Tour beginning: OMG - Organic Market Garden

You would be hard pressed to buy fresher produce than Symonds Street’s Organic Market Garden (OMG). Twice a week, the densely-planted garden is harvested to feed the local community. In 2018, landowner City Rail Link approached charitable trust For the Love of Bees, which came up with a pitch for an organic market garden and learning centre.

Four years on, Uptown has a healthy resource on its doorstep and a great case study proving that urban farming works. Set among the concrete jungle, this community-supported agriculture (CSA) project has flourished, producing fresh food to feed the Uptown community. The 310sq m site employs two people and grows 50 crops year-round that are harvested weekly into 35 vegetable boxes for local families. Local is defined by being able to walk to the farm and collect your veggies.

Words: Suzanne McNamara