Farming Friends

Preparation

• The uncooked pork was already diced and the pieces were a good size.

• The meat was lean, with some fat left on to keep the meat moist whilst cooking.
• No extra preparation was needed for the pork before adding it to the other casserole ingredients.
• The pork was cooked in a roasting tin for 3 hours in a hot aga with other ingredients to make a pork casserole.

Pork Casserole

Ingredients

1. Diced pork.
2. 2 small red onions chopped.
3. 10 mushrooms sliced.
4. 1 jar of tomato passata.
5. 2 beef oxo cubes.
6. Half a glass of red wine.
7. 2-4 tablespoons of plain yogurt, creme fraise or single cream.

Method

1. Chop the onions and mushrooms and put into the roasting tin with the diced pork.
2. Add the jar of tomato passata, red wine and oxo cubes.
3. Mix the ingredients up and cover with foil.
4. Put into a hot oven and cook for 3 hours.
5. Remove the foil and stir in the plain yogurt, creme fraise or cream.
6. Serve immediately with potatoes and a selection of seasonal vegetables.

• This casserole made 4 servings and my husband and I served it with mashed potato, green beans, courgette and balsamic tomatoes for our first meal and then homemade chips, yorkshire puddings and purple sprouting broccoli for our second meal.

Verdict

• Tender.
• Moist.
• Juicy.
• Cooked well.
• No unwanted fat.
• Easy to prepare.
• Great value for money.

Comments

• “I found the diced pork easy to prepare as it was already diced up and the pieces were well sized and lean. No meat cutting was required which I find a refreshing change.” Sara @ Farming Friends
• “My husband said that the diced pork, “Just melts in your mouth.”

Click on this link for more information about The Blue Pig Company’s meat products.

Latin Name: Capreolus capreolus

Can you unscramble the jumbled up letters to spell a farming word?

Example: EHN = HEN

Have a go and enjoy the challenge.

1. TCALET
2. URPYLOT
3. IGFRNAM
4. EGANIU WFLO
5. RTARTOC
6. EIASGL
7. TTOOEPAS
8. ETWHA
9. YREBLA
10. RMREAF
11. SAMILNA
12. UPGLOH
13. ORSCP
14. BEAALR
15. OECBNMI EHVARRSTE
16. AGIRN
17. VTASHER
18. ESEPH
19. LBSEA
20. OFEMSAUHR

Click on the links below to open the Jumbled Up Farming Words challenge and solution.

Jumbled Up Farming Words Challenge

Jumbled Up Farming Words Solution

Health and safety on the farm is an important issue which has recently been re-highlighted with the tragic news reports (March 2007) of a 12 year old boy killed whilst driving a tractor, a man killed by a cow whilst tagging the cow’s calf and a man injured with a fractured spine whilst climbing into a grain silo.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) state that:

• between 1994-2004 an average of 49 people per year have been killed as a result of farming and agriculture-related activities;
• in 2004-2005 47 people were killed as a result of farming and agriculture-related activities;
• in 2005-2006 45 people were killed as a result of farming and agriculture-related activities.

Whilst the number of fatal injuries are decreasing, the HSE highlights the fact that the agricultural industry has the highest incidence rates of any major industrial sector in the UK. Reasons for this stem from the inherently hazardous nature of the agricultural industry whereby farmer’s, employees, children and members of the public either work with or come into contact with potentially dangerous machinery, equipment, buildings, chemicals and livestock. The HSE point out that the main causes of accidents and fatal injuries in farming are generally related to:

• transport;
• falling from a height;
• contact with livestock;
• contact with moving machinery; and
• being struck by moving or falling objects.

The agricultural industry needs to look at ways to promote and improve health and safety on our farms so that accidents and injuries can be reduced and avoided.

New approaches to health and safety introduced by HSE over the past few years include:

• Safety and Health Awareness Days;
• An electronic self assessment software package;
• Land based Vocational Qualifications at NVQ levels 2, 3 & 4 in health and safety;
• Targeted inspection campaigns; and
• HSE’s agriculture e-bulletin, a regular email of news, information, advice and guidance on health and safety in agriculture.

The Health and Safety Executive believe that, “Health and safety is integral to good farm business management……. and what is now needed is for those in the industry……to promote risk awareness, risk assessment and….risk control.”

For more information relating to health and safety in farming and agriculture, then visit the HSE website.

Earlier this afternoon I received a phone call from my husband, who was working in the field. I was asked to bring the camera and video recorder, as there were three deer in the field, so I gathered all the equipment and headed up the lane. As I approached the field I had a good look around but could see nothing that even vaguely looked like a deer. Luckily my husband stopped his ploughing and came over to help with the filming. A good job really as I had no idea which direction I was supposed to be looking in.

Armed with camera and video recorder the two of us slowly made our way along the hedgerow to see if we could get a closer view or even some footage of the deer. I still couldn’t see them, they were well and truely camouflaged against the hedgerow.

Half way down the field side we decided to part company and each of us head up the opposite sides of the hedge. With camera poised and in focus, I was ready for the deer to make their escape from their field, through the hedgerow and across my field. It wasn’t long before that’s exactly what they did.

Today the motto, ‘nature waits for no man, not even a camera man (or woman in this case)’ was not relevant, both my husband and I had got our footage and pictures. Here is my photographic proof of a successful deer watch.

Watch this space for the video footage.

As Sunday was such a lovely day to be outside I decided to plant some of the sunflower and marigold seeds I collected last year. This job has become an annual ritual which I thoroughly enjoy.

The sunflower seeds always remind me of my wedding day, three years ago, because the gift we placed on the tables for all our friends and family were little boxes with sunflower seeds in them. The variety of sunflower seeds given to our guests were called Ruby Eclipse.

This sunflower has ruby red petals with pink and golden yellow petal tips. More than one flower head grows on each stem, so they are great for encouraging birds into the garden or cutting and putting into a vase. It was great to hear from our friends and family after the wedding to find out how well their sunflower seeds had grown. I have grown them for the last two years and collected the seeds each time.

I have also grown the traditional sunflower and collected some of their seeds, although it’s great to see so many varieties of birds feeding on the sunflower seeds when Autumn approaches.

The last few Summers have seen a magnificent spread of marigolds in the farmyard. I always plant them in a small border along the length of the fold yard so that they add a splash of colour to the yard and so that they can be seen from my kitchen window.

Sunday was the start of this years planting. I have planted the sunflower seeds in peat pots and the marigold seeds in trays so that they get a head start in the greenhouse and don’t succumb to human error or animal appetite.

In the past some of the sunflowers have been accidently sprayed along with the border of weeds (by my husband) and those sunflowers were our wedding sunflowers. As you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased although we did manage to save a few of them. If I plant my marigolds outside too soon then they either get dug up by the cats who want to use the border for a litter tray or they are eaten by a mysterious creature which I have yet to catch in the act!

This year I’m not taking any chances and the seeds and seedlings will grow in the greenhouse until it is safe to take them outside. Watch this space for more pictures of the growing sunflowers and marigolds.

Sunday was a glorious day to be out in the garden and so I decided it was time to make a start on my vegetable growing. Over the last few years I have tried to restore the vegetable garden to the former glory of my husband’s Grandad’s day. I am yet to achieve it!

Here is a picture of the vegetable plot last year.

As you can see from the photograph, the vegetable plot last year was very small and surrounded by a wilderness of nettles!

No-one can fault me on effort and enthusiasm and this year I am armed with tips and advice from Top Veg. So watch this space for 2007’s vegetable gardening!

On Sunday, following the advice I’d read on the Top Veg website, I decided to plant:

• Little Gem Lettuce
• Beetroot
• Radish
• Cauliflower
• Courgette

I decided to plant them all in seed trays in the greenhouse to begin with, this was for two reasons. Firstly the ground in the vegetable garden is not yet fully prepared and secondly the greenhouse will keep any late frost off the seedlings as they start to germinate.

Here is a picture of the vegetable garden in January this year - as you can see it is not ready for vegetable planting!

I am hoping that amongst the trays of vegetables I have just planted, I will eventually be able to pick some winning vegetables for the annual village produce show.

In 2005 I entered the onion category, but our offering can only be described as embarrassing!

In 2006 I entered 2 lettuce and 1 set of beetroot, I decided to keep away from the onion category and I managed to collect the second prize for one of my lettuce.

Who knows what will happen this year, but my aim is to enter lots of the vegetable categories. So watch this space for more news about my vegetable growing and my entries for the annual village show.

If you enjoy reading diary entries then here is a great book for you. The Kitchen Garden Yearbook is a diary by a vegetable gardener and describes a year in their life in the vegetable garden. Click on the image below to go to Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book.

Don’t forget to visit the Top Veg website for expert advice and top tips on vegetable gardening.