Eliada Farms Week is an opportunity to share with the greater community the beautiful produce, herbs, and pork the agency has produced in its first months of farming.
The majority of food produced for Eliada Farms Week comes straight out of Eliada’s geodesic Grow Dome. The Grow Dome was completed in January 2018, and it officially launched the 115-year-old agency into farming operations. The idea to farm at Eliada grew out of the desire to leverage the agency’s most prized asset-320 acres nestled in West Asheville.
In Eliada’s entire history, the organization has served children in Western North Carolina on the same piece of land. When the organization was a self-sustaining orphanage, farming ensured there was enough food on the table.
Since the completion of the Grow Dome in January, Eliada has brought farming back to campus, and calls this initiative Eliada Farms. The agency hired l.o.t.u.s. Urban Garden and Farm Supply co-owner and farmer, Brook Sheffield, to lead all farming activities on campus. Thanks to Brook, you can now walk into the Grow Dome and find a hydroponics and aquaponics system up and running. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and leafy greens are currently in production. Mostly recently, Eliada has begun harvesting 20 lbs of tomatoes weekly which you can see being served daily in the cafeteria.
Brook in the Grow Dome
Eliada educators are collaborating with Brook to develop curriculum that can be used in the Grow Dome and can engage children from preschoolers to high schoolers. The goal of this engagement is to build self-efficacy around growing food and meet wellness goals. Youth will learn about earth, environmental, and agricultural sciences, as well as hone life skills and prosocial skills through activities in the Dome.
Brook is also working with Eliada’s kitchen and cafeteria staff to develop new menu options that thoughtfully incorporate the produce coming out of the Grow Dome. Eliada is looking to create a self-service salad bar in the cafeteria, offer more scratch made meals, and increase youth satisfaction in the food served daily.
There are plans in the works to expand Eliada’s farming practices beyond the geodesic walls of the Grow Dome. By scaling up and engaging in dirt farming, the agency intends for Eliada Farms to quickly become a revenue generating opportunity-selling to local vendors and direct to consumer.
Eliada Farms Week is now an opportunity to introduce future consumers to the food we are growing. Community members can attend any or all of these events, sample some Eliada Farms fare at their favorite local establishments, and support Eliada Farms in the process.
Eliada Farms Week runs August 18th through August 26th, 2018. You can learn more and purchase tickets on Eliada’s website at www.eliada.org.