Being an eastie all my life (apart from my years in NTU), you can't blame me for not having ventured to the most ulu-north part of the island until now. And well, I had a really good reason for the long journey north.
It's a day of farm tour with Quan Fa Organic Farm!
Just in case you get lost on your way there, they're located right opposite the first chicken coop of Chew's egg farm.
Do not let yourself be distracted by the chickens and overshoot, you'll end up in military restricted zone. Yeah, that was what happened to us.
If you're wondering, Quan Fa has their vegetables organically grown and uses no pesticides or chemical fertilizers. And first, let's visit their sprouting area!
These are actually sunflower sprouts! Just pot them and give it a few more weeks (or months?) and you'll get some pretty sunflowers!
But of course, why do that when you can eat these sprouts right away? Nutty and with a slight sweetness, these yummy little green things are good just directly off the rack (since they're organic, which means no pesticides)!
Next up, we were introduced to the radish sprouts, which wasn't really my cup of tea because they taste just like wasabi.
It didn't help that they look so cute (like a 4 leaf clover) though. But for those weirdos who actually like the taste of wasabi, I reckon this will be right up your alley. Just throw a handful of these sprouts into your salad for a wholesome wasabi taste!
And of course, you can't leave out the wheat grass, which is perfect for juicing.
And then, following the owner of the farm, JJ, we heading out to the 'plantation' area, which was like Jelly's heaven.
Looking at this patch of lettuce goodness, I was reminded of the fairy tale Rapunzel. Don't ask me why, but perhaps these greens look so yummy that it fits why the wife will get the husband risk his life to steal the Rapunzel plant from the witch's garden for her.
Hah, random moment here. My apologies.
And guess what?
It's actually radish! Due to our climate, our locally grown radish are usually much smaller than those imported ones. But good thing is, Quan Fa sells their radish whole, together with the radish tops, hence you can enjoy both the root and the leafy parts together. Apparently, the radish top makes good soup!
And if you're a big fan of spring onions, you'll be glad to know that the spring onions grown at Quan Fa has a pretty strong, distinctive spring onion taste/fragrance.
Well, once again, not my cup of tea.
There's kale as well, easily recognised by the powdery white film on the surface, which is the plant's natural protective mechanism.
And if you're wondering what's those random yellow flags doing among the greens, they're actually an adhesive tape used as insect traps. Upon closer look you can see many tiny insects stuck on them, so yup... no close up shots for you.
Other than just green vegetables, you can also expect to find other organically grown food during the farm tour such as the following:
Chili padi
Papayas
Brinjals
Mulberries
And mint!
And we ended off our farm tour with a curry plant that's as tall as a tree. Sorry for being ignorant, but I always thought curry plants grow like shrubs.
To end off the farm tour, we were treated to some yummy cold brown rice ban mian and some super refreshing lemongrass drink sweetened with organic brown sugar.
I love how they added in sunflower sprouts into the cold noodles. YUMS!
For more information on Quan Fa Organic Farm or to get some fresh organic vegetables online, visit their website HERE
To get 10% off your first purchase, enter QuanfaOrganicFarm at checkout.
Do note that the discount code is not valid for promotional items and dried goods.
Till then,
Mia Foo
