Celebrate small-scale farming this harvest season

FARM My School is celebrating its first ever harvest season with an official launch, in partnership with Bellarine Community Health and Bellarine Secondary College.

The Growing Our Future Festival will include an evening of live music, garden tours and fresh produce straight from the garden at Bellarine Secondary College.

Farm My School Co-founder and Director James McLennan said the official launch will celebrate the ongoing work of Farm My School and the first harvest season since their initial ‘Build a Farm in a Day Festival’ six months ago.

“We built over two kilometres of bed over that 24-hour period, then over the end of November, December we started planting out, and we literally began harvesting food from it in January.

“In the last couple of weeks we’ve been harvesting over 250 kilos of produce each week already and it’s still not in full production.

“We didn’t even know it was going to be producing food so quickly, it was a bit of an experiment, so the fact that is has is pretty humbling.”

McLennan said the event will provide the community with an opportunity to enjoy the harvest, and support the Farm My School cause.

“It’s the most productive time of year in terms of gardens so we wanted to get everyone in to say ‘hey, look what we’ve achieved’.

“It’s pretty spectacular when you see it.”

Farm My School is a not-for-profit aiming to transform unused land within schools into regenerative market gardens for local communities, promoting healthy eating, ecological stewardship and connected communities.

McLennan said they hope the day will foster a sense of community and inspire more garden farms.

“The big thing for us is if we can get local food produced on a small scale in our backyards as well as projects like this.

“We want to redesign how the current food system is currently operating.”

Enjoy coffee and delicious food along with live music and special guests Farm My School ambassador Costa Georgiadis (Gardening Australia), Chef Matt Germanchis (Totti’s Lorne) and Jo Barrett (Little Picket).

“We’ve got Formidable Vegetable playing, a local band who sing about permaculture, and we’ve got food trucks and some really beautiful local food that’s actually using produce from our garden as well.”

The night will also feature garden tours, and the chance to engage with the local community.

As a zero-waste, all-weather event, and visitors are asked to bring a water bottle, picnic blanket and/or chairs, and wear appropriate clothing for the occasion.

McLennan said the next step for Farm My School will be selling veggie boxes to families at Bellarine Secondary College.

“We’re reaching out to the school community and beyond, everyone is welcoming to come and to celebrate what we’ve achieved.”

The event will take place from 4pm to 9pm at Bellarine Secondary College on April 6 and is free for all Bellarine Secondary College families.

All proceeds go toward Farm My School with tickets available online at rb.gy/fug5gm