So it is now a New Year and new beginnings for many. Our chef has just returned from her trip home at Christmas and she is keen to get back baking, cooking and developing all those loving health meals you’ve enjoyed in the past. The great thing is we have loads more ideas and products coming online to suit all types of shoppers. From the family sized pies to the individual curry pots there will be something for one and all.

Don’t forget to chat to our butchers when you’re in the shop for the best of what’s in season. Our Angus beef is particularly good and Tommy and Mattie have been working hard on a new Corned Beef recipe. This is a traditional style of cured beef and is delicious.

Ear To The Ground will be profiling Castlemine Farm on Thursday the 24^th of January at 8.30pm on RTE 1, where you be able to see our farming in all its glory (If not a bit wet….).

We hope to see you all again soon

The Castlemine Team

Cooking Time: One and a half to two hours.

 Ingredients:

 8 slices if uncooked Castlemine Farm ham

16 pork Castlemine Farm sausages

4 large organic onions

2 lb of organic potatoes

Chopped organic parsley

Irish Atlantic Sea Salt

 Instructions:

Cut 8 thick slices of uncooked Castlemine Farm ham into 2 inch chunks.

Put them along with 16 pork Castlemine Farm sausages, into a pan of boiling water.

Boil together for 5 minutes, then drain and set the liquid aside.

Put the Castlemine Farm ham and the Castlemine Farm sausages in a large dish, layered with 4 large chopped organic onions and 2 lb of peeled and sliced organic potatoes.

Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of chopped organic parsley over the layers and season with some Irish Atlantic Sea Salt.

Pour over sufficient liquid to barely reach the top of the contents, and then cover with grease proof paper or a lid.

Cook the coddle in the centre of a pre-heated oven, at 180 degrees Celsius (mark 4) for one and a half to two hours, or until the liquid has reduced by half.

Remove the greaseproof paper halfway through cooking.

Traditionally, fresh Irish soda bread is served with this dish.

Enjoy!

stily cleared the drain in one jump! Although Brendan successfully landed on the far side, without a scratch or a splash, preoccupied with getting away from the chasing cow, and jumping mid-air, Brendan only then realised he had jumped the drain at the widest part!  With more time now to study the width of the drain, and with no cow chasing him, Brendan decided to take the safer and drier option and walk down the long lane and back around to the entrance to the field.  The cow, content with the excitement she caused for the day, went back to the other cows and went on happily grazing, and well let’s just say Brendan got a nice bit of exercise for the day too!

Last month in my August diary I mentioned that I was due to have a herd test, which took place early September.  Thankfully it all went well, and all my cattle were cleared.  I also weaned some of the calves since (which means taking them away from their mothers).  I have separated the male and female calves.  They are out on grass at the moment and I am also feeding them a ration of our own rolled barley and rolled wheat mixture.  Next week I want to castrate the males but I want to leave it a week or two to give them a bit of time to get used to being weaned off their mothers.  Depending on the weather and the amount of grass in the fields, I hope to leave the cattle outdoors for another 2-3 weeks.

I talked about the sheep mating season in my August blog, and this month, I let the four rams (2 Texels, 1 Charolaise, and 1 Suffolk) out with the remaining 80 ewes.  I will have approximately 220 to lamb this spring, which will be a very busy time of the year here.  The first batch of ewes that I spoke about last month, have all been served now but I left two rams with them just in case.  I am using a blue colour in the raddle (used to mark the ewe with a certain colour when she has mated with the ram) at the moment, so I know these will be the last ewes served.  I hope to choose my next batch of ewe lambs quite soon, and I will choose anything that is over 50 kg in weight.  I will mate these with a Charolaise ram as these are easy lambing, and leave them to mate from around the 01^st November for about a month.  Anything I don’t choose as a ewe lamb will be kept as a hogget and will be killed later in the year.  I am currently feeding them a diet of our own rolled oats, barley and wheat, and they are out on grass in a field called ‘The Paddock’ which is a short distance away from  the rest of Castlemine Farm.

I weaned 3 sows off 26 piglets and I put these 3 sows back with the boar so they can be served.  I also released 2 sows and their piglets into the field, but this is a separate field from the other pigs.  Bullying can be a big issue, so I try and keep all the pig sizes the same as much as possible, to eliminate older piglets picking on younger piglets.  I put the 2 sows and their piglets into our barley field, which has recently been baled.  The pigs are great as they eat up all the grain that fell during the harvest, so in actual fact, I had very little loss during my harvesting season.  I hope to move the males up to where I have the fodder beet.  They will strip graze the fodder beet, which they love and they eat it row by row!!

Regarding the tillage, all bales are made, so all my crops are all finished now for the year.  I had some small losses but to be honest, nothing to complain about!  We had a bad storm on the Monday of the week we wanted to finish harvesting, so we didn’t get to get out to the field until the Wednesday, but we had it all baled and finished up by the Thursday.  All in all, I got about 3 tonne to the acre, which I am very happy with.  I sold 60 tonne to a local merchant in Castlecoote, and the rest I will keep.  I sold some straw as well, and I will sell the rest after Christmas.  Due to the bad weather, and unless the weather improves a lot, I am not going to sow any winter crops this year.  So at the moment, with the way the weather is, I will just have the spring barley and oats, but no wheat.

Our turkeys are doing great at the moment, so don’t forget to contact the office if you want to order one for Christmas!  We are feeding them a poultry ration, but they are free to use our newly improved turkey shed, or roam outdoors, as they wish.  The field they can roam in is full of clover, so they have a very good balanced diet.

Well that is everything for the moment, check in next month – I’m sure I will have some more interesting stories to tell you especially with Halloween just around the corner!!! Until then, take care and I will…………………………..

The month was kick started with a lovely, but no less unexpected, visit to our Farm Office by our friendly Castlemine cows.  Looking for a change of scene, and hearing the grass was greener on the other side, they decided to take a wander through an open gate and pop down to pay us a visit!!  After staying a little while and checking the Farm Office out, they decided that our gravel stoned car park and pathways, were not as appetising as they had first thought!  It was not long before they were rounded up,and headed happily back to their lush green fields of sweet grass!

Speaking of the cows, I artificially inseminated 8 heifers and they were recently scanned to see how many were in calf.  Six of the heifers are currently in calf, and one will be expecting twins.  The cattle are still outdoors at the moment but I have a herd test, when all the cattle will be herded up and brought into the yard.  A District Veterinary Officer from the Department of Agriculture will test the cows for TB (Bovine Tuberculosis).  The Department also test for Brucellosis but this is slightly different as the date of this test depends on your herd number.  Herd numbers that end in an uneven digit are being tested this year.  Herd numbers with an even last digit will be tested next year, and my herd number here at Castlemine Farm ends in 6, so my Brucellosis test will be carried out next year.  The control and ultimate eradication of these diseases is important for livestock health, but also for our domestic and export markets.  These tests may take a bit of time but in my opinion are well worth it.

Sheep breeding began on the 15^th August, where I let 85 ewes out with 7 rams.  I have two Texel rams, 2 Suffolk rams and 2 Charolaise rams. I did borrow a Lleyn (pronounced ‘Clin’) ram from a neighbour.  This will be the first time this breed of sheep will be introduced to the Castlemine Farm flock.  Apparently they produce very good mothers, with good feet and little lameness.  They are an old traditional breed of sheep, and if all goes well this year, I may invest in one next year.  The rams currently have a ‘raddle’ attached to the underneath side of their chest.  This raddle does not harm the ram in any way, or the ewe.  It is a simple device, strapped on with a harness, to the chest of the ram.  The harness contains a small container that carries the marking colour, similar to paint, on the front.  This raddle is used to mark the ewes with a certain colour when they have mated with the ram. I change the colour of the paint for different mating periods.  So for the first mating, the ewes were marked
with a yellow paint,and for repeats (ewes that did not fall into lamb at the first mating), these ewes are marked with a red paint.  I keep a record of the mating, and their colour, this will help me identify which of the ewes will lamb first in the springtime.  For the repeat ewes, I will expect them to begin lambing approximately 20-21 days (the length of a ewe’s cycle), after the first batch of ewes have lambed.  The ewe cycle can depend on the breed of the sheep.  I have another 90 ewes to mate with the rams, and this mating will begin on the 15^th October.  I did buy in 25 lambs which I will keep on Castlemine Farm specifically for breeding.  I bought these lambs from a local farmer who I have been dealing with for years.  I also kept another 25 of my own lambs for breeding.  My aim is to increase, slowly but surely, my breeding flock here at Castlemine Farm and eventually I would like about 300 breeding ewes.

Unfortunately, I had some complications with the sows and new piglets this month.  For both sows it was their
first time having piglets.  My first sow had 15 piglets, but had lost 2 by the time I got to her.  She had another two runts who did not make it, and one very weak piglet, who survived for a day or two.  I brought him up to the house and heated him by the fire.  But, sadly to say, after a lot of care and attention, he didn’t make it either.  My second sow had 14 piglets, all born alive but she stood on two, which left 12 piglets. Generally speaking with such a high number of piglets per sow, it really is survival of the fittest and not all tend to survive.  This then raises the question of a farrowing crate.  Not something I am completely comfortable with, but it does have its pros and cons. A farrowing crate is exactly how it sounds, a crate wide enough for a sow to stand up, and lie down in, with enough room to nurse her piglets.  There are troughs on either side of the crate where the little piglets can be fed without being trod on.  A farrowing crate would reduce the piglet losses.  The down side is however that I would need to put the sow in the crate 1-2 weeks before she has her piglets, and she would remain there for a possibly another 2 weeks afterwards.  As you know, our pigs here at Castlemine Farm
are free range, something I take great pride in.  My concern would be the shock to the sow of being so confined, after being so used to the wide outdoors.  But my mind is not decided yet – if you have any opinions on this, let me know, or if you know of any alternative solutions, I would be glad to hear them!  Our boar is back again too after I leant him to the ‘Friendly Farmer’.  I’m glad to say he is in great form and happy to be home again.

We finished the turkey shed just in the nick of time before our latest arrivals to Castlemine Farm.  Our turkeys are a traditional Bronze breed which has a very good marbling through their meat.  They all arrived safe and
sound and are settling in nicely.  Dad and Brendan helped me out with the building, which was a great help.  We put in a new concrete floor and recycled some old sheeting too which is always good. We replaced the doors to the shed as well, where there were once swinging doors, we now have sliding doors. The great thing about the new shed is that it is large enough to do a few jobs.  So we still have room for the turkeys but we are also able to use it for other purposes – like storing our bales.

Regarding the tillage side of Castlemine Farm, on the first day, a Wednesday, we began at 6.30 pm.  We cut 6 acres of barley and got 2.75 ton to the acre.  We had very good moisture percentages, ours was 15.5 % moisture.
Generally anything above 20 % has too high of a moisture content and your price can be penalised.  Less than
20% is good, and you get a better price. So I am very happy with this.  On the Thursday we began at 10.30 am where we cut 11 acres of wheat.  We got 3.5 ton to the acre and a moisture content of 16.5%.  So again I was pleased.  Thursday evening we started to cut a 14 acre field of barely but unfortunately the weather was against us and we only got two thirds of the field cut.  On the Friday we cut for an hour before the weather went against us again, and we had to stop.  We still have about 12 acres of spring barley and 7 acres of oats to cut. The persistent rain will damage the barley and its value will deteriorate, but the oats should be fairly ok. But all in all, I can’t complain as it was a very good year.  I got the silage cut this month too – 30 acres are stored in the silage pit, and I had 10 acres baled and wrapped.  We finished covering the pit at 10pm that night, luckily enough, as the rain reappeared the following morning.

Well that is all for the moment.  If you any comments or opinions about any of my blogs, I’d love to hear them.
You can follow me and all that goes on here at Castlemine Farm, on Facebook, on Twitter or drop me an email: info@castleminefarm.ie In the meantime, take it easy, and as you know I will………….

Friendly Farmer Free Range Chicken Breasts x 4 – Diced and Cooked in Pan.

10 ml of Donegal Rapeseed Oil.

1 Organic Onion chopped and diced.

1 Clove of Organic Garlic crushed.

400g of Campanini Risotto.

2 Pints of Chicken Stock.

1 Glass of White Wine.

1 Bunch of Organic Sprouting Broccoli.

1 Bunch of Organic Russian Kale.

100g of Grated Parmesan Cheese.

Cooking and Preparation Instructions:

1. Dice and cook the Friendly Farmer Free Range chicken breast in the pan.

2. Fry the organic onion and organic garlic together in Donegal Rapeseed Oil for 2 minutes.

3. Add the glass of white wine to the chicken stock.

4. Pour a quarter of the stock mix into a pan and stir until all liquid has evaporated.

5. Add another quarter of the stock mix and repeat stirring.

6. Add the last half of chicken stock, the organic broccoli, the organic kale and cook until the rice is soft, but still has a little bit of a bite.

7. Finally, toss in the Friendly Farmer Free Range previously cooked, diced chicken, along with the parmesan cheese.

The Friendly Farmer Free Range chicken breasts and all organic vegetable for the above recipe can be purchased from our farm shop in Roscommon town, or alternatively, you can purchase these products here on our website: www.castleminefarm.ie

Castlemine Farm Spiced Beef – to order.

1 Organic Bunch of Carrots

1 Medium Sized Organic Cabbage.

1 Medium Sized Organic Onion.

1 Tablespoon of Stoke’s Mustard.

1 Yolk of a Castlemine Farm Free Range Egg.

300ml of Donegal Rapeseed Oil.

1 Teaspoon of Karmine Cider Vinegar.

Irish Sea Salt – to taste.

Cooking and Preparation Instructions:

1. Cook the Castlemine Farm Spiced Beef at 160 Degrees Celsius for two and a half hours.

2. Grate the carrots.

3. Finely slice the organic onion and organic cabbage.

4. In a blender, add the Castlemine Farm Free Range egg yolk, one tablespoon of Stoke’s Mustard, one teaspoon of Karmine Cider Vinegar and blend together for 30 seconds.

5. Turn your blender onto the slow speed and slowly add 300ml of Donegal Rapeseed Oil.

6. Add Irish Sea Salt to taste.

7. Mix the organic carrot, organic cabbage and mayonnaise together in a large bowl.

8. Slice the Castlemine Farm Spiced Beef and serve with the coleslaw, along with some Irish Soda Bread.

Our Castlemine Farm Spiced Beef and all ingredients for the homemade coleslaw can be bought in our farm shop in Roscommon town, or alternatively, you can purchase these products here on our website: www.castleminefarm.ie Enjoy!

I will pick out the first batch this week and get them ready for breeding on the 15th of August. I think I might increase numbers again this year.
The piggy’s have all had their piglets since I last wrote and it went great, bar the Old Spot sow who only had three which was disappointing as she had 13 last time. I might give her another chance because she was my best and nicest sow, probably shouldn’t though.
The boar is on holidays with the Friendly Farmers sows and getting on well with them I hear.
I fenced off 4 bits of boggy land side by side I have rented and they are great for the sows and the piglets. It was full of  flaggers and rushes and was so rough you couldn’t drive on it. They have all the rushes eaten and have dug up all the roots  so when I take them off  I will give it a run with the power harrow and seed it with grass and then move on the fences until I have all 30 acres done. It will make a nice field out of it as it is very dry bog.

The tillage has done well also. The winter wheat has started to ripen and I’m happy with the crop, it should yield well. The spring barley is good too it’s starting to change colour. There is more disease about this year in the wet conditions but we should be ok. The oats look well and should yield well too. It’s still green so it will be the last to ripen. The fodder didn’t do as well as I would have liked. It takes a lot of nutrients to grow and I don’t think I put enough on the fields but it’s not bad and will do the pigs nicely in the winter months.

I got 40 acres of silage made in early June. We got 3 great days to do it and the silage has turned out to be a great buy as I can do the silage on the day I want and I have a better control on quality. That’s nearly it. I’m in the middle of doing up the shed for the arrival of the turkeys later this month. We are getting them off heat this year. It’s a little more expensive but suits us better as there is a lot going on here and it will be one less thing to worry about.

Until next time
Derek

Many people are turning to online when shopping for meat. “People are more conscious these days about where their meat comes from and seem to be more confident buying directly from a farm they know” comments Brendan Allen.
The Castlemine Farm product range includes Beef, Lamb, Pigmeat, and Poultry. Our ‘farming by hand’ approach and attention to detail reflects in the unique quality, taste and flavour of the final produce. The farm itself comprises of over 250 acres, spanning several lush green fields of top quality land in the heart of Four Mile House in Co. Roscommon.

Orders can be made 24hrs a day online and are dispatched every Friday. Orders must be made before 11am on Thursday to guarantee delivery on the Friday. Nationwide deliveries are available at €7.95 per order. There is free delivery on orders over €100. Meat is packed freshly in special refrigerated boxes to ensure freshness every time when you receive your order. The temperature will remain below 4° C until you open the box. Meat products are suitable for freezing upon delivery to you.

You are just a few clicks away from ordering your fresh meat online and delivered straight to your door!
Place your order today!

You can also call 090 6629 886 to place an order over the phone.