It's Week 10 Veggie Lovers!
Hello Followers!!
Week 10 is here, and there’s a little bit of everything happening around the farm! We’ve got beautiful crops coming out of the ground, new plantings getting started, and a few challenges keeping us busy along the way. From onions and garlic to tomatoes and squash, the harvest is keeping us moving, while we’re also keeping a close eye on the crops and greenhouses.
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**This week we will be wrapping up our add-on subscriptions. We will have one more week of eggs for everyone, as we are aware that we missed a few in there. We will have eggs FOR SALE after this week, but it is first come, first serve. Coffee subscriptions ended last week, but again we will have Philipsburg Coffee Roasters available at the stand as usual to buy. Thanks to all of our add-on participants this year!!!
🌿 Featured Item: Onions
We're beyond excited that Lisa Stravakas from Renew Wellness has decided to contribute her wealth of knowledge on the health benefits of eating and utilizing fresh produce and herbs. Thank you Lisa!!
ONION
Onions are cooling topically but heating internally. They are a strong laxative when raw, and a mild laxative when cooked. Raw onions are a strong diaphoretic, meaning they flush the pores of the skin and induce sweating. The laxative and diaphoretic qualities of raw onion are particularly useful for a late spring cleanse whenever the feet or hands feel swollen.
Onions are grounding and can make a person sleepy (tamasic) when cooked. Cooked or raw, onions are a stimulate desire (rajasic). They are considered an aphrodisiac. The longer they cook the sweeter and less Pitta aggravating they become.
🍽️ Recipe of the Week:
Swiss Chard Curry with Potato & Lentils
A creamy, comforting curry that’s easy to make and packed with flavor. Delicately spiced with tender potatoes, hearty lentils, and fresh Swiss chard, this is a wonderful way to enjoy home-grown greens.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This simple vegetable curry comes together in one pan and makes a satisfying, nourishing meal. The coconut milk adds a creamy finish, while lemon juice brightens all the flavors.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Calories: 318 kcal per serving
Ingredients
2 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, or 1 teaspoon ready-chopped garlic
2 cm piece fresh ginger, or 2 teaspoons ready-chopped ginger
Either: 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon garam masala, and 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
Or: 2 tablespoons prepared Indian spice paste, such as korma paste
2 tomatoes
300 g new potatoes
400 g tinned lentils (about 250 g drained)
200 ml water
200 g Swiss chard, rainbow chard, or another leafy green
400 ml coconut milk
1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
How to Make Swiss Chard Curry
1. Start the curry base
Heat the oil in a large lidded pan over a gentle heat. Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes, until it begins to soften.
Peel and crush the garlic, then peel and finely chop the ginger. Add both to the pan and cook for another minute.
2. Add the spices and tomatoes
Add either the prepared spice paste or the turmeric, cumin, garam masala, and chilli flakes.
Roughly chop the tomatoes, keeping all their juices and seeds, and add them to the pan. Cook gently for another 3–4 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and lentils
Slice the new potatoes into thick rounds.
Drain and rinse the lentils, then add them to the pan along with the potatoes and water. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
Bring everything to a boil, then cover and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender. If the curry becomes too dry, add a little more water.
4. Prepare the Swiss chard
Separate the chard stalks from the leaves, setting the leaves aside for later.
Trim the ends from the stalks and slice them diagonally. Add the stalks to the curry.
5. Add the coconut milk
Pour in the coconut milk and bring the curry back to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt if needed.
6. Finish with the chard and lemon
Finely chop the reserved chard leaves and stir them into the curry during the final 2 minutes of cooking.
Turn off the heat, squeeze the juice of the lemon into the pan, and stir well.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the curry hot with steamed rice and naan bread.
The creamy coconut curry pairs beautifully with the fresh, slightly earthy flavor of Swiss chard, while the lemon adds a bright finish.
Recipe Notes
No Swiss chard? Rainbow chard or another leafy green can be used instead.
Choose your spice level: Use the spice blend for a more from-scratch curry, or substitute a prepared Indian spice paste for convenience.
Easy water measure: Refill the empty lentil tin halfway with water to get approximately 200 ml without measuring.
Recipe courtesy of:
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This Week on the Farm 🌱
It’s been another busy week on the farm, and there’s a little bit of everything going on right now — plenty of harvesting, more planting, and, of course, a few things keeping us on our toes.
We’re harvesting our Italian red onions this week, and they’re looking beautiful! We’re also still bringing in lots of tomatoes and squash, which are continuing to keep the harvest baskets full. The squash, baby greens, lettuce, microgreens, and onions are all growing well, so there’s lots to be happy about in the fields and greenhouses.
We’ve been keeping things moving with new plantings, too. We planted another round of lettuce and transplanted green onions, getting those crops started now so we’ll have more to harvest down the road. It’s always nice to have new things going in while other crops are coming out of the ground.
The rain we had last week was a welcome change. The extra moisture helped cool things down, and we were certainly happy to have it! With the moisture and warmer temperatures, though, we’re keeping a close eye on downy mildew in the greenhouses. There’s always something to watch for this time of year, and we’re doing our best to stay ahead of any problems.
The tomato house is giving us a little more trouble, too. The irrigation system continues to be a headache, and we’re now on pump number three of the season. There’s always something that needs fixing around here! Keeping the plants watered is pretty important when you have a greenhouse full of tomatoes, so we’ll keep working on it and hopefully get this one sorted out soon.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of good news to balance out the frustrations. We’ve been pulling garlic to cure, and it is looking beautiful! There’s something pretty satisfying about getting that garlic out of the ground and seeing a good harvest come together. Now it gets some time to cure, and we’re excited about how it’s looking so far.
That’s pretty much the farm this week — harvesting onions, tomatoes, squash, and garlic, getting new lettuce and green onions planted, watching the greenhouses, fighting with irrigation pumps, and trying to stay one step ahead of whatever comes next.
Thanks for being along for the ride and for supporting our farm. We really appreciate getting to grow good food for you and your families, and we love sharing a little bit of what’s happening behind the scenes.
Hopefully next week brings us healthy plants, beautiful garlic, plenty of tomatoes, and maybe a little less trouble from those irrigation pumps!
See you at the farm! 🌱
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COME VISIT US!!
Whether you're a CSA member or not, you can always come by our pop-up market stands!
Please Note: No more market stands in Drummond on Wednesdays.
