New Zealand: New Plymouth urban farmer drives a food revolution from his quarter acre market garden
“We envision a world where every street has a farm like ours on it.”
By Jo McCarroll
Stuff
Jun 29 2020
Excerpt:
When I first visited Carl Freeman’s urban market garden Freeman Farms in suburban New Plymouth six or so months ago, the jovial Australian-born farmer was there to show me around.
It didn’t take long since most of his farm is situated on the quarter-acre section around the ex-state house where Carl lives with wife Kati and their five-year-old son River (he also has a small plot at a nearby community garden).
Here, in his mini market garden, Carl grows more than 25 types of fruit and vegetables in 50 vegetable beds, producing honey from beehives and collects eggs from chickens.
The produce is sold at the city’s farmers’ market every Sunday, “although with Covid-19 we had to pivot and started home-delivered vege boxes too.”
The urban farm was part of the Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail which runs alongside the annual Taranaki Garden Festival in spring and I was there with photographer Sally Tagg who was shooting some gardens in the region for me.
