Matt and Lentil Purbrick of Grown & Gathered are the cutest pair of farmers around. They grow vegetables and flowers on their farm in Tabilk, an hour and a half north of Melbourne, and every Saturday they drive down to the big smoke to distribute their bounty of vegetables, flowers, bread, milk and cheese (thanks to Peaches the cow), selling out every week!
I first met Matt and Lentil in July this year. My friend Jardine Hansen and I were heading south from Sydney to Melbourne on a botanical roadtrip. Yeah, that’s just what Planthunters do, you know. We had planned on dropping in on their farm for a quick hello, and ended up staying the night. We had never even met them before! Not only did they put us up for the night, we had a wonderful time, eating, drinking and chatting about plants, life, and stuff. I am telling this entirely unrelated story because it’s a great illustration of the kind of people Matt and Lentil are. They are warm, genuine, generous humans. They are so wholesome it should be kinda sickening! Except somehow it’s not. Thank heavens.
Anyway, back to the farm… Matt and Lentil have lived there for around a year now. They renovated the house in winter last year (more on that later this week!), installed a couple of pigs in the paddock to prepare the soil, and started planting the beds last October.
Since then Grown & Gathered has gone from strength to strength, which is a testament to the incredible work ethic of this industrious pair, and their open minded approach to farming. Matt and Lentil have spent the last year fine-tuning their experimental growing techniques to get the best out of their little patch of earth. They’re obviously doing something right!
‘I’ve been growing stuff for four or five years now and have never had a garden that’s so bountiful’ says Matt. ‘ What comes out of this block of land just blows our minds.’
Matt and Lentil are conceptual farmers. They explore new ways of doing things, and their passion for genuine sustainability is clear, in the produce they grow, they way they live, and the way they run their business.
For example, they grow lots of flowers – but they don’t sell them. Instead, they trade. Why? As Lentil explains – ‘For a while Matt and I were selling vegetables and flowers side-by-side. With vegetables, people were aware that vegetables have seasons, that organic is better, and that it’s best to try to source locally and directly from the farmer. But with flowers, few people had ever challenged where they might be from, or how they might be grown’.
They are also passionate about waste. Every Saturday they drive down to Melbourne with a van full of produce, returning with a van full of food scraps for composting. They pickup green waste from the restaurants they work with – Pope Joan and Auction Rooms, and customers are encouraged to bring their compostable stuff to the van when they pick up their vegetables.
‘This is our version of closed loop farming’ says Lentil. ‘We take the goods down, bring the scraps back, compost them, and put them into the soil to grow more vegetables. It’s an entire system. We don’t bring any new inputs into the farm.’
With Grown & Gathered, Matt and Lentil have built way more than a bountiful vegetable and flower farm. They have built an example of living authentically and passionately in a genuinely sustainable way. There’s plenty of buzz around words like local/organic/sustainable/foraged these days, and often without much consideration or knowledge of the entire picture. These two are the real deal. There is no bandwagon in sight; they’re just doing it.
What a beautiful inspiring story, thank you, great way to start the day :-)
Inspiring story x
These guys are the coolest! I have bought their vegetable boxes for a while now and it is always a great start to the weekend picking them up at the van and having a chat. Also, their homemade sourdough bread is amazing. Great story!
THESE KIDS LOOK SO GORGEOUS, AS DOES THE GARDEN AND LOVELY PEPPER. GORGEOUS STORY
Love this story! A great inspirational read on a Monday morning!
What a great story and couple! I think what they do is fantastic! Keep up the good work Matt and Lentil x
http://www.yellowpeachesblog.com
I was at a market on Saturday and bought some amazing bread and tomato sauce from these guys. Even in the few minutes of interaction I could feel the good vibes radiating from them! I am really looking forward to seeing more later in the week.
I love this so very much. I love that my generation are slowing down, learning how to grow, and instead of directing their talents to work for big companies, are choosing to make slow farming their livelihood. So wonderful.
of course they are the real deal…her name is LENTIL!
I am jealous of their artichokes! I need artichoke growing tips! Mine are a little puny :)
It’s so good to see that people are looking beyond the big city life and instead are doing something meaningful and are being environmentally conscious. Keep it up and best of luck to both of you!
You are so amazing! Very inspiring! Greetings!
Great!
I think Matt and Lentil have tuned into their ‘human essences’ just fine!
Bravo!
R
Absolutely inspiring couple. This way of life is something my sister and I have grown up with, and these two show how it can be done in a modern, fun, uncomplicated way!
Well done Design Files for a brilliant article!
I love this place so much, I want to wander thru it!!! Especially crazy about the green house made of old doors, awesome. Beauty abounds…..✨
Very inspiring story, I grew up in a little farm in my country Peru and I miss that lifestyle. Good on you guys.