Farming Friends

Meet the animals and harvest the information without getting your hands dirty!

Fruited Cornbread With Macadamias Recipe

sara | June 14, 2010

With the summer season upon us, treat the whole family to freshly made home-baked loaves for picnics and barbeques.

Fruited Cornbread with Macadamias
Ingredients for one loaf or 8-9 small rolls

220g flour (strong wheat)
5g yeast
5g salt
20g raw cane sugar
90g polenta (see description below of how to prepare)
55g macadamia [...]

The Foodies Books By Joanne Roach

sara | September 13, 2009

As a former teacher and now a farmer’s wife and farmer/smallholder myself, I love books that are fun but still manage to educate children about food, animals or farming. I was delighted to come across The Foodies set of books written by Joanne Roach.

“The Foodies Books are a series of 12 illustrated stories for children [...]

Strawberry Picking On Strawberry Farm

sara | May 24, 2009

This week I was shown round the local strawberry and raspberry farm by the owner.

It was interesting to see the different varieties of strawberries at the different stages of growth and how they are grown. The strawberries are grown in poly tunnels and have been planted in grow bags and then placed on a shelf [...]

Lemon Curd Recipe Using Duck Eggs

sara | November 19, 2008

Lemon curd is a favourite at our house and as I have an abundance of duck eggs which can be used to make lemon curd here is the lemon curd recipe.
Ingredients

2 lemons
2 duck eggs
7oz of castor sugar
1oz of margarine

Method

Crack eggs and whisk the eggs.
Grate the rind of the 2 lemons, cut in half and squeeze.
Add [...]

Harvesting Medlars

sara | November 8, 2008

This weekend I harvested the medlars on our tree.

Medlars can be harvested at the end of October and through November.
Once harvested the fruit should be left in a box in a cool dry place until they turn a dark reddish brown and become soft and juicy.
This ripening process is known as “bletting” the medlars.
When the [...]

Raspberry Canes Planted

sara | January 2, 2008

Back in November 2007 I received some raspberry canes as a gift from my cousin and his wife as a thank you for letting them stay with us in the Summer when they were over from Australia.
We planted the canes and added some straw on top of the soil to help retain moisture, keep the weeds down [...]

Strawberry Plants – Green Thumb Sunday

sara | November 11, 2007

Although the recommendation is to plant strawberry plants in late Autumn, I have just planted three elsanta strawberry plants that I recently purchased from a local garden centre.
Which variety of strawberries do you grow?
Any advice on how to look after the strawberry plants through the Winter would be appreciated.
Green Thumb Sunday Logo
Join
Gardeners, Plant and Nature [...]

National Apple Day

admin | October 24, 2007

Damson Chutney

admin | October 10, 2007

At the weekend I made damson chutney following the excellent recipe from Fiona @ The Cottage Smallholder.
Here are the ingredients in the pan before the four hour simmer!

This is the ingredients after a four hour simmer.

Here is a jar of the damson chutney.

This damson chutney looks delicious – my thanks go to my mother in law [...]

Nutritional Value Of Apples

admin | October 10, 2007

Apples are a fruit that are a good source of;
vitamin C,
vitamin A,
calcium,
phosphorus,
potassium,
and dietary fibre.
The nutritional value of apples will vary slightly depending on the variety and size of the apple.
Other Health Benefits
Low in calories.
No cholesterol in apples.
No sodium in apples.
Click on the image below to go to Amazon.co.uk for more information about this book or [...]