Slightly to the east of  the kibbutz rises a small tel known to Arabs of the area as “Tel Shaddud”. According to Professor Zev Vilnay, this is the biblical Sarid, mentioned in Joshua 19:10, and from it the modern Jewish settlement has derived its name: Sarid.

Beside the tel, at the crossroads which today has a traffic light, there is a small commercial area owned by the kibbutz, including a petrol station, a coffee house and a food store.

From the crest of the hill down its slopes, the buildings of the kibbutz stand among stately trees, shrubs and open spaces. “How lucky you are to have this beautiful hill with tall trees and so much greenery”, one of our visitors from Switzerland once said.

The first settlers to arrive here in 1926 found nothing but rocks, thorns and ruins. Not a single tree or bush was growing among the dry rocks. The kibbutz, which during its first twenty years made a living from non-irrigated field crops, has developed into an intensive agricultural economy involving high-yield crops, orchards, citrus groves, a dairy herd, and poultry.  The 1950’s saw the establishment of a small abrasives factory, which was named “Camel” in honor of the marvellous animal emblematic of the Middle East where we live. The factory has grown and branched out into three separate plants – for the manufacture of cutting discs, grinding wheels, and coated abrasives. “Camel Grinding Wheels” or “CGW” exports its products world-wide as well as serving the local market, and has a subsidiary in the U.S. Today the kibbutz relies on “Camel” for much of its income.  

At the northern end of the Jezreel Valley where Sarid is situated, there have never been springs flowing into streams. Much of the countryside was once neglected, full of swamps that were breeding grounds for malaria-bearing mosquitos. But today the landscape is green and flourishing, dotted with many settlements and with reservoirs to irrigate the fields. The once-barren hills and mountains are covered in woodlands, and in areas where forests were planted some 70 years ago, the natural vegetation of Eretz Israel has taken hold once again.

As spring approaches each year, colorful carpets of cyclamens, anemones, chamomile, chrysanthemums, daisies and many other wildflowers cover the slopes at our doorstep. Visitors from all over the country come to enjoy this fleeting beauty, and we join them in hoping that this site will be preserved for future generations to appreciate.