Who: Farmer Ben Dunn, Wildwood Organics
Where: Clarkefield, Macedon Ranges Shire, Wurundjeri Country
What made you decide to become a market gardener?
I moved from the dusty soil and lack of water of Broken Hill to become a beekeeper in Mildura on the Murray. I had access to half an acre of garden where I almost instinctively started growing leafy greens and other veg. I became involved in a community food system and learned a lot about food sovereignty. When I moved to Melbourne in 2020, I worked with Ceres Joe’s Market Garden on the banks of the Merri Creek in Coburg, where there has been a market garden for over 150 years.
So how did you end up in Clarkefield?
I heard about Madelaine’s Eggs, a woman who has been farming regeneratively for 20 years incorporating chickens, sheep and cows – mimicking the way nature recycles nutrients. I went to work with her team and after a few months they offered me some land to lease to start my own market garden. Being a first-generation farmer, the hardest thing is to get access to land.
What do you grow?
It’s all very seasonal. I have 20 different crops in the ground at any given time. I need to do that because when I go to farmers’ markets, I need to make my stall look abundant and bountiful. I need to have something different and attractive, but also the staples. The vegetables are incredibly fresh, picked the day before. In winter to late spring there are lots of brassicas – purple sprouting broccoli, for instance, is amazing. I love sugarloaf cabbage – it is so good roasted with a little olive oil and salt. In summer it’s heirloom zucchini and squash. I love crookneck squash – grilled on a barbecue, fried in a pan. It so delicious it makes your eyes pop.
Where do we get it?
Carlton, Flemington and Castlemaine farmers’ markets.