Roast Butter Nut Squash Soup with Rosemary Aioli and Foccacia by Mark Bailey, head Chef at the Mill at Rode www.themillatrode.co.uk

For the Butter Nut Squash Soup
Ingredients:

2 x medium butternut squash
1 large or 2 medium onions
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 large clove of garlic
1 to 2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock
10ml of Fussels rapeseed oil and more for drizzling
Large knob of butter
Some single cream or crème fraiche

To prepare:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade or gas mark 3

Peel and roughly dice the squash, removing, cleaning and retaining the seeds for later.
Toss squash in 10ml of Fussels rapeseed oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place in a single layer on a baking tray and cook for 20 / 30 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, peel the onions and carrots and roughly chop with the celery, crush the garlic, chop and add to the other vegetables.
Place all the vegetables in a saucepan along with a teaspoon of butter and a splash of Fussels rapeseed oil, and sweat them for 10 / 15 minutes with the lid on. Stir occasionally.
Now add the cooked squash and enough stock to cover the vegetables and gently bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes before blending the mixture with a hand blender or liquidiser until the soup is smooth. Season to taste.

While simmering the soup, place the cleaned pumpkin seeds and toss with Fussels rapeseed oil and layer onto a baking tray. Place in a preheated oven at 150 degrees / gas mark 2 for 20 / 30 minutes until brown.

Serve the finished soup with a swirl of single cream or crème fraiche and a sprinkle of the toasted pumpkin seeds. Accompany with the foccacia and aioli.

For the Rosemary Aioli
Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic
1 heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary
150ml of Fussels rapeseed oil
1 egg yolk
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

To prepare:

In a pestle and mortar or substantial bowl, pound the garlic with the rosemary and a pinch of salt until it creates a rough paste.
Add the egg yolk and beat it into the paste.
Now slowly dribble the Fussels rapeseed oil into the mixture whilst stirring the mixture constantly. As the mixture blends and loosens and then thickens, begin to add the rest of the Fussels rapeseed oil in a steady drizzle, stirring all the time. Gradually the mixture will thicken until it can be formed into small peaks and will not fall from an upturned spoon.
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

For the Foccacia
Ingredients:

500 g of pasta flour, or very strong white bread flour.
2 x 7g sachets of fast acting yeast.
100ml of Fussels rapeseed oil and more for drizzling
Hand hot water
20g of salt

To prepare:

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt and yeast, mixing the ingredients thoroughly.
Add the 100ml of Fussels rapeseed oil and mix until a very soft (but not sticky) dough is formed.
Kneed the dough for 5 minutes and then cover lightly with clingfilm and leave for about an hour, during which time it will approximately double in size.
When ready, turn out the dough onto a tray that has been well oiled with Fussels rapeseed oil and form into a flat circle about a finger thick. Rub the surface with Fussels rapeseed oil and cover loosely with cling film and leave to rise for about 30 minutes. During this time preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas mark 4.
After washing your hands thoroughly, oil your hands with Fussels rapeseed oil and poke the dough with your finger tips, leaving deep indents all over the loaf. Then drizzle heavily with fusels rapeseed oil.
Bake for 30 / 40 minutes until well browned and crisp on top.