Castlefarm Shop Newsletter
5-Aug-2009
Castlefarm Newslettter, July 09
Castlefarm Shop July newsletter 09
Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie to receive this newsletter by email
July and August diary
• 10th July Children’s summer club party and BBQ 12-2.30pm €5 booked in advance or €8 on the day. Contact Michelle for more details 086-3736402. Come join us for the day.
• Sunday 19th of July – Big picnic for Barretstown family charity - a farm tour and a chance to collect your own eggs. We have just signed up to host a big picnic. At midday we will be holding a farm tour with a chance for people to collect their own fresh organic eggs! Then afterwards we will put out some bales and games and you can enjoy a picnic in our Park Field at 1.30pm. All we ask is for a donation for Barretstown on the day.
• Saturday 25th of July. 11am Farmer for a morning at Castlefarm. Spend time on our farm helping to feed the pigs, hens and cows and collecting eggs. Cost €7.50 to include eggs. Places need to be booked in advance.
• Saturday 1st August 2pm Feasting from our hedges. Discover the edible delights found in our hedges including the first tour to our foraging hedge where over 40 varieties of fruits nuts ands berries are planted. Cost €10 which includes the edible feast.
• Thursday 20th of August 7pm. A walk to inspect the Castlefarm Organic Angus beef. As part of the Taste Kildare festival which runs from 17th – 23rd of August we will be holding a beef walk at 7pm at our farm. No charge. PS, on the evening you will even be invited to pick the animal that goes into your beef box – now that’s traceablity!
• Saturday 22nd August. A family farm tour and picnic at Castlefarm. At midday (sharp) we will lead a farm tour through our farm with a special emphasis on our new pigs and our garden. We will also allow people to collect their own eggs. Then from 1-3pm we will open our park field so families can picnic on the farm. Bales and ideas for games will be provided. No charge.
• Sunday 23rd of August Taste Kildare. We will be exhibiting at Taste Kildare in the K Club. Enable Ireland will benefit from this festival which will focus on flavoursome Kildare food and family fun. There is no charge, although a €10 car parking charge will go directly to Enable Ireland.
• Friday 28th August. 2pm. Teagasc/Department of Agriculture Farm Walk. This will focus on farm diversification.
• Saturday and Sunday 29th August. Harvest Fair. Come and spend a day at a very special celebration on our farm. Allotment holders will set up stall to sell their excess preserves and fresh vegetables for charity. We are also planning an array of tours, demonstrations and children’s activities– details will be in the August Castlefarm Newsletter.
Castlefarm Shop late opening on Fridays and email order service
Due to customer demand we will now open until 7.30pm on Fridays. People are also welcome to text or email their orders to save them time on the way home.
Castlefarm seasonal vegetable box scheme (pictured above)
Also to convenience customers we are putting together a weekly, seasonal vegetable and fruit box scheme. These will vary from week to week to make sure our customers get the best quality and value for money. There will be some organic imports in these boxes but these will be kept to a minimum. There is a €15 family box and a €10 kitchen box. The family box will contain more vegetables with a significant amount of day to day veg. The kitchen box will contain smaller volumes and include one or two more unusual treats. For the next two weeks (i Friday 10th and 17th) as an introduction we will be giving a 10% discount on these boxes. Please book your box as soon as possible (i.e before Friday morning).
Castlefarm Organic Angus beef (Pictured below) ready for August
Great news! The first Organic Angus beef box of the autumn will be ready for collection in early August. Our beef boxes contain a mix of steaks, roasts, mince and stewing beef. We hang our beef for 21 days to ensure maximum flavour. The boxes will cost €12/kg with approximately 10kg of meat in each box. We can also accommodate people who would like a variation in their beef box (more steaks will of course cost more) or only roasts and mince (which will cost less). The beef went quickly last time so to avoid disappointment please email me as soon as possible. If you would like to be included on our beef list so that we can contact you when the other heifers are fit for the freezer please let us know. Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie
Whats in season in the Castlefarm garden and allotments
At the moment the Castlefarm harvest is extremely bountiful. We are harvesting lettuce, rocket, fennel, cucumbers (pictured below), courgettes, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, and blackcurrants. Our Swedes have just come into season and our onions are on the way. As the summer progressive we will have more root vegetables coming into season. Our allotment holders are also harvesting a lot of the above but I see that they are also enjoying new potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beetroot, peas and herbs – oh and borage and marigolds for their salads. As organic growers we are all still having battles with slugs, pigeons, greenflies, chickweed and caterpillars but are at the same time amazed at how many wild birds, bees and lady birds there are living at Castlefarm.
Castlefarm foraging hedge update
Our foraging hedge is thriving. We are holding the first walk to feast on the edible delights of the foraging hedge on 1 August. (see diary above)
On the farm
Our autumn calvers have just been dried off (we have stopped milking them). They are due to calve from early September and will supply autumn milk for Glenisk. We have cut most of our silage, although with so much grass growth at the moment we have set aside another few paddocks for baled silage.
Castlefarm honey on the way
Loretta and Jane, who keep their bees on our farm (hives pictured below), have said that Castlefarm honey is at last on its way to our farm shop. We are anticipating the taste already.
Recipe
Fennel, apple and carrot salad. This is similar to coleslaw in texture. Using a food processor grate one fresh fennel bulb, one eating apple and two new seasons carrots. Mix thoroughly adding salt and pepper, a tablespoon of natural yogurt and a dash of cider vinegar. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds (fry these in a frying pan coated with olive oil).
Opening hours Friday 10am – 7.30 pm, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 12-5pm
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Contact Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Telephone 059-8636948, jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, www.castlefarmshop.ie