ON the river-flats bordering King Parrot Creek - just off the Whittlesea-Yea Road in Flowerdale - a market garden has taken shape, the expansion of Plenty Valley Produce.

Michael Collins is one half of Plenty Valley Produce, a small-scale, organic market garden set-up in partnership with fellow grower Sam Shacklock.

Signing a long-term commercial lease, the new location represents the pair’s commitment to an enterprise that has gone from strength to strength over the last three years.

Previously cropping seven acres in Upper Plenty- four of which were viable with the other three delivering reduced production due to issues with drainage and shade – Michael and Sam had come to the realisation with demand only growing they needed to upscale.

And having outgrown the site that also meant relocation.

It was access to more water and the fertile soils of the valley that made leasing land at Old Farm Happy Valley an attractive proposition, with the bonus of good drainage and direct sunlight for the whole day effectively sealing the deal.

“Here in Flowerdale we have eight acres in the main paddock alone, with the opportunity to farm up to 20 acres in total with vegetables and herbs - so we now have that room to expand,” Michael said.

A horticulturist by qualification Michael has travelled from the north of the country to the south.

Working as a park ranger in Cape York before taking up a position at the Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, followed by a stint in Hobart at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens it was the cooler climes of the southern states that enticed him from the tropics.

“In Queensland you effectively have two seasons, and so of course you have flowering plants and things do happen, but it doesn’t compare to having four seasons.

“When a garden has gone through that cold exposure and then the sun comes out and its springtime, it becomes a completely different space.

“I wanted to experience this and learn different styles of gardening.”

It was a dream of market gardening that would then tempt Michael from across the Tasman, to rent just outside of Whittlesea.

“I was also interested in livestock management and the initial goal was to learn more about farming and then take the knowledge back to the Botanics and implement it there within that environment,” he said.

Somerset Heritage Produce on the banks of the Goulburn in the grounds of the Somerset Winery at Seymour would be his first professional dalliance into vegetable growing.

The Collingwood Children’s Farm was his next step, the demonstration space and the urban implementation of agricultural practices similar to the idea he had for the Botanics.

However once he was immersed in the reality of the project, Michael’s goal changed.

“I would eventually come to the realisation that what I really wanted to do was simply grow vegetables,” he said.

It was the move to Upper Plenty, to share-farm with Sam alongside other market gardeners on a larger farm enterprise, that would solidify this vision.

Walwa Park Farm is predominantly livestock run by David Markham, with part of the landholding dedicated to farm start-ups.

“In three years, Michael and Sam have gone from a start-up to servicing several farmers’ markets, employing quite a few people and growing their inventory of plant and equipment to the point they are a stand-alone enterprise and all through lower impact organic growing methods,” said David of the boys’ tenure at Walwa Park.

With tractors and equipment available and garden beds already set up at Walwa, it represented a smooth transition for Michael and Sam - the opportunity to try their hand at market gardening with minimum risk and reduced outlay.

“I don’t think we would have made the initial commitment if it hadn’t been ready to go,” Michael said of the origins of Plenty Valley Produce.

“The notion of setting all of that up from scratch and investing all that money, would have represented too huge a barrier.”

At that stage both Michael and Sam were just beginning their journey into market gardening and vegetable growing was still secondary to Michael’s other aspirations.

“Initially I was doing it to fund my other farm ideas,” he said.

“However I soon came to the realisation that I didn’t need to do all those other things like chickens, I could just grow fresh produce and I would probably be better off.”

It is this focus on keeping it simple and mastering production of a limited range that initially set the two in good stead, building a strong foundation on which to expand the business and increase their portfolio.

“Most people start off with 40 different lines and want to grow heirlooms and other specialist lines and embrace this whole-home-gardener-but-scaled-up idea,” Michael said.

“We had been advised by other market gardeners both in-person and online that this was not the way to go, and so when we began farming it was with a view to do small-scale wholesale.

“We only started with carrots, spring onions, tomatoes, a little bit of pumpkin and radish.

“There was no growing a bunch of stuff and going direct to retail and aiming to be that one-stop-shop at the farmers’ market.

“It just seemed to be a really complicated business model which would be difficult to run.

“So in the early days of Plenty Valley Produce this was something we actively avoided.”

Michael admits this is now exactly what they do do.

“It was because farmers’ markets really opened up for us,” he said of the about-face.

Presented with the opportunity to get into two of the biggest markets in Melbourne, Plenty Valley Produce rapidly expanded.

“You almost have to wait for somebody to die to get into the good ones,” said Michael of the state’s most lucrative farmers’ markets.

“We were just incredibly lucky – right place, right time – so that when one of the growers who had been in the game for a while wanted to step back, we were able to fill that void.”

With on-selling frowned upon, stallholders are supposed to grow or make everything they sell.

When spots became available at these two markets there weren’t many producers who were of the necessary calibre who didn’t have prior commitments who could take on the responsibility.

Enter Plenty Valley Produce.

“And it has snowballed from there,” Michael said.

The duo now grow a wide and diverse variety of vegetables and all manner of fresh herbs, and service four inner city markets regularly adding Eltham Farmers' Market into the mix come winter.

“It’s not something I would recommend,” Michael said with a laugh.

“I would recommend selling or growing the things you can sell a lot of.

“And that may mean you don’t generate as much per square metre, but you also don’t have to put as much labour into it because labour is the biggest expense.”

Though small scale, Michael said getting in with a good seedling grower has also proven fundamental to the success of the enterprise and removed a degree of uncertainty from the process.

“We share our order with another farm, which makes the order big enough for them to deal with us.

“And they grow just about anything.

“You can even send them in seed and they’ll grow from that.”

A significant outlay, timing is crucial when it comes to farming vegetables with Plenty Valley Produce getting seedlings every two weeks going into each growing season.

Another outlay in both energy and finances was setting up the site as a market garden.

Previously used for livestock, the soil - a sandy red loam similar to up on the Murray – required tilling to break down the clods of compacted dirt before adding organic fertiliser to the mix before planting it out.

Irrigating the site was also a priority, with Michael and Sam dedicated to doing it right the first time.

The main problem they’ve experienced so far in the new location is deer and ducks.

Leaving the brassicas alone after a particular point, the deer have a particular penchant for chicory.

“We’ve got five beds of chicory on the go and when it works the herbaceous plant is really good money, but the deer just smash it,” Michael said.

The ducks represent a significant threat, their love of a leafy green decimating entire plantings.

Fencing off the 20 acres may be another huge but necessary outlay.

The pair are also considering a Maremma under recommendation of landowner Diego Puyol who uses dogs to protect his chicken flocks.

However both the fencing and the dog are a commitment the pair are happy to make, part of a long-term vision for the enterprise.

From humble beginnings and a desire to simply grow good food, Plenty Valley Produce's relocation to the fertile river-flats of Flowerdale marks the next significant step in the journey, the promise of increased organic harvests ensuring the market garden enterprise not just grows, but flourishes.