Church FarmYour Weekly Newsletter

Friday 13th January 2012

A Note from the Grower

If you ever make the wise decision to eat at the Church Farm café or at the pub over the road, the Jolly Waggoner, you may see in your side salad some leaves of the special plant pictured above. This is winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliata), and it has been a key ingredient of our mixed salad supplies throughout the winter months.Its frost-hardiness makes it a highly suitable plant for growing through the winter from an August or September sowing. However it can also be sown in early spring, to be harvested during the summer. A free self-seeder, in hot summers it might disappear, to re-emerge once the weather gets cooler. The plant is native to North America, indeed our American intern, Bailey, was amazed to see we cultivated it here, as she was used to seeing it growing wild back home in Oregon! It was used by the early settlers in America, where it acquired the name “Miners Lettuce”, after the Californian gold rush miners kept scurvy at bay by eating copious quantities of the vitamin C - rich leaves. Now naturalised in Britain, winter purslane can provide rich pickings for observant and savvy wild food foragers.If you’d like to grow it yourself, try sowing the seeds in early Spring or Autumn, either into pots or modules of compost, or directly into prepared soil. Thin or plant at 15cm (6 inch) spacings, and harvest by the handful once leaves are large enough, though they are at their best before flowering occurs.RikPhoto source: http://www.jekkasherbfarm.com/HerbWinterPurslane.asp

Recipe IdeasWe love to include recipes in this newsletter, in order to give you some inspiration for using your Church Farm produce. If you ever want to search for some more ideas, a great website to check out is www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk

It gives you information on storing your fruit and vegetables, and also a wide range of recipes tailored specifically to the sorts of ingredients that come in farm boxes in this country. They also have a great picture gallery to help you identify some of the more unusual items that arrive at your door.

Meat Special OfferTake advantage of our great price on shoulder of pork. Only £2.99 per kg!

While Stocks Last

You may recall that Tesco’s got a telling off last year for its advertised claim that all of its loaves were ‘fresh bread, baked from scratch in our in-store bakery’. It turns out that in reality, the bread had been cooked several days or weeks in advance in a factory far away and sent (often frozen) to be re-heated in an in-store ‘bakery’. And the secrets of supermarket bread don’t stop there.

The truth is that most British bread harbours a host of unnatural additives, and legislation allows the worst of this to be kept off the label. This includes undeclared additions such as a variety of E-number ‘concentrates’, ‘bread improvers’, and ‘flour treatments’, as well as ‘processing aids’ - a potion of enzymes used in modern bread production.

But don’t despair – we’ve used our loaf and started our own farm bakery providing real bread, baked from scratch every day. Church Farm bread is made by man and not machine (one man in fact). We only use British flour milled locally in Chelmsford by master millers Marriages. Our bread is made with flour, water, organic milk, salt, yeast and a dash of vegetable oil. Our speciality breads include nuts, seeds, grains, cheese and vegetables.

So rather than the supermarkets not-so-‘fresh loaves’ baked in store, put the passion back into bread and buy the real stuff, made with real ingredients by real people. All our bread is available daily in the farm shop, and will soon be available for same-day delivery through our website.

Ref : http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/what_is_real_bread/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1298227/Tescos-misleading-claims-bread-just-tip-iceberg.html

Real Bread vs Supermarkets

Church Farm, Ardeley, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 7AH, T: 01438 861 447E: info@churchfarmardeley.co.uk www.churchfarmardeley.co.uk

What’s in my box next week?

MEATFarm VarietySausages, pork roasting joint, diced beef, minced lamb, back bacon

Lean CutsSkinny sausages, skinless chicken breast fillet, lean beef mince, trimmed pork loin strips

Old English CutsLamb’s liver, pork shoulder joint, beef shin, stock pot bag

Premium SelectionSausages, pork loin roasting joint, back bacon

VEGETABLESExtra Small (6 varieties)Potato, carrot, onion, brussel sprout, pointed cabbage, sweet potato, salad

Small (8 varieties)Parsnip, squash

Medium (10 varieties)Mini leek, kale

Large (12 varieties)Beetroot, celeriac

Extra Large (15 varieties)Herb bunch, purple sprouting broccoli, courgette

FRUITClementines, mangoes, apples (red pippin) pears, grapes, blood oranges.

Please note that these are standard items and are subject to change.

If you have asked not to be supplied with a particular item, a substitute will be provided in your box.

Real Ales: Real Food : Warm Welcome at the

Jolly Waggoner

Now taking bookings for Burns Night, Valentine’s Day and

Mothers’ Day.Book a table today to avoid disappointment!

Call 01438 861 350

www.thejollywaggoner.co.uk

Before and after Christmas we have been helping the co-farmers to fill out questionnaires on how they feel about their time spent at the farm. It is part of a research project being written by a PhD student about the benefits of care farming. He is also involved with other care farms, working with different groups of people, such as unemployed and out of school young people. Let’s hope that the project helps promote care farming to the wider public and other farmers. On the farm this week, we have been helping to harvest carrots, spread straw around the chicken and duck areas, remove redundant tree guards and stakes from the young woodlands, and generally working off the Christmas lunch!

Research into Rural Care

Braised belly pork with aubergine in chilli bean sauceServes 2-4

Ingredients2 tbsp groundnut oil2 cloves garlic, chopped2 cm piece ginger, grated4 large red chillies, seeds removed and chopped4 chinese dried mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, stems removed and chopped350 g pork belly, without bone, chopped into 2cm pieces1 large aubergine500 ml boiling water3 tbsp chilli bean sauce, available from Chinese supermarkets3 tbsp dark soy sauce1 tbsp light soy sauce4 large spring onions, sliced lengthways

MethodHeat the groundnut oil in a wok over a high heat and fry the garlic, ginger, and chillies for 1 minute, until the garlic begins to colour. Add the chopped mushrooms, followed by the pork, and fry briskly for another 2 minutes. Add the chopped aubergine and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Pour in the boiling water, chilli bean sauce, and the dark and light soy sauces. Simmer, uncovered, until the meat is tender and the aubergines are soft - this should take around 20 minutes. Scatter the stew with spring onions and accompany with steamed rice. This hearty stew can also be adapted for vegetarians - simply swap tofu chunks for the meat, and add them after the aubergines are tender...

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/517235

The “Pudding Club”Different suet puddings each time, featuring steak and kidney; game; pork, apple and cider ; jam roly poly; spotted dick; and treacle pudding. Next Pudding Club, Wed 11th Jan.Man vs FoodTake on the epic-sized portion. This mega-meal is £25, but if you can eat it in less than 20 minutes, you get it for free! Next Man vs Food challenge, Wed 18th Jan, monthly from then onwards, booking essential.Curry AdventuresPart of our Speciality Food Season. Choose from a selection of curries on offer inspired by classics from around the world. Next Curry Adventure, Wed 25th Jan.Charity Quiz Night£5 entry per team of 4, includes nibbles and a donation to a local charity. Next Quiz Night, Wed 1st Feb, monthly from then onwards.Pizza TakeawayComing on Mondays, starting in February.

Coming Soon at the Jolly Waggoner