Dharma Farm produce: Almost too pretty to eat

Mon, 07/10/2017 - 8:45am

Jeff Knox and his daughter, Kalina Chazin-Knox, were at the Boothbay Farmers' Market on July 6 with a very artful display of their organic farm products.

Knox and his partner Abby Lydon run the seven-acre farm in Washington, with two of those acres devoted to vegetables, herbs and seedlings.

Dharma Farm was established in 2012. Knox said most of the work he and Lydon do on the farm is done the old-fashioned way, using hand tools and a walk-behind tractor. There are two greenhouses.

The bright greens and vibrant array of brilliant colors displayed in the farm’s veggies are a testament to their freshness and quality. A display of psychedelic rainbow chard is worthy of a painting, and the bright yellow and green flying saucer, or pattypan squash looks too pretty to eat.

One item a few customers asked about, because they had never seen them, was a bunch of small white orbs – salad turnips. A little bigger than a radish, these sweet, juicy little turnips can be eaten raw or cooked.

Lydon said that in addition to growing perennial herbs, seedlings and diversified veggies, the couple also grows perennial and annual medicinal herbs, many of which are used in their Farmer's Pharmacy Healing Salve, available at farmers’ markets and at Rising Tide in Damariscotta.

“We farm bio-intensively, growing significant amounts of vibrant, nutrient-dense food and medicine on just a few acres.”

The farm’s website states: “Our Maine roots are strong. Our love for food, farm, and community runs deep ... Our childhoods were full of fresh garden veggies and days spent playing in the woods, but we never conceived we'd grow up to be farmers ... Farming is a livelihood that nourishes our beings, our bellies, the soil with which we work, our customer's appetites, and our local community's economic strength and vitality. We cannot think of a more satisfying endeavor.”

The produce can always be found at the Boothbay Farmers' Market on Thursdays and the Damariscotta Farmers' Market on Mondays. Visit the farm’s Facebook page or website, https://www.dharma.farm.