Farmer Lee Jones is known as a regenerative farmer that grows regenerative vegetables and herbs for home cooks and professional chefs. The basis of their farming is keeping the soil healthy by providing organic matter and nutrients. Regenerative farming uses several techniques to improve the soil.
The farms along Lake Erie have an amazing micro climate to grow plants. On their farm called The Chef Garden they have grown over 300 vegetables. He recalls the family farm was sold during bad times and they had to start over again.
During their time rebuilding the business the family met a woman chef that told them if they could grow organic and healthy plants chefs would support their farm. She was trained in Europe. Losing their farm gave the Jones a chance to try regenerative farming by learning to grow quality crops with flavor.
The family bought the 300-acre farm in Lake Erie and read books about farming 100 to 150 years old. They are a small farm surrounded by farms 3,000 to 10,000 acres that use chemicals and fertilizers that damage the nutritional value of the plants.
Chef Jones realized the success of his restaurant would be their relationships with chefs and knocking on restaurant and food business doors to sell their products. He met Chef Charles Trotta by contacting him and dealing with his assistant. They liked the crops the farm grew and he invited Farmer Jones to VIP events where he connected with other chefs.
Chef Trotter recognized the importance of the relationship of the farmer and chef. Farmer Jones feels indebted to him for helping him succeed with the Chef Garden and Farm. The farm has a world exchange program where students come from agricultural programs from different countries to learn farming and cooking techniques.
They stay one year at the farm work and learn regenerative farming techniques and cooking and return home to use the methods there. The farm has a Chef Garden Online that sells seasonal vegetables and herbs to home cooks. He ships seasonal product boxes to home cooks.
For professional chefs the farm has a special program that sells ancient grain flour, beans and peas, seasonal vegetables and herbs to chefs around the world. His program is supported by many professional chefs who often stay at the Culinary Vegetable Institute for special events.
The Culinary Vegetable Institute
The Culinary Vegetable Institute at Chef's Garden is an organization formed several years ago to help chef's exchange new ideas and experiment with new techniques for cooking and farming. It is a retreat, research center for the farm and educational center for chefs.
The kitchen staff teaches and researches ancient and contemporary plants. They focus on how to grow and cook them. It shows visiting chef's new methods in farming and cooking and lets them experiment at the center. It has a 1,500 square foot kitchen and a dining room with a 22 ft. ceiling, culinary library, root cellar, vegetables and gardens.
Chefs are able to go to the nearby farm see how food is planted and harvested. They can harvest their own vegetable and go back to the Culinary Vegetable Institute and experiment with them in recipes. The Culinary Vegetable Institute has special cooking events and dinners to raise money and let the chefs try out their crops on the farm. It is located in Milan Ohio.
References:
Farmer Lee Chef's Garden Grows Ingredients For Customers Around the World, by Ruth Corradi Beach, Ohio Magazine, May 2018
Fresh Take: How Farmer Lee Jones Brought Back His Family's Ohio Farm, by Chloe Sorvino, Forbes, May 17, 2024
I'm A Farmer and This Is The Number One Myth About Shopping For In Season Food, by Maki Wazawa, Well and Good, January 12, 2023
Sustainable Farming Techniques With Farmer Lee Jones, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Podcast Episode 17, September 28, 2021
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