Abi Byrne and her Ocean Grove Farm in Sydney’s Northern Beaches are living proof that you don’t need to own a piece of land to practice permaculture to produce healthy and nutrition-dense food.
Since 2019 Abi has been growing an abundance of fresh and chemical-free veggies in what used to be an idle backyard of her elderly neighbour.
“I’ve always been passionate about the land,” said Abi.
For most of her time, Abi has been involved in pursuing regenerative land management. She event went into broadacre and permaculture practice.
“I always see myself living on the land at a later stage in my life,” she said.
But the confluence of circumstances made Abi stay in the city instead of the farm, though this didn’t stop her from her being involved in farming and food production.
“Start where you are and do what you can is the motto that I have adopted to ease my need to grow. I became a horticulturist and permaculture consultant and bush regenerator, as I don’t have my own garden, I’m so happy to tend other peoples’ gardens,” she said.
However, the farmer in her must still be crying out to be expressed. She tells everyone who will listen that she’d rather be tending a tiny farm and producing fresh healthy food to share in her community.
“A food garden is my happy place,” Abi says.
When a retired neighbour listened to her dream of growing food and about urban permaculture and offered his idle backyard to be tended back to life, Abi grabbed the opportunity.
“Phil (the neighbour) said if I was willing to take on the task of clearing the overgrown and weed-infested yard, I have permission to build a mini market garden,” Abi said.
Her experience confirmed the multi-dimensional benefits of turning idle land into productive gardens.
“It’s a wonderful exchange that nurtures relationships with people, with plants and with nature in general. It’s a win for elderly residents who are no longer able to tend their gardens. They can (socially) interact with me as I tend to the garden. And it is also a win for me as I get to live my dreams of growing food and playing in the dirt,” Abi added.
Transforming idle land into a productive market garden
It took Abi about two weeks to clear the weeds and grass that had taken over the backyard lot over the years of non-use. She also had to deal with many feral papaya and banana plants. Lots of heavy lifting to dig out rocks buried in some old garden beds covered with tons of accumulated plant matter.
Abi used the no-dig, no-till planting method and put lots of compost to work. She also called on lots of compost worms to help nurture soil health.
As the local council doesn’t allow for open bay composting, Abi used enclosed bins. She’s has about 8 bins strategically located in the market garden.
“I have set up a communal compost too, teaching my neighbours how they can help regenerate their soil by simply composting their kitchen waste.”
“These people I would never have met without the common link of the veggie plots,” she said.
Drip water irrigation system
To minimise water consumption, she installed a drip water irrigation system that she can adjust according to the seasons.
“I don’t think I’m the first person to do something like this (using other people’s idle land for farming fresh produce). But I am happy to contribute in this way – to turn idle plots of land while regenerating the soil,” she said.
Ocean Grove Farm: a productive urban market garden
Ocean Grove Farm measures 16 metres by 10 metres.
After she cleared the area, Abi set up 11 main veggie beds, which measured 7m long by 1 metre wide. She also built 4 raised beds that are 2 metres long x 50 cm wide built over old pathways.
“I’m doing some adjustments and as the space has evolved, the beds have gotten wider and longer to maximise the space. Some walking paths have been sacrificed to use as much space for food production as possible,” Abi added.
Depending on the season, Abi plants a wide variety of veggies and herbs that include broccoli, spinach, chard, kale, Asian greens, shallots, kohlrabi, English spinach, radishes, leeks, celery, fennel, all the leafy salad greens, rockets mizuna, mustard greens. She usually has 8 different kinds of lettuce and lots of herbs.
“I plant quick turnover crops for a higher yield in production, but I also have carrots beets beans, tomato, eggplant, capsicums, corn and cucumber now the weather is warming up and the spring cycle begins. And lots and lots of flowers for the pollinators,” she said.
Feeding the local community
To date, Abi supplies fresh and chemical-free veggies and herbs to five families in her local community. There are also the regular walk-ins and passers-by who appreciate and love the idea of picking fresh veggies from Abi’s garden.
“I’m always thrilled to hand a box of freshly picked veggies to other people. I get such a buzz from this when people are so taken by the lushness and abundance in this small but very productive garden.”
Shortening the food mile
“I believe the future of food is local. Food miles are minimal here,” Abi said.
Based on her experience growing in an urban setting, Abi saw that people are showing more awareness and interest in the source of their food.
They know the farmer and they know that what their getting is chemical-free, fresh and full of nutrition and life.
“The biggest compliment I get is when people rave about the taste and fragrant smells and freshness of the produce they get,” Abi said.
FoodLab Sydney mentoring
When she started harvesting on a regular basis and with a view to sell her produce, Abi realised she didn’t have any business or marketing training. That’s when she decided to join the FoodLab Sydney entrepreneur course, which she heard about via a friend’s social media update.
“The course helped me understand the business side of running a food production business. It also gave me a strong support network of like-minded people who are very passionate about food and food entrepreneurship,” Abi said. Having mentors who believe in what I’m doing has made all the difference and given me the confidence to keep going with my project.
Though she’s still a long way from implementing all the business and marketing knowledge she got from the course, Abi said it’s really important to have a strong network of support people. And FoodLab Sydney provided that to her plus a lot more.
Widening community involvement
Since she started the backyard garden Abi found herself being involved more deeply in the community.
“During my first year when I had a lot of surplus produce, I gave a lot of fresh vegetables to my neighbours and the food bank.”
Today she’s also getting a lot of calls, comments and offers from people who want to help her in the vegetable garden.
“In the future, if I was able to access more land and apply for some grants, I would love to employ local youth who are becoming more interested in market gardening.”
Growth ambition
With the growing number of customers regularly buying her produce, Abi sees the potential and growing demand for healthy and locally produced food.
“There is more awareness and growing preference for people to source their food locally. There’s this lady customer who buys whatever I package up. She says my produce is much more nutritious and better tasting than what she can get from the supermarket,” Abi said.
At the moment, while customer demand is still being met by the backyard garden, Abi looks to more and bigger idle lands to be converted into productive food gardens.
“This is a great way to provide healthy and fresh food to people. It may be small but it is an effective way to provide affordable produce while providing nutritious locally grown food to many people,” she added.
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