Emirates Bio Farm Experience

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Raise your hand if you live in the sunny Middle East…

It’s that time of the year that we all love the most… our so called winter.  I can already hear the English peeps saying.. “You call this winter?? This is our summer..” Well… that’s how it is here baby!

We make the most of this season.. you will see all restaurants setting tables out,  outdoor activities like Food Festivals, Outdoor Markets etc.. This is before the weather gets scorching hot!!!

Two weekends ago friends invited us to check Emirates Bio Farm in Al Ain. They advertised that they are having an open farm activity open for families and kids..

 

Upon taking an exit from the Dubai-Al Ain road, you will be driving on a partially asphalted road and ahead you will see a big patch of green surrounded by trees which looked like an Oasis in the middle of the desert.

Admission is 35AED per person which includes a tractor tour and it’s free for children under 6 years of age. If you don’t want to avail the tour, they have a visitor center which is open to all as well as their grocery / market where they sell their produce. The farm tour starts at 9am onwards.

We got there late morning so our friends were able to book all of us for the 12nn tour.  Tickets are being sold by batch.  Before the tour started, we were asked to line up at the gate entrance of the farm grounds. You will notice that the bushes are actually kale, it’s  quite fascinating.

This is our tractor with our little cabin attached at the back..

Cool isn’t it? If I remember correctly there were about 5 of these and all lined up to go around the farm.  When it was all set for us to go, we drove onto the farm and we saw different vegetables like carrots, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, beetroot, kale all planted by groups.

We stopped in the center of the farm and we had a tour guide lady who asked us to come all together, and she gave out rules before the whole experience started.  She did this to every stop we did inside the farm.  We learned about how they started the farm and how they succeeded in Organic farming using a method called companion planting. 

If I may be honest,  I’ve always been skeptical about the locally grown “Organic” vegetables here  since we are in the middle of the sand pit. But after this tour, I understood better and they gained my respect. It's admirable how passionate they are in what they do which is quite a challenge given the situation.

We did three stops and on the first two we were given the chance to harvest one vegetable each. First one was Kale, then a Beetroot.

As the visit progressed I understand that they did the tour in batches for crowd control. They want to make sure that the plants are not harmed and in a way it’s easier if you have smaller crowds. And of course the limited seats per tractor drawn cart.

The last part of the tour was a stop at their Green House. Theirs is quite unique because it was doing the opposite of how Greenhouses should work. It was cooling the air for the months that it becomes really hot.

If you check out my photos above, you will see that there are yellow card boards hanging, those are insect/fly traps. They use that to check what kind of insects/flies/pests are inside the greenhouse and if they see one that attacks a current vegetable planted, these plants will be immediately harvested. This is one of the tricks they use for pest control and yes, to not use pesticides.

The Greenhouse Produce

When you finish the tour you can have a healthy snack from their cafeteria where they serve freshly baked cakes, pizza etc. as well as fresh juices, coffee, tea.. They do have a covered area outside with tables and benches where families can have a small picnic. You can even bring your own food if I'm not mistaken. Facilities are all clean and well kept.

Last part was the shop where you can buy different organic produce to take home with you.   

It was a fun experience going there, a different one from the usual Mall-ing that we usually do in the city.   Also its an outdoor activity that everybody, not just families, can do while the beautiful weather lasted.  Emirates Bio Farm distributes to your local groceries, just look for their logo EBF.

For more information you can go to their website: https://www.emiratesbiofarm.com/

CIAO!

CARMI