Grandma Sale's Mincemeat

Lots of cooking apples mean trying to think of lots of different ways to cook and store them.

We always make mincemeat, and at this time of year we are often polishing off the previous years jars before making some more.

Recipe:

3/4 lb currants, 1/2 lb sultanas, 1/2 lb raisins, 1/4 lb mixed peel, 2 oz flaked almonds, 2 oz glace cherries, 3/4 lb suet, 2 1/2 lb apples (grated), 14 oz demerara sugar, 1/4 of grated nutmeg, 1 lemon rind and juice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp mixed spice, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 cup whiskey.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, and cover. Leave in a cool place for two days, stir several times. We use vegetable suet now, but I'm sure Grandma would have used beef suet.

Pot and cover. Not sure what we'ld do without a certain brand of mayonnaise jars. They are a great size to recycle and use for pickles and mincemeat.

The mincemeat easily lasts twelve months but it is unusual to have very much left by the following year.

So, with some we'ld made earlier the mince pies are cooked, iced and quickly devoured and it's not even December!

The Farrier

The farrier has just left having trimmed the hooves on 3 Irish Draughts of various ages and re shoeing Clorin, who had a loose front shoe. Four years as an apprentice and a lot of practice makes it look very easy!
The farrier would come about every six weeks depending on how fast the hooves grow. It's particularly important for young stock that their hooves are trimmed regularly.

First of all the old shoe is removed.

Then excess hoof growth is taken off.

We had a query following our post about clipping Clorin, wondering how she stayed warm without her hair. In this photo you can see her in her outdoor rug which is wind proof, water proof and insulated, so no need to worry.

And then smoothed off with a file.

Still holding the hoof between his legs, the new shoe is beaten into shape.....

..... and nailed on. This is why they serve a 4 year apprenticeship!

He then curls over the end of the nail and crimps it down so that it won't come out.

All that's left then is to tidy up the front of the hoof....

.... and Bob's your Uncle!

Irish Moiled Cattle

Sweetheart calved last Monday morning, a lovely heifer calf. This really is a stroke of luck because firstly heifers are what we want, and secondly she is by our previous bull and is completely unrelated to our current bull Damhead McCabe. (but I'm getting slightly ahead of myself! She has a long way to go before that.)

Moile calves are quite small initially, making them relatively easy to calve. But their mothers have plenty of milk, so they grow on very quickly!

Only four days old and very photogenic, particularly without her ear tags.

By law she has to be tagged within 20 days of birth and then registered with The Department of Agriculture

We haven't come up with a name for her yet, any ideas?

She is out of Springfield Sweetheart and by Glassdrummond Iceberg.

Red Cabbage

The easiest pickle in the world has to be pickled red cabbage, and luckily it's one of our favourites too!

First find your cabbage! ...or buy one from Kevin!

Slice to a thickness of your choice. You do get beautifully stained thumbs doing this part of the job.

Sprinkle with salt and leave for a day, then rinse and dry.

Pack into clean jars and cover with distilled malt vinegar. The cabbage is quite sharp but is delicious with cold meats and fish.

Muck Spreading

With the 1st Nov rapidly approaching, it was time to get the farm yard manure spread on the haylage field.  In Westmeath you cannot spread dung or store it in a heap on the field between 1st Nov and 15th Jan, farming by strict calendar date makes no sense but 'thems the rules'!

In the organic farming system it is our most important way of replacing nutrients, and this has rotted down nicely over the summer.

Christopher is the tractor driver in this photo, and you can see the spreader throwing the manure out onto the field.

A section of field with manure spread on it, and behind a piece that has yet to be done.

Christopher unhitches the spreader and then fills it from the pile with the grab on the tractor. 

Imagine how long it would take to do this by hand!

The finished field. The well rotted manure will now disappear into the field over the winter and will hopefully give us better grass next spring.