Aiesha Grierson - Heart Beet Farm
Where and what do you farm ?
I lease half an acre on a pastured egg farm in the Bega Valley, South Coast NSW. I grow mixed vegetables. I chose to start my business on an existing farm to maximise on efficiencies such as sharing cool room space, water access, use of tractor and other tools.
How did you start your farming journey / what led you to it?
I was helping a farmer friend out every fortnight and loved getting my hands in the dirt. I then did a Farmer Incubator program and started interning on a few different types of vegetable farms around the world, learning from the best. I fell in love with small scale bio-intensive market gardening.
Is it what you expected ?
It is both much worse and much better than I imagined. Much more exhausting physically and mentally than I expected. There are so many decisions to be made regarding a whole range of areas not typical to growing food such as fencing and water engineering to ensure the correct water pressure at the site of the garden. Then there is all the hard yakka involved in the infrastructure set up and breaking ground. But being able to step outside into the sunshine everyday, the complete freedom that comes with working for myself and being able to dedicate myself to something that is meaningful to me has been incredible. There is something special about working in nature, it makes my heart feel full and in this way balances out all the stress attributed to running a small business.
Biggest learning curve so far ?
Valuing my product. Like dating its all about connecting with the right people that value you, what your doing and what you've got. As market gardeners our product is uniquely fresh, local and usually organic. There will be customers out there who will be a pain to deal with and then there are customers that really value and respect our work and are prepared to do business on our terms and pay appropriately. Its important to find those customers.
Who / what / why inspired you to get farming?
It was farming with the young kick-ass female farmers on La Ferme des Quatre Temps run by Jean-Martin Fortier in Quebec that made me decide to dedicate myself to farming.
What is your biggest milestone so far ?
Being able to provide a more or less consistent supply of veggies to my customers since I began trading 7 months ago. It takes a lot of forward planning to keep production up, especially if growing mixed veggies, throughout the year.
What is the dream ?
To continue growing my business to be able to earn enough money to save and secure my own title on a piece of land to farm more permanently.