How did mygreenpatch start?

mygreenpatch was established in 2008 after years of disappointment buying supermarket produce. We knew we could do – and eat – better.

The moment produce is picked it starts to lose nutrients and, subsequently, loses taste. Much of the aesthetically pleasing fruit and vegetables we see on our supermarket shelves has been picked before it is completely ripe (leaving the natural sugars unestablished), then frozen for up to nine months before being taken out of storage and shipped to our supermarkets. All this transportation does the produce no good (or the environment) and by the time we have purchased it the produce is already past ripe.

The politics of food production is complicated, so take as much out of the equation as possible and grow your own!

On a personal note, for those of us who have kids it’s great to know at least some of what we get into them is healthy. My two-year-old son loves helping me dig and plant seeds in the patches and eagerly waits for me to come home so we can water our plants.

What is the aim of mygreenpatch?

The simple aim of mygreenpatch is to get people – no matter what size their living space, income or family – to grow as much of their own produce as they can. Whether this is a few herbs on an apartment veranda or an orchard of fruit trees spread throughout an acreage, we can all grow some part of our produce requirements ourselves.

Produce in supermarkets is not going to improve in quality any time soon, so why not take supermarkets out of the equation and do something for ourselves: grow our own produce.

How does mygreenpatch help the environment?

As the mygreenpatch tagline suggests, the environmental aim of this business is to sustain the planet. We can all sign petitions and vote in greener governments, but we can make a bigger difference by each taking small steps to give our planet the chance of surviving.

The other way mygreenpatch will help the environment is to very soon establish this business as a carbon-neutral. All materials, their production and delivery emissions will be offset so you have peace of mind the patch in your backyard or on your balcony really is green!

Is growing produce easy?

Yes, is the simple answer! Growing produce is not difficult or time-consuming. The philosophy I have is: throw in the seed, throw on some organic fertilizer, water a couple of times a week and watch it grow. Of course there will be some failures and there will be bugs, but there will also be beautiful harvests. I am still learning so much about growing my own produce, but I love getting to the weekend after a week in the city, so I can be outside in the clean air seeing what’s sprouted, what’s blossomed and what’s ready to pick – and eat!

I have never tried growing anything before, where do I start?

At mygreenpatch we are all for embracing the idea of throwing yourself in the deep end and buying our largest patch. However, more important to us is that you end up falling in love with growing your own food.

We have three patch sizes, so if you want to start off small we recommend our herb/kid’s patch. This patch is 600mm square and will comfortably fit some tomatoes, lettuces and maybe a couple of herbs. If this proves successful, then upgrade to our larger patches: 1200×600mm or the full-size 2400×1200mm.