Since their birth in early July, baby goats Shlomo and Jojo have been the stars of the show at Urban Adamah, the Jewish educational farm in Berkeley. So it’s no surprise that l’chaim was said over shots of goat’s milk at an Oct. 25 event celebrating the start of work on the farm’s new campus.
The 4-month-old goats were even there “in person” to help celebrate.
“Shlomo and Jojo were so excited about their new quarters that they wanted to be there to thank the donors personally,” quipped executive director Adam Berman. Approximately 70 donors and supporters attended.
Work on the site actually began in September, so the event was “a symbolic groundbreaking,” Berman said, “more of a site tour and a celebration for those involved in the project.”
The new 2.2-acre campus is located on Sixth Street in Berkeley, adjacent to a section of Cordonices Creek, a few blocks from the new Whole Foods market on Gilman Street. The site is two times the size of the farm’s current property in West Berkeley.
Berman said the current construction phase — which includes the administration building, a bathhouse and retreat cabins — will be completed in time for Urban Adamah to begin moving in early next year.
“Next week we start to lay pipes,” Berman said. “Several weeks after that, we’ll lay the main roads and pathways.”
The 4-year-old urban farm has raised $3.2 million of the $5.1 million needed to complete the current phase, Berman said. A new anonymous matching grant of $500,000 should help get the farm up to $4.2 million, he added, noting that donations will be matched through the end of 2015.
At the Oct. 25 ceremony, people danced around a campfire and some fruit trees were planted. And in addition to the goat’s milk, there was challah baked from wheat grown at Urban Adamah’s current site. — david a.m. wilensky