An organic oasis is growing in the southern suburbs

Twelve hectares of fertile land lies at the foothills of the Illawarra escarpment in Calderwood along the banks of the Macquarie Rivulet – an oasis amidst the encroaching suburbs. On it grows fresh organic produce. Tony Legisa owns the property, and it's been in the family for almost 50 years.

The fertile alluvial soil here has grown produce such as potatoes, corn and beans, and raised beef cattle. Having grown up on the property, Tony knows that the land has always required hard work, and this is still the case today. Many of the surrounding properties have also been in the same families for generations, however, much of the old rural landscape surrounding the property is now being developed for housing.

Since 2000, the Calderwood property has been leased to market gardeners, giving them the opportunity to benefit from the fertile soil. One such operation was Mahbrook Organics, which leased the property for about three years. They were fully certified as organic and ran a farm-gate stall selling directly to locals, local businesses and the Sydney market.

Over the past couple of years, Tony started the Calderwood Organics operation on the same property, working with Denis Bagnall and Ryan Freeman. The farm is currently organic “in conversion”, meaning that the team are following all organic certification guidelines according to Australian Organic Limited, and working in conjunction with them to receive full organic certification next year.

Denis has a long history with the property and growing premium organic produce – he brings a wealth of knowledge to the enterprise. Denis is focussed on growing the best produce possible; making sure that all the plants are happy and healthy; harvesting and delivering to customers; and, with the team, planning the best types of veggies to plant at any given time.

Ryan became involved with the farm last year whilst looking for caretaker work. He spends every day at the site, also working the soil, weeding, planting and harvesting. After 30 years in the building industry, Ryan is relishing the lifestyle change. He has always grown fresh produce for his own use, so knows what good produce looks and tastes like.

To comply with organic regulations, natural farming practices are followed. With the alluvial soils along Macquarie Rivulet being so naturally fertile, the crops require little in the way of improvement through fertilisers. Natural methods of weed and pest control are also used, including the use of livestock such as Little Black Pigs, which instinctively nose deep into the ground to eat and control weeds, such as deep-rooted nut grass, which is extremely difficult to remove by hand. In keeping with the ethos of not wasting resources and giving back, produce that is not fit for market sale is fed to the pigs.

Irrigation is carried out using an onsite bore, but as this has been such a wet year there has been little need for this. Many areas of the property have been inundated by flood waters several times this year, however, there are six large greenhouses on the farm that have been put to good use during the extremely wet weather.

Currently, the farm's cucumbers are growing well. Ryan is picking hundreds of kilograms of cucumbers weekly. Other crops include radish, cos, butter and oak lettuce, parsley, coriander, cabbage, fennel and spinach. With warmer weather approaching, crops will include eggplant, tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, beans, kale, shallots, corn and capsicums. The vision is to supply top-quality fresh organic produce to local families as well as the Sydney markets.

To service the locals, a shop is under construction on the property and will be open to the public in the not too distant future, supplied with produce picked daily. Ryan says once people taste the difference with organically grown local produce there’s no going back. The team is also hoping to supply Flame Tree Food Co-op in Thirroul. Further down the track, once production is established, you may find Calderwood Organics produce at farmers markets in the area.

While still in its early days, production is well underway and the team are expecting to provide an abundance of healthy genuine certified organic produce in the coming months. I look forward to returning to the farm in a few months to report on their progress.