The Dirt on Fresh Ingredients
June 10, 2016
About the author: Adam Thomas has been a chef with Masonic Village since 2011. He oversees dining services at the Restaurant at Eisenlohr, one of six restaurants on campus.
With the cold weather behind us and spring in full bloom with nice warm weather, we can officially welcome the start of the planting season.
The Restaurant at Eisenlohr prides itself in being an environmentally-conscious facility. Over the winter months, staff have been busy preparing for springtime. We have been arduously working with the resident gardeners in turning all our excess coffee grounds and organic vegetable trimmings into compost. By recycling this organic material, we have significantly reduced the amount of waste that would otherwise be left to decompose in a landfill.
The resident gardeners pick up this material weekly and have been turning into compost. This rich soil is then turned over and blended into their respective gardens. One garden in particular is the Eisenlohr herb garden.
I have been working with greenhouse and landscaping staff to redesign our herb garden. The rich compost we have been producing will, in essence, become the base of our garden here. Over the past several months, the greenhouse has been growing a wide selection of herbs that will be then transplanted to the Eisenlohr herb garden.
I have always enjoyed working with the freshest ingredients available. As summer approaches, the Restaurant at Eisenlohr, along with other restaurants on campus, will be using these fresh ingredients in our daily menu selections. I am excited to be able to offer some of these items nightly in the coming months.
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