Mirboo North flower farm built from recycled materials takes its first stall
Mirboo North flower farm built from cast-offs and community donations makes its market debut at Baromi Park on August 29.
A Mirboo North flower farm built largely out of other people's cast-offs is taking a stall at the town's market for the first time this month.
Little Luscious Farm was started in 2023 by Natasha Wood and her husband Peter Wright on 11 acres at Mirboo North and has been run since on a principle of taking what other people throw away.
Cardboard collected from the Mirboo North Op Shop, a local workplace and neighbours is layered into the garden beds.
Bricks have come from nearby building sites, while fleece, plants, tools and fencing wire have been handed on rather than dumped.
Jars that once held jam are reused for candles and catering tins leave the farm full of flowers, with some returned later and sent out again with another bunch.
"Every week I'm picking up bricks, windows, cuttings, fleece, things someone else was throwing out," Ms Wood said.
"We want to keep using what we can find. It turns out you can build something beautiful that way. It just takes longer."
Readers may remember the farm from the Sentinel-Times in November 2024, when Ms Wood opened her shearing shed for the Garage Sale Trail and admitted to having collected six free toilets when she only went looking for one.
She said that weekend was one of the first times locals had come through the gate.
"The Garage Sale Trail was one of the first opportunities for people to come through the gates and see what we were building," Ms Wood said.
"The support and connections that followed have helped us reach the point where we now have flowers ready to bring back into town."
The farm grows without chemicals and does not use floral foam or plastic wrap, and $2 from every flower sale goes towards its Koala Garden, a native canopy regeneration project on the property.
It also runs monthly open days on the first Friday of the month and has drawn a regular group of local helpers the farm calls its Luscious Lifers, who have contributed materials, plants, knowledge and labour.
The stall carries seasonal flowers grown in the farm's test gardens.
Little Luscious Farm will be at the Mirboo North Market at Baromi Park on Saturday August 29 from 8.30am to 1pm.
The farm is open today until 3pm as part of its monthly First Fridays.
