Green Connect

05/11/2026

🌱 A new group, and a new beginning.

Today, 14 people joined us at Green Connect for the first day of our new 10-week work experience program.

Over the coming weeks, they’ll spend time working on the farm, building practical skills, learning how Australian workplaces operate, and growing their confidence and experience along the way.

For many people, getting a foot in the door can be one of the hardest parts of finding work. That’s why programs like this matter.

The farm gives people a real workplace where they can learn by doing, work alongside others, make mistakes safely, ask questions and build the skills that employers are looking for.

Today was just day one, but we’re really looking forward to seeing how this group grows over the next 10 weeks. 💚

Welcome to Green Connect.

04/11/2026

🌱 Why Organic? #3 — It starts with the soil

Healthy plants start with healthy soil.

It sounds simple, but soil is much more than dirt. A handful of healthy soil can contain an enormous community of bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms, all helping to break down organic matter, cycle nutrients and support plant growth.

At Green Connect, a big part of growing organically is looking after that living system.

We add compost and organic matter, grow cover crops, rotate what we plant and try to disturb the soil as little as we reasonably can.

The goal isn’t just to feed the crop that’s growing today.

It’s to build soil that can keep supporting crops year after year, hold more water, cycle nutrients and cope better with the challenges that come with farming.

It takes time, and there are no shortcuts.

But when we talk about organic farming, this is a big part of what we mean: looking after the soil so the soil can help look after everything else. 🌱

Next time, we’ll head above ground and look at some of the insects that actually help us grow food.

30/10/2026

🌱 Why Organic? #2 — Why use fewer synthetic pesticides?

When people hear “organic farming”, pesticides are often the first thing they think about.

And yes, reducing our reliance on synthetic pesticides is an important part of why we choose to grow this way at Green Connect.

But it’s not because we think every conventionally grown vegetable is unsafe.

It’s because pesticides don’t only interact with the pest we’re trying to control. They can also affect insects, soil life and the wider farm ecosystem.

So, we try to solve problems in other ways.

That might mean encouraging beneficial insects, improving soil health, rotating crops, physically removing pests, changing planting times or accepting a little cosmetic damage.

Does it always work perfectly? Definitely not.

Sometimes the caterpillars win.
Sometimes the slugs get there first.
Sometimes a leaf has a few more holes than we’d like.

But for us, reducing synthetic inputs is part of building a farm that is more diverse, resilient and alive.

Next time, we’ll look at one of the biggest parts of that system — the soil beneath our feet. 🌱

29/10/2026

💚 A little thank you to our Veg Box community

Recently, we invited our wonderful Veg Box customers to the farm for a beautiful afternoon tea.

It was our way of saying thank you for choosing local, seasonal food and supporting what we do. The wonderful Lili turned our produce from the farm into a delicious spread, giving us all some fresh inspiration for enjoying familiar veggies in new and interesting ways. Thank you Lili!

It was a great time of sharing food, swapping stories and spending an afternoon with some of the people who make our Veg Box community what it is.

Every Veg Box supports fair food that is good for the people who grow it, the people who eat it and the planet.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to all our Veg Box customers for being part of the Green Connect community. 🌱

23/10/2026

🌱 Summer is starting to take shape on the farm.

We’ve been busy planting some of the crops that will carry us through the warmer months — tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers and plenty more.

There’s always something exciting about this stage of the season. Right now they’re small plants going into the ground, but before long we’ll hopefully be harvesting baskets full of summer vegetables for our veg boxes.

Of course, summer growing comes with its own challenges — heat, pests, weeds and keeping everything watered — but this is one of our favourite times of year on the farm.

For our veg box customers, it also means the mix in your box will start changing as the seasons do. ☀️🍅🥒

What summer vegetable are you most looking forward to?

19/10/2026

🌱 Why Organic? #1 — It’s about more than pesticides

We talk quite a bit about growing using organic principles at Green Connect — but what does that actually mean?

Organic farming often gets reduced to one idea: avoiding synthetic pesticides.
That’s part of it, but for us it’s much bigger than that.

It means building healthy soil rather than simply feeding a crop.

It means compost, crop diversity and encouraging the enormous community of organisms living beneath our feet.

It means creating habitat for bees, wasps and other beneficial insects that pollinate crops and help keep pests under control.

And it means asking whether we can solve a problem by working with natural systems before reaching for another input.

None of that makes farming easy. We still get pests, weeds, diseases and vegetables that don’t always look perfect.

But that’s part of the point.

Organic farming isn’t about creating a perfect farm. It’s about trying to create a healthier, more resilient one.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to explore some of the reasons we choose to farm this way — from pesticides and soil microbes to beneficial insects and slightly wonky vegetables.

We hope you’ll come along for the ride. 🌱

14/10/2026

What makes a good weekend?

A little creativity, a lot of connection, and the perfect setting!

Clay Wollongong will be here this Saturday morning doing what they do best; sharing their passion for clay and helping people to create something beautiful that will last a lifetime. 🏺

Tour the farm, enjoy a cuppa and create a beautiful botanic plate. (Creations will be fired in a kiln and can be picked up from Clay Wollongong or Green Connect Farm within a few weeks.)

It’s so special when you can support two local businesses bringing people together and creating meaningful experiences right here in our community. 💚

Proudly presented as part of –

Support local, get creative, and keep the good things growing! 🌿

Tickets available here - https://green-connect.com.au/eventscalendar/

13/10/2026

This is worth a read.

The recent Australia’s Residue Report has sparked a lot of discussion about pesticide residues in fresh produce, and for us it’s another reminder of why the way food is grown matters.

At Green Connect, we grow using organic principles because we want to minimise our reliance on synthetic pesticides, support beneficial insects and biodiversity, and work with natural systems.

We’re not saying conventionally grown produce is unsafe, but we do think people should be able to make informed choices about how their food is produced.

For us, fewer synthetic inputs and a healthier farm ecosystem are important parts of that choice. 🌱

If that matters to you too, have a read of the report below.

📣 OUT TODAY: Australia's Residue Report 2026

We bought 78 samples of 13 types of fresh produce from Aldi, Coles and Woolworths across five cities, and sent them to an independent NATA-accredited lab for testing.

Here's some of what was found:

🧪 PFAS "forever pesticides"
⚠️ Pesticides that aren't approved in the EU
🐝 Bee-killing neonicotinoids
🚫 Prohibited residues exceeding regulator limits

Supermarkets don't publish their residue testing, and the latest national diet study monitoring pesticides was conducted on produce bought over a decade ago.

Overseas, leading supermarkets publish their test results, support growers to reduce use and have pesticide reduction policies.

It's time Australian supermarkets did the same.

👉 Read the full report and take action. Send a letter to supermarket CEOs in under 2 minutes.

www.pesticideaction.org.au/residuereport26

08/10/2026

🌱 Sydney, would you like a Green Connect veg box?

We’ve been working on something new…

Soon, we may be bringing Green Connect veg boxes to Sydney.
These boxes won’t just be about getting fresh, seasonal vegetables delivered each week.

They’ll also be a simple way to support Green Connect’s mission.
Every box helps us create employment pathways for former refugees and young people facing barriers to work, while supporting the broader social and environmental work we do at the farm.

So if you live in Sydney and like the idea of your weekly groceries doing a little more good, we’d love to know.

Would you be interested in a Green Connect veg box?

Drop a 🌱 in the comments or tag someone who might be keen.
You may be in luck very soon. 👀