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IMAGE Organic Market Garden
Above The dream is to one day
see urban farms in every suburb,
supplying each neighbourhood.
well as the soil by providing a place for people
to come to. In fact, I never want to garden in
isolation – we already have too many people
doing that.”
In many ways, OMG sees its greatest success
reflected in the reactions of the people who drop
by. Young or old, no one has been sceptical of the
project, says Levi.
The garden hasn’t been vandalised and
although there is a gate, it is never locked.
Everyone, it seems, wants this garden to thrive.
Dream time
As with every successful venture, there comes
a time to dream and plan for the future. OMG
is aware of the potential of a small parcel of
land to feed a lot of people. With that in mind,
Levi dreams of a future where our largest city’s
fresh produce comes not via emission-belching,
motorway-clogging vehicles trucking in food,
but from a series of urban farms dotted around
every suburb.
“Our dream,” he says, “is for people to have
access to healthy food, a cleaner environment,
and a beautiful place to come get their food.”
To do that, there is now a need to train up more
urban regenerative farmers, which is why OMG
will soon be looking for interns.
“The garden currently relies too heavily on me,”
says Levi. “And it’s not acceptable that someone
should have to first volunteer to the extent I have
before a garden can generate a living wage.”
From having worked 50-plus hours a week, Levi
has now reduced his garden time to a healthy
four days a week. And while he doesn’t resent
the work it has taken to establish the inner-city
market, he knows it’s not the way of the future.
“After all,” he says philosophically, “I’m on this
journey so that change can happen.”
Top tips for OMG copycats
• Keep your compost piles rat-free
through a carefully-designed
structure and predator trap as a
double precaution.
• Consider hiring a private composting
operation to manage that side of
the business. OMG does this with
a private company and charges
residents and businesses $15 a month
to deposit their food scraps.
• ‘Borrowed’ land is unlikely to provide
a sense of security. Look on this
positively as OMG does. Managed
the right way, land regeneration
can happen quickly and a market
garden can enjoy several seasons of
production before the issue of land
tenure rears its head.
• Use relocatable buildings and
greenhouses so if your garden does
have to move home, you can take
your infrastructure with you.
• Introduce education as a way to
encourage others to participate, and
to repay volunteers for their time.
Workshops can also be another way
of generating cash.
• Make space to welcome in a diverse
range of volunteers and those
who simply want to enjoy the
garden space.
• If your garden water comes from a
town supply, you may want to follow
OMG’s lead by installing a carbon
filter in order to say ‘no thanks’
to chlorine.
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