Baltimore, MD

Kayam Farm organically grows healthy food for the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center and greater Baltimore, Maryland community, while offering both Jewish and non-sectarian hands-on agricultural and environmental education. They hope to reconnect people with their food and with the earth, inspiring social and ecological responsibility in the Jewish community, greater Baltimore, and beyond.

Kayam Farm’s 5 acres cultivates organically grown vegetables, culinary & medicinal herbs, fruit orchards, vineyards, berry & asparagus patches, and small grains. The Kayam program also includes interpretive trails, wildlife habitat and ecosystem restoration areas, and a plethora of environmental education programs.

• Jewish Agricultural Laws
  • Terumah & Tzedakah—Tithing— Donate harvests to local soup kitchen
  • Peah v’Leket – Leaving for those less fortunate
  • Kilayim – Mixing of species according to the Mishna
• Jewish Values
  • Le’ovdah Ul’shomrah—To serve and to protect the garden
  • Livnot Ulehibanot—To build and be built
  • Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh BaZeh—All Jews are responsible for one another
  • Bal Tashchit—Do not waste
  • Pokeach Ivrim—Opening the eyes of the blind—Awareness
• Jewish Holidays
  • Agricultural and seasonal connections
  • Music, lively celebration, and deepening ritual
  • Community-wide programs for Lag B’omer, Sukkot, Tu B’shvat, & Purim
• Community Building
  • Teamwork & group challenges
• Sustainable Agriculture
  • Organic farming methods
  • Composting
  • Permaculture
• Ecology of farms & forests
  • Recycling in nature
  • Biodiversity and productivity
  • What we can do for the Chesapeake Bay

Through the Kayam program, Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center is certified as a Green Center by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education. With their Green Center status, Pearlstone models excellence in environmental stewardship and education: they work with both public and private schools by facilitating field trips and supporting local schools’ efforts to go “green” and be better stewards of our shared environment.

Contact: Jessica Weinberg, Director of Programming & Promotion, Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center
Phone: 410-429-4400 x219