Provided
5Church Partner Chef and Top Chef alumni Jamie Lynch is now the owner of a new six-acre farm located about 30 minutes from 5Church Charlotte in Belmont, NC. As the last piece of a complete food system for 5Church, Chef Lynch's Farm will supply a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, eggs, honey, and more to 5Church, with his first harvest of the season scheduled for this week.
“I thought about running a farm well before 5Church Charlotte opened in 2012 and I couldn't be happier to have finally settled on the perfect place,” Chef Lynch said. “For us, the farm is more of a lifestyle than a place. We are passionate about promoting the farm-to-restaurant connection to both our 5Church diners and our staff.”
Chef Lynch and his girlfriend and farm manager, Corey McGovern, started working on the farm in October 2018 with a focus on preparing the gardens and sustainability. The two composted more than 200 pounds of 5Church Charlotte vegetable scraps and incorporated the organic material into the garden beds to fertilize and improve the soil. In addition, they have a plant nursery where they grow micro greens as well as a large chicken coop where their 40-hen flock is currently laying eggs for 5Church's brunch.
The farm is currently growing a variety of vegetables including radishes, arugula, beets, Hakurei turnips, broccoli, eggplant, summer squash, and more. The half-acre of garden beds also includes blueberries, fig trees, and a variety of flowers like eucalyptus, lemongrass, citronella, and lavender. Chef Lynch and McGovern plan to add beehives in a couple months to help with pollination and supply the restaurants with honey for some of 5Church's dishes like their popular charcuterie boards.
Chef Lynch looks forward to continuing to expand the farm in the future, with hopes of utilizing the picturesque space for farm dinners, cooking classes, wedding events and other collaborative events with Charlotte area chefs.
For more information, visit www.ChefJamieLynch.com.
