Our Sabbath morning activity this week was a visit to Shalem Farm (the term keeps reminding me of the military reserve in South Mount Hebron Sabbath morning activities…).
The farm is part of Ariel Sharon Park. The other part is Hiriya, the main dump for the center of Israel that is now a green hill with a park on top. In between flows Ayalon stream and the plan is to connect the two parts with bridges over the Ayalon stream valley (that will be flooded during the winter, as it was in days before, to prevent Ayalon Highway being flooded)
We started with the temporary planetirium that was set on place and spent the rest of our time in the nice playground for the kids.
The farm was founded in 1953 by “Hazerah” (seed) Communal Agricultural Association as a farm for seeds. The farm was set on the lands of the abondend Palestinian village Al-Khayriyya. The farm played a main role in making Israel a leading country in agriculture.
The complex includes 5 residential buildings (out of 12 that were planned) and hosted 10 families that worked in place. The living conditions were hard – relatively isolated, bad smells from Hiriya dump, and many mosquitoes. The farm was slowly abandoned until the last family left it in 1983. The place was left abandoned until bought back by Israel in 2012 to be used as part of Ariel Sharon Park.
Take Care
Gad
Shalem farm from the northern panorama of Hiriya hill
A sign on the westren panorama on Hiriya- The plan of the park between Kfar Shalem and the Hiriya over Ayalon stream