Castlefarm Shop Newsletter
14-Sep-2010
Castlefarm Newslettter, September 10
Castlefarm Shop newsletter and diary September 2010
Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie to receive this newsletter by email
Castlefarm diary for September
Celebrate National Organic week with free events at Castlefarm
Saturday 18th September
11am Free Farm Walk. Learn about what is happening on our farm in September. Meet our cows, hens, beef and bees. No charge.
12pm Vegetable harvesting. Learn about what is happening in our organic garden. Harvest some of your own vegetables to take home
1pm spit roasted pig and picnic lunch. Join us in an organic feast of organic spit roasted pork. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to complement this and enjoy an autumnal feast in our organic orchard.
Sunday 19th September
3pm foraging farm walk. No charge. A trip to our foraging hedge that contains 40 different varieties of fruit, nuts and berries. Find out and taste what is in season. Crab apples can be harvested to take home. Learn about what our bees are feasting on in September.
4pm Seasonal cookery demo and food tastings. No charge.
Time to book your children into Halloween Kids club for October
29-31 Halloween kids club to include scary pumpkin carving, the haunted farm maze, fancy dress disco, ghoulish barbeque..... Call or email Michelle for further information. 086-3736402 tours@castlefarmshop.ie. PS deposits are steadily arriving in so please book to ensure your child is not disappointed.
Angus beef box update
The first organic of our beef boxes of the season will be ready for the weekend 24th of September, and the second the weekend 1st October, the third the weekend 8th October and so on. The first few heifers are already booked so to be sure of your order please let me know asap.
The boxes will include 6-8 steaks, roasts, stewing beef and good quality mince. Cost per kg is €12 and box sizes range from 8 to 14kg. As I said the first two animals are already sold and you should let us know if you are interested. Deposits will be due 3 weeks before the beef boxes are ready.
Castlefarm Pork
We will also be bringing our pigs to the butcher in September. One pig will be sold through the farm shop and another will be spit roasted to celebrate National Organic week (spit roast will happen during weekend 18-19 Sept). If anyone would like to put an order in for fresh pork, sausages or ham please let me know.
Castlefarm pumpkin patch
After a slow start and my father in law John winning a battle with chick weed our pumpkins are now thriving and will provide children with lots of fun at our Halloween kids club (29-31 Oct)
Castlefarm honey
Jane and Loretta our local bee keepers have taken honey off our hives. Castlefarm honey is now available in our farm shop (€5.25 a jar). It is thick, waxy and rich and tastes of clover!
In the garden
This month will see the last of our tomatoes, aubergines, basil and cucumbers on sale. We still have salad leaves, rocket, parsley and fresh onions for sale. Our carrots have just arrived for sale in the farm shop. Raspberries, apples and plums are also in season. On the way we have leeks, turnips, parsnips, pak choi and cooking apples. This September also sees us harvesting our apples for juicing and bottling.
On the farm
The organic oats were harvested and sold to Flahavans where they will make organic porridge. Grass growth has slowed up and we are starting to close off paddocks ie the last grazings until next spring. We are getting our sheds ready for winter housing.
Allotment holders raise over €5,000 for St. Brigid’s Hospice and Crumlin
Last autumns Harvest Fair and Allotment Cookery Booklet raised over €5,000 for charity. Last month Peter handed over a cheque to the Friends of St Brigid’s Hospice (A WHOPPING €2604.48) and this month the staff of Crumlin Hospital’s surgical day ward will come to collect the same amount. Well done to the allotment holders of 2009 and thanks to everyone who supported our harvest fair and bought the recipe booklet.
20 organic hens for sale
We have about 20 excess organic hens for sale. My number is 087-6785269 please let me know if you are interested. They are 1 year old (reached point of lay in April) and cost €10 each.
Recipe for Angus beef burgers
Ingredients
700 grams of Castlefarm organic Angus mince
2 Castleruddery organic scallions finely chopped (use the greens too)
1 level teaspoon Brooklodge Organic Spice Rub (or mixed herbs)
A dash of salt and pepper
8 x ½ inch pieces of blue cheese (I use Wicklow or Bellingham Blue)
Cooking instructions
Use your hands to mix the mince, scallions and seasoning together. Roughly divide the mixture into 8 and shape into rounds. Stuff a piece of cheese into the middle of each burger, making sure you shape the mince back over the hole that the cheese entered, so that the cheese will not leak out. Flatten the burgers slightly with the palm of your hand. Fry or grill for about 5 minutes on each side or until cooked in the middle and serve immediately.
Opening hours Friday and Saturday 10am-6pm Sunday 12-5pm
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Contact Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Telephone 059-8636948, jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, www.castlefarmshop.ie