Why Don’t More People Do This?
From the outside Market Gardening can have the appearance of the idyllic lifestyle. Working outside in nature with plants, growing delicious food and serving your community. Many people have asked us “why aren’t there more people doing this?”
We love our life here in Nelson and farming is getting easier for us as we apply lessons learned from mistakes made in the past. We have better tools and infrastructure now than when we started and have really learned how to grow, harvest, wash and store vegetables.
The reality of what it takes to do all the above is an all encompassing business, requiring far more time than a full time job. To grow market ready crops year round means a constant cycle of seeding new crops in the nursery or in the ground and maintaining the more advanced crops either with periodic harvesting, pruning, thinning, cultivation, irrigation and aeration.
In order to successfully market garden you must be comfortable with spending the majority of your time at the farm working. Chances for holidays do not exist for most periods of the year and even one night away can cause problems if the weather turns, or a kangaroo arrives, neighbours dog jumps the fence etc.
We choose to relocate to Nelson as it was always our first choice for a holiday destination. Living here means we can work the farm but still get away for an hour or 2 and go to the beach, on a bush walk or mountain bike ride, fishing or even the opportunity to play live music again. We can do any of these as part of our work day and are trying to keep Sunday’s more open so that we can get away with day trips a bit further away. If you only want a 9-5 where you walk away at the end of each day and not think about work, and or go on multiple holidays and weekend getaways each year, then farming is not for you. One has to be really enjoy what they are doing and where they live to handle the work load involved in a business like ours.
We enjoy the quiet life and are really suited to running a market garden as a family. Not everyone is though, you must be willing to do what it takes and that simply doesn’t suit a lot of people’s lifestyles and there is nothing wrong with that. Not everyone will be a Carpenter and not everyone wants to run a commercial scale market garden.
We do the best we can and hope you enjoy the end result.
Home Deliveries will be on again this Friday 1st November. Orders can be placed through our webstore which is stocked with all available vegetables. Vegetables will be delivered to your door by us in an insulated shopping bag, which is returnable on your next order. Orders can be paid for with a card on our website or cash on delivery.
Our produce is now featured on the menu at the Nelson Hotel and is always stocked and available at Food For Thought in Mount Gambier. Customers are welcome to come and visit the farm to take a look and purchase vegetables 7 days a week between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm.
This Week’s Available Produce
Carrots 1kg $10
Beetroots 1kg $10
Butterhead Lettuce $10
Spinach 250g $10
Rainbow Chard $10
Coriander $5
Parsley $5
Sugar Snap Peas 500g $10
Bok Choi $10
Coming Soon
Celery
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Capsicum
Cucumber
Zucchini
Green Beans
Basil
Thai Basil
Notes From The Garden
At Rainbow OMG we recognise the centuries long tradition of Moon Planting. In short the different phases of the Moon correspond to growth in in different parts of plants with about 7 days for each phase. The order is Leaf, Fruit/Flower, Root and Stop. We find this cycle an excellent tool for planning and scheduling of all the regular tasks needed for a functional farm.
This week is a Stop Week which is a time of no planting so instead we focus on infrastructure. We have dug out a new market bed, organised the shed, cut firewood, hand weeded, mulched, mowed, whipper snipped and more as well as harvesting almost daily.
Product Focus – Spinach
250g of Organic Spinach
Spinach is one of our most popular crops and needs no introduction. Our Spinach leaves are quite large and will keep fresh for weeks (not days) in your fridge, it is delicious eaten raw or cooked and is packed with the following nutritional and health benefits:
- Vitamin’s K, A, C and B6
- Manganese, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, Potassium, Copper, Phosphorus, Zinc, Sodium and Selenium
- Folate, Riboflavin and Thiamine and Niacin
- Boosts Immunity
- Stabilises Blood Sugar
- Maintains Healthy Vision
- Supports Bone Health
- Keeps Skin Glowing
- Aids in Detoxification
- Preserves Brain Health
- High in Magnesium
Here are some ideas to get more Spinach into your diet:
- Buy more or grow more of it 🙂
Spinach grows and tastes best in cooler weather and as such is a seasonal vegetable in our Market Garden. Order you Spinach today.
Instagram Reel of the Week
| See what we have been up to this week at the Rainbow OMG micro farm. |
Our Home is For Sale
Step into a Self Sufficient Oasis
We are selling our home in Rainbow. Please share this listing with anyone you think might be interested in escaping the rat race for a great life in a small town.
Our Land is for Sale
Large Vacant Land on 2 Titles
We have shut down the Rainbow farm site and are selling the land. Set on a quiet side street and withing walking distance of the School, IGA, Post Ofiice, Bakery and other retail outlets this vacant land is the perfect site to develop your new home or rental properties.
We look forward to serving you,
Evan and Jill Young
