Castlefarm Shop Newsletter
8-May-2011
Castlefarm Newslettter, May 11
Castlefarm Shop newsletter May 2011
Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie to receive this newsletter by email
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Opening days and what you can do on the farm for free this May
Farm Shop next open on Fri 27th & Sat 28th May. 10am-6pm.
• Saturday 28th May (no charge for activities)11am (sharp) meet the calves & help feed the pigs
2.30 (sharp) egg collecting
3pm Gardening talk
For farm activities PLEASE ARRIVE 5 MINUTES BEFORE TIME....THE FARM CHORES REALLY DO NEED TO BE DONE AND IF YOU ARE LATE YOU MAY MISS OUT ON THE FUN!
REMEMBER WEAR WELLINGTONS AND WARM, WATERPROOF CLOTHES
What from the farm is on sale at farm shop this May
We will have organic pork, lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, herbs, cucumbers, courgettes, rocket, hen and duck eggs.
We also have our apple juice, cheese, honey and dressings.
Whats happening on the farm
This month is breeding season. In order to have a suitable herd of cows for our organic system of farming Peter will artificially inseminate our cows for 6 weeks. Our female calves will become our future dairy herd. Our future dairy herd must be easy calving, healthy and have the ability to produce a reasonable amount of milk on a grass diet.
Grass growth is good and we have closed off some paddocks, which we will later cut for silage. Our bees have been busy at work enjoying the fine weather and the oilseed rape in a nearby field. Last year we had a bumper crop of honey so fingers crossed the fine weather will mean another good crop this year. Most of our calves are now outdoors and thriving. The highlight of their day is when someone drives the quad and milk feeder into their field. They are fed milk once a day and will be weaned off milk during the summer.
Piggy going to the butcher
This month our 3 pigs will become 2 as we bring our first pig of the season to the butchers. I don’t feel bad about this as we bought them to fatten and being chief pig feeder i can confirm that they have had a really nice life. So on the last weekend of May we will have our organic pork for sale in the fridge at Castlefarm Shop.
In the Castlefarm garden
Yeah hey the rain came down! I am really enjoying the break from watering. In the Castlefarm garden our first polytunnel crops are starting to bear fruit. We have already started enjoying own cucumber and courgettes. The Castlefarm rhubarb bed especially needed the rain thirsty. With so much of it i was delighted when one of allotment holders Jean passed on this website http://www.savor-the-rhubarb.com/with a recommendation to make rhubarb lemonade.
August certified organic Aberdeen Angus beef boxes
• Meat hung for 21 days to optimise on flavour and tenderness
• €12/kg for a box of mixed cuts (steaks, roasts, stewing beef and mince)
• Extremely good value for great quality product
• Boxes range from 12-16kg
As usual the boxes will include 6-8 steaks, roasts, stewing beef and good quality mince. Cost per kg is €12 and box sizes range from 12 to 16kg. Our beef is hung for 21 days and butchered in Murphy’s Craft Butchers Tullow.
Please let us know if you would like to put your name down on our beef list.
Book organic pork for May
Anyone interested in enjoying some of our organic pork should let me know and i will put your some pork aside for you in the coldroom (No deposit required).
Grow your own on Castlefarm allotments
We have a couple of plots left to rent. PS prices are the same as last year starting at €125 for a starter plot, €200 double plot and €250 treble plot.
Recipe from website mentioned above!
RHUBARB LEMONADE
3 1/2 cups water
8 cups chopped rhubarb
3 1/4 cups white sugar
4 tbl sp lemon zest
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
Combine all ingredients and bring to a medium boil in a saucepan. Adjust the heat to low, and let simmer. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved and rhubarb falls apart. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Strain the liquid well, and let cool.
This liquid will keep for up to 3 weeks refrigerated. Use one part syrup to 3 parts water and lots of ice to serve.
Castlefarm Shop opens the last Friday and Saturday of each month from 10am until 6pm. We are next open on Fri 27th & Sat 28th May. Our free farm activities on Saturday 28th May are helping to feed the pigs 11am sharp, Egg collecting 2.30pm and a gardening talk at 3pm.
To receive our newsletter and news of new products by email please contact Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, log onto www.castlefarmshop.ie or telephone 059-8636948
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