Farm Notes

Hot dang, I feel like a lot has happened on the farm over the past few days. I’m going to keep these updates quick and dirty because, well, it’s Friday and I can’t wait to hop on the couch and watch Netflix’s new cooking show (for kids of all ages…) Waffles & Mochi! I haven’t watch any episodes yet, but I can already tell I’m going to LOVE it, and have a feeling that y’all will too. :)

Okay, so here’s what’s been happening on the farm the past few days:

Yesterday, Erin and I hustled all morning to finish prepping beds for our spring brassica patch (ie most of our kale, broccoli, and cabbage) before a big storm descended. Thankfully, we got it all done in record time and beat the rain. You’ll see in the photo below that we’re planting these brassicas into landscape fabric, which really helps with weed suppression. We are doubling the amount of vegetables that we are growing this season, and I’m anticipating that means 2x the weeding… so we’re doing everything we can to help manage weeds from the start.

Then yesterday evening I emailed my list of amazing farmstand customers to let everyone know that the Farmbelly Farmstand will be restocked next Thursday, March 25th @ 7pm, and our first pickup will be on Tuesday, March 30th! I’m so ready to kick off the spring season, especially because each week we will once again be offering local baked goods, flowers, honey, mushrooms, garden seedlings, freshly milled grains, etc from our favorite local growers + artisans. If you are local and want to shop the farmstand this year and didn’t receive an email from me last night, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list!

Our mower has been in the shop for the past few weeks getting tuned up for spring, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting its return because our grass is already growing like crazy. We have a lot of weeds mixed in with the grass around the farm, and it’s important that we get everything cut before the weeds send all their seeds into our garden beds. Thankfully, the mower was returned earlier today, which means there will definitely be some mowing happening here this weekend.

Those itty bitty green sprouts are carrots!

I’m also happy to report that our carrots (which we seeded over two weeks ago on March 4th) have finally begun to germinate, which is a relief. Carrots are notorious for taking a long time to germinate, and every year I’m left questioning whether we will have any carrots at all… and every time, they make their fashionably late appearance when I’ve just about given up on them.

A quick reminder that our March Farmbelly Club Zoom Q&A call is this Sunday, March 21st @ 3-4pm EST! Here is the Zoom link to join, and you can submit any questions ahead of time here. Hope to see you there!

Kitchen Notes

I mentioned earlier this week that I made a slow cooker chicken tikka masala recipe that I found over at The Kitchn, and we loved it so much that I wanted to share it with y’all.

But first, I want to be clear that this is a tikka masala inspired recipe, not an authentic recipe. I think this is an important distinction because all too often, well-meaning cooks/recipe writers claim ownership over cuisines that they know nothing about, which I think can be really hurtful to people from the country or culture where a culturally significant dish originates. So if you’ve heard of tikka masala, but aren’t quite sure exactly what it is – it’s a traditional Indian sauce/dish made from tomato and cream (either in the form of heavy cream, yogurt or cashews) with traditional Indian spices like ginger, turmeric and red chili powder, garam masala, coriander and cumin. It is slightly sweet and earthy in flavor, and is delicious over a bowl of rice and some toasty naan.

So this is a very simplified version of an authentic tikka masala, but it is still incredibly delicious and comes together super easily thanks to the slow cooker. The one (very non-authentic) addition I made (which is included in the recipe below) is adding some chopped potatoes and carrots, because who doesn’t love some extra veg? ;)

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 lbs yukon gold or small red potatoes, quartered
3-4 carrots, sliced into rounds
1/2 cup whole-milk plain yogurt (not Greek)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
Chopped fresh cilantro
Cooked rice or naan, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the chicken, potatoes, carrots, yogurt, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker and stir to combine.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, garam masala, cumin, and turmeric and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook until darkened in color, about 1 minute. Add the drained tomatoes and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer to the slow cooker and stir to combine with the chicken.
Cover and cook on the HIGH setting for 4 hours or LOW setting for 8 hours. Stir in the cream or coconut milk. If you prefer a thicker sauce, leave the slow cooker uncovered and cook on the HIGH setting for 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt as needed. Serve garnished with cilantro with rice or naan.

Today’s Stats

Low temp: 32F
High temp: 50F
Sunrise: 7:22am
Sunset: 7:28pm
Moon phase: Waxing Crescent
Additional notes: Cold and rainy in the morning, beautiful sunshine by later in the afternoon.