Dear Customer,

Well, what we were joking about a few weeks ago has become quite grave. The rain is starting to really take its toll on the farms. Today we had our organic inspection, the inspectors had just returned from Lincolnshire where they said the air was pungent with the smell of rotting vegetables.

I have a note to you from Jane Edwards, New Farm, Lincs.:

" Rain, rain and more rain but at least we must be thankful we are not suffering from floods - perhaps it was not wise of me to say to John as we looked round the fields 'the wheat looks really well this year' his reply was ' a lot can happen between now and harvest' - too true - the golden wheat has turned a dull grey colour and no amount of sun will now alter that, but if we could have some dry weather at least we could get it harvested. My prayers at bed time are getting quite desperate !! Sometimes I think farmers are the greatest gamblers ever - we buy seed not knowing if it will grow - if it does we do not know if we can harvest it - if we do - we don't know if the quality will be good enough to sell or what the price will be !
The cauliflowers did not grow due to lack of rain earlier in the summer and now because of all the rain and the mild conditions they have all grown at once ( overnight - they can be the right size in the afternoon and by the morning too big to sell ) and we have had to plough thousands backs into the land. Let's hope the potatoes and cabbages save the day ! Not all bad news - our cattle increased by one yesterday with the birth of a calf. We keep cows that are due to calve in the field by the side of the house and we have been keeping a close watch on one of the cows. Some of them seem to be very crafty and do not calf until you are out of sight. One of the lads said 'I think that cow's calved' John looked all over the field but no sign of the calf - we waited for the mother to amble over to the hedge and followed her. No calf could be found until John went down on his knees crawled into the dry ditch by the hedge and there it was……….sitting happily in a bed of nettles! Calf fine - John's knees a bit itchy ! "

I'm sure you'll be very pleased to find raw beetroot in the bags this week from Pam Bowers. Here is a recipe for beetroot puree which I haven't tried from Cath Sermon one of our customers. I like the idea of the horseradish and cooking apples contrasting with the sweetness of the beetroot. I bet it's delicious.

Beetroot Puree

8oz cooking apples
1lb raw beetroot
1 onion, chopped
4 tbls oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp grated horseradish or creamed horseradish
4 tbsp sour cream
1oz wholemeal flour

Fry the onions in oil for 2 mins. Coarsely grate in the apples and beetroot ( plus juice ). Season and add lemon and horseradish. Simmer covered for 30 mins. Add half the cream, plus the flour, cook for 15 min. Stir in the remaining cream just before serving to make a nice swirly pattern.

I must say that I am not very happy with the quality of the apricots this week. They are quite dry so I would suggest you may try the Apricot Brulee Recipe from the other week. Sorry, we shan't get any more of that variety.

All best wishes,

Isobel Davies