WHO THE HECK ARE WE?
Here’s a little snippet into our worlds both past and present. After a huge 18 month travel stint, we have returned to home soils from working on farms in South America and Canada with a whole new bag of tricks, a new pup called Keji and philosophies to use on our new project, Borrowed Ground.
We come into this business at one of the most testing times in history, the climate is in crisis + we are all facing a pandemic. But, we are determined to regenerate this patch of Earth we find ourselves on and treat it with the kindness it deserves whilst building community at the same time.
Thanks for bloody giving us the time of day. We hope to meet or feed ya soon!
| Alex Chiswell |
Co-Founder + Farm Manager
I grew up surfing on the Central Coast of New South Wales so living by the ocean is pretty much a prerequisite of mine. After moving to Sydney after school and working in hospitality/ dropping out of uni simultaneously, I found I would continuously feel unfulfilled. I knew I wanted to work outside and get my hands dirty, so I started an Apprenticeship in Horticulture.
After starting at a landscaping company, I quickly realised that I was more interested in producing food over maintaining ornamental gardens. I then moved on to finish my apprenticeship at Glenmore House where Mickey’s kitchen garden sparked something within me and I started to grow my own herbs and veg at home. I then managed to convince Eliza to embark on an internship at Old Mill Rd Bio-Farm and we both fell in love with the work and the lifestyle. I’ve slept better ever since.
After that summer at Old Mill we approached friends at Eugalo and asked if we could start a vegetable enterprise on their flower farm. They supported us and we grew vegetables there for two years, supplying restaurants in Sydney.
Now, we find ourselves having performed a full circle, returning to Moruya where our landlords are Fraser and Kirsti from Old Mill. We are pinching ourselves.
| Eliza Cannon |
Co-Founder + Marketing + Farm Hand
I graduated as a primary school teacher in 2017 and have a strong passion for food education and sovereignty in Australia. After growing up smack bang in the middle of Sydney, I started to notice the disconnect myself, my friends and my family had with the food we were buying and cooking with. This led to a fierce curiosity and determination to understand more about the food system and build connections with people through food. After completing a market garden internship at Old Mill Rd Bio-Farm with Alex in 2016, I realised that living out of the city and building a vegetable farm was what I wanted to do with my life.
Since this realisation I have worked as Pocket City Farm’s ‘Community Coordinator’, where I developed a curriculum based education program for primary and secondary schools, ran food events and farm tours. I’ve helped manage a small-scale market garden with Alex for two years, which supplied seasonal vegetables for a restaurant group in Sydney. I have also been a Co-Leader for the Youth Food Movement’s Sydney chapter.
I have big hopes for Borrowed Ground and aim to hold community events, workshops and education programs. Most of all, I want to have fun and feed people with our tasty, tasty eats.
Hopefully catch ya on the flip side!