It never ceases to surprise me how many fabulous producers we have on the Sunshine Coast. Passionate producers creating bountiful spaces that are as unexpected as they are productive. This was especially the case with Crystal Organics, a Palmwoods based market garden, run by the lovely Crystal Maymann, who is as passionate as she is entrepreneurial and dedicated to supplying fresh locally produced, organically grown vegetables to the Sunshine Coast.
I love a good veggie garden. I don’t really have one. It is a bit of a ‘not enough room’, ‘not enough time’ kind of thing. But I love a good veggie garden. So the prospect of getting my veggies from someone else who has a fabulous veggie garden resonates quite well with me.
Suggesting Crystal Organics is just a ‘veggie garden’ is a bit of a misnomer; it is so much more than that. A market garden is perhaps a better way to describe Crystal Organics, but I would go one step further and call it an incredible flourishing market garden grown with love, care and dedication, just a short walk from Palmwoods’ heart.
The property is unexpected. Its frontage is what appears to be an unassuming home. It is what is out the back that is the complete surprise package and it really is incredible!
The property is a mixture of immaculately tended garden terraces, a well thought out rotational crop plan, a chicken fertilising regime and a big dose of fun and whimsy.
The whimsy greets you almost immediately. The castle inspired, cubbyhouse-cum-chook-pen is a bit of a giveaway as you wonder around the side of the house to where the market garden begins. Its residents are happily grazing on suspended greenery fresh from the garden. There is a sense, that these chickens are somewhat pampered…
Then the gardens begin.
The property spills down a gradual slope, which essentially backs onto the railway line that runs through town.
Let me just say, it is all very pleasing to my eye… I had the misfortune of being born an Aries (so my stars tell me), and with that comes a slightly OCD nature that has a penchant for straight lines, rows, and at times, quite unreasonable perfection.
So looking at the perfect lines of seedlings… rows and rows that were unravelling so beautifully before me, I wonder to myself if Crystal is an Aries, or perhaps a Virgo and made a mental note to ask (sorry… I forgot).
My own obsessive Aries tendencies for those beautifully perfect garden beds made me synergise with this garden immediately. From an ascetic perspective it was indeed perfect. From a nutritional perspective it is all organically grown; so perfect too.
I am going to have a little gush about Crystal now…
Crystal bought the property a couple of years ago with the intention of doing exactly what she is doing now – growing organic vegetables. That is maybe not that remarkable in itself, but considering that Crystal has only just turned 32, it is.
Farming is a tough gig. It is hard work, takes dedication, and education, especially if you are going to do it properly – more so if you are doing it organically. It is not something that you expect a 32 year old (or 30 when she started) to do, especially not on her own.
But this was Crystal’s dream and what she chose to pursue.
Crystal is not adverse to hard work and unusual career choices. When she was just 24, she turned her back on the city and chose to tick a stint in the outback off her bucket list. Life took a different direction and meaning when an accident left Crystal with months of difficult recovery, and time to contemplate, ‘what now?’, the ‘what now?’ eventually evolving into the shape it has now.
The obstacles were certainly there, but Crystal has managed to overcome them all, and Crystal Organics continues to grow and prosper.
I have come to the conclusion that Crystal’s vegetables look so perfect and taste so wonderful because Crystal radiates her garden with a shining light of wonderful positivity, that can’t help but make everything grow. I am sure it all tastes better too for these very reasons.
Back to the garden… those beautiful perfect rows…
Crystal grows an array of leafy and Asian greens, lettuces, chards, beetroot, kales, choys, herbs, as well as anything else the season may bring.
And then there are the eggies…
The chickens, no doubt enamoured by their beautiful surrounds, are quite productive. The larger chookpen-cum-luxury-resort, in this instance, houses a medley of chickens with quite the spectrum in the way of coloured eggs; brown, blue and of course your traditional whites. Quail eggs are not far away either.
But it is hardly any wonder… their ‘resort’ has a swing AND a chandelier… if I was a chicken I would be at premium production, with surroundings like that too!
Fun aside, the chickens serve an addition purpose, with mobile enclosures that are moved from garden bed to garden bed to help improve the soil, prior to the next planting, giving back to the earth in their own special way. The chickens along with ladybirds are nature’s defence against garden pests, the healthy plants having their own natural resistance (I am sure Crystal’s aforementioned shining light has something to do with this too!)
Along the way she met her, now fiancé, Dave Thorne who has become part of the Crystal Organics team in more ways than one, taking an active part in the planting and production turning this couple in to quite the dynamic duo!
While Crystal supplies to stores around the Sunshine Coast, the best part of what she is doing is that she has opened her farm up to visitors, so you too can enjoy what I, myself, have just enjoyed immensely. Additionally you can now purchase your veggies from the farm gate by either pre-orders or by turning up on Saturday mornings. It really does not get fresher than that.
The joy comes from visiting this wonderful market garden and meeting Crystal and Dave, and even greater joy in knowing that you are supporting these lovely locals. It really is the best way to get your greens!
Crystal Organics is open to the public on Saturday mornings from 6am-10am at 46 Chevallum Road, Palmwoods. Or pre-order by calling Crystal on 0402 353 894 or visiting their website www.crystalorganics.org
This story was written by Petra Frieser – Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds
