Ananda is the sanskrit word for "bliss," which for this family is synonymous with farming and feeding their community. Patrick and Melisa are farmers, yoga teachers, artists and foodies. They love nature and utilize farming techniques that create living soils, sequester carbon and produce healthy food.
FTY: What is your role at Ananda Gardens?
Patrick: Farm Manager
Melisa: Wellness and Community Outreach
FTY: Can you briefly describe Ananda Gardens?
Patrick & Melisa: Ananda Gardens is a diverse, small scale farm, located 10 minutes from downtown Montpelier.
Operated and owned by a bicultural family of four: Patrick the farmer, Melisa the Chef and Health Coach, and daughters Ananda and Munay, who are the inspiration and motivation. They work in collaboration with a skilled and inspired team of farm workers.
Our Mission is to provide healthy food and wellness to our community working in connection with nature, and to inspire healthy living. We accomplish this by using innovative and regenerative farming practices to produce delicious and nutritious food in living soil. We offer fresh, delicious and nutritious organic veggies through a Convenient Home Delivery CSA, Market Style Farmstand CSA, and wholesale to local restaurants, caterers and Farmers To You.
FTY: In what ways has the FTY partnership supported your growth?
Patrick & Melisa: We started our partnership with Farmers To You in the first years of starting our farm. In 2019 when all our restaurant accounts shut down Farmers To You orders provided us with a consistency that allowed us to continue meeting our payroll each week. Since then, we have been able to grow together and in the last years we have become a thriving small business that is our livelihood, and we are able to raise our children on the farm and employ a team of hardworking, creative and passionate people.
FTY: What is your favorite product?
Patrick & Melisa: Salad Mix! It changes slightly each week, is so delicious, and we often eat a bag or more per meal!
FTY: What brings you the most joy in your work?
Patrick & Melisa: Working with nature to grow incredibly healthy and delicious food for our community. That we are able to be part of the bigger solution and contribute to people's health and our planet's health. It makes all the long days, uncertainties of farming and hard work totally worth our effort.
FTY: Anything else you'd like to share with our community?
Patrick & Melisa: You are what your food eats and at Ananda Gardens all of our farming practices are dedicated to growing food in healthy living soil. Your food eats well here! This allows our products to have incredible flavor, keep longer and contain more nutrients than large scale farming operations. Visit our website www.anandagardens.com and try our greens to learn more!
Don't forget to share your recipes and photos with us! We love to see what you're making with your farm fresh ingredients each week. Share your recipes to info@farmerstoyou.com or add your photos to social media and tag us!
