COOKING, TURBINES AND CALVES
It’s proving to be a bumper-crop day for our wind turbines. They are operating beyond their official maximum (16kw/h for 15kw/h machines….). This is optimum turbine weather – not so windy they shut down completely but not too gusty either; a steady big blow. While this is all very lovely for turbines, the wind-chill factor is considerable and that means the Great Outdoors is effectively off-limits for humans and all but the most vital of tasks. Unfortunately, farming must continue stoically through inclement weather and there are numerous vital tasks at this time of year. It’s when things are at their most harsh that we must be most […]
COOKING AND FRETTING
Extremely windy and freezing cold. Brilliant skies till the afternoon, but icy…. Hypothermia is sure to be an issue for lambs born in this. But the silver lining is that I am able to use the great outdoors as an industrial chiller for my newly-cooked meals…. Meals for the day: Lamb Tagine and Tuscan lamb casserole with cannellini beans.
A GLUM START AND A SPOT OF COOKING
First twin lambs born today: premature and feeble. (Lambing starts properly next week.) Alex took the mother and the one surviving lamb indoors and fed the babe colostrum. Sadly, to no avail – it died a few hours later. The mother is thriving on extra rations and indoor pampering – outside is freezing cold and blowing a gale. Nature is harsh and there’s nothing like lambing to write that out in bold. Meals for the day: South Indian Mild curry (I LOVE this one!), Boeuf Bourguignon and FIERY Thai beef curry.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Today was a day of cooking great batches of meals for Easter visitors to Coll and Tiree. My parents are visiting from abroad and they helped with all sorts of things – looking after children, chopping onions, recipe advice… In the void left by so much assistance, I got to thinking… About why on earth we spend so much time on fairly low-earning projects. Chatting to a fellow farmer’s wife yesterday, we contempated what makes a farm diversification worth pursuing. If you factor in the value of your time and the huge costs of freight – on and off the island – which affects everything from food production and butchery […]
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