Clun Farm produce wins prizes!

Yeah, our first ever horticultural show and we scooped prizes in all the classes entered today at Clunderwen Show.

Best Jam - brilliant! I know it has quite a loyal following among family and friends but its nice that it got an outside stamp of approval too ....

All in all we got 3 firsts (jam, parsley and welsh cakes), 1 second and 3 thirds! Not bad for a pair of novices. Just a shame the collection of veg just got third, even the lovely aubergine couldn't swing it - judge said if it had potatoes and onions in it would have won... oh well we know for next time.

Yvonne's eggs did well too, scooping first in the white egg category, they probably helped towards her quiche prize too! ... Thanks for encouraging me to enter, can't wait for next year now!

Caterpillar culprits

There are a lot of these little guys in the tunnel. If you can identify any please let us know!

This one was in the strawberries ...









think this is a cabbage white ... enjoying the nasturtiums










This dude has been spotted munching the lettuces and in with the beans and strawberries ...

Nice view! ...

Its a beautiful day today ... looks like its gonna change later so thought we'd better head out sooner rather than later.

Saving your own seeds ....

Just received our 2009 newsletter from Real Seeds and in it they are trialling new video seed saving instructions. They've started with collecting seed from brassicas:



Will post some more as, and when, they publish them. You can get their newsletter yourself (full of interesting stuff about new vegetables and news updates) here

The inaugural Clun Farm Festival of Glamping

Weather started off promising and stayed dry most of the day, which was handy as parents and other relatives came out for lunch and an update viewing on the house - comments like "you've done a lot since I was last here" (Aunty Jen) much appreciated!
Evening do was just as civilised (well almost!) only trouble is I forgot to take any photos - so if you have any then please do e-mail them to me so I can post!
Prize for best dressed tent goes to Nia and Gaz for effort - although the balloons didn't make it to the tent!
Best wellies goes to Anna - as she was the only one that pointed them out to me!

Thanks everyone for coming it was lovely to see you all and catch up... same again next year? Bit more effort required on the "glamping" element though!

Real men wheel pink!

The funky pink barrow really suits you Nik!! Thanks guys for the help, it made the world of difference prepping the place for its first real public appearance...

Delicious Lemon and Courgette Muffins

If you've still got lots of courgettes, and need something different to do with them then try these. They are seriously yum!

2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1tbsp baking powder
pinch salt
grated peel of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sultanas
2 free range eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
juice of the lemon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 packed cup up finely grated courgette (about 1 medium / large courgette) - If you have someone who is averse to green things you may need to peel your courgettes first as they come out with little green flecks in them ...

Preheat oven to 400 f

Combine dry ingredients and sultanas
in another bowl mix the milk, eggs, oil, lemon juice and zest

Gently combine the liquid mix with the dry ingredients, then fold in the courgette.

Spoon the batter into a greased 12 cup muffin tin, and bake for 20 - 25 mins until just golden and springy to touch.

For a real treat drizzle with lemon icing. Really good eaten warm!

Clun Farm Raspberries

There are raspberries and then there are massive, gorgeous and yummy Clun Farm Raspberries. M&S eat your heart out, this is real fruit!!!



Apologies for the lack of anything useful, just so absorbed by the wonders of picking your own food! Promise more scrummy recipes soon ...

One man went to mow...

and mow a meadow he did! Much more quickly this time with the help of a quad, topper and picnic in the field. This is very hard and serious work ...




The topper did such a great job of chopping the grass down we don't need to pick it up after, saving us from the most gruelling of all the tasks on the farm - hoorah!

In fact it was so much fun we did Tom's bit too

Big thanks to Phil and Yvonne for the loan of the machines which made this meadow mowing so much more effective, much less tiring and a lot more fun our previous efforts!