Agri-Phoenix Feature: Alice & Phil

Name: Alice Star & Phil Garozzo
Organisation: Loop Growers 
Place: Samford Valley

This garden is our droplet of inspiration which ripples out into the wider regeneration of both our community and indigenous biota. Our 1 acre ‘Closed Loop’ market garden puts into practice what we have learned about bio-intensive and regenerative methods. 

We appreciate that when it comes to food the word ‘waste’ is a failure of imagination and understanding: in its place we have adopted the term ‘yields’. The loop describes how we cycle the yields from cafes, restaurants and brewers back into our plot to feed our produce. Closed loop: it’s not magic - it’s just good sense. 

Loop Growers function to reduce waste by cycling yields into living biology through composting and to feed the food we grow for our community.

Our special place is the creek which wraps around the property we are lucky enough to call home. When the creek is healthy and the water flowing, everything seems to hum in the garden. On the other hand when the creek stagnates and dries up, we can feel the stress of it every day. This creek and its water is the life force of our operation and we would not be the same without it. 

The right agriculture - which aims to regenerate by holding carbon in the soil - is a huge asset to the advancement of our landscapes and restoration to their intended, balanced state.

Bad farming - which over-tills, over-grazes and over-fertilises - destroys biology and produces waste at almost every stage of its production. Balance is the key.

Our experience tells us that agriculture can contribute an incredible amount of good, done the right way. We are a part of nature but we need to open our senses to the land, to observe the way it responds to how we use and inhabit it. We need to remember our responsibility as a part of nature.