Australia: ‘Just grow more plants’ urges Ainslie urban farmer
She’s been working with the Suburban Land Agency to develop innovative models for community gardens and believes “there’s endless scope for us to grow a lot more food in Canberra”.
By Abbey Halter
Canberra Weekly
February 3, 2023
Excerpt:
On an average Ainslie block lies a hidden urban farm, filled to the brim with pumpkins, tomatoes, chickens, rabbits, bees, sunflowers, grapes, microgreens, persimmons, pistachios, strawberries, feijoas … it’s a garden wonderland!
Fiona Buining began plotting her pride and joy, the Ainslie Urban Farm, back in 2008. Starting from scratch, the property was the perfect blank slate on which to design her urban garden dream.
Fifteen years on, Fiona has transformed her hobby farm into a thriving business that provides sustainable microgreens to 30 local restaurants and cafes. Many Canberrans have eaten one of Fiona’s backyard baby greens without even realising it.
One of her main motivations for delving into the microgreens world was her desire to run a no-waste business.
Fiona grows her greens in trays made in Victoria from recycled plastic and collects the trays to reuse at every weekly delivery.
Often, her custom-made organic soil will also be given back to her from her customers, which is also composted. The microgreens are also delivered in an electric vehicle, giving the process a carbon neutral kick.
Her fervour for farming goes back several decades to her childhood.
“I’ve always really loved growing plants … I’ve had a garden everywhere I’ve lived,” Fiona says.
