Dunedin market gardener Neil Robinson is opening his gates to the public next week in a bid to attract more growers to the industry.
More than 20 food and fibre producers throughout New Zealand are hosting the public at Open Farms events on March 9, which is national open farm day.
A motivation for hosting the public at Garden to Market in Outram included wanting to attract more growers to the industry, Mr Robinson said.
Another motivation is to remind people where their food comes from, as many people have no idea, buying it from a supermarket or a food delivery platform.
At the time he was working as a designer engineer for Fisher & Paykel but the market garden is now his full-time job.
"I packed up my full-time job last Easter."
A small amount of capital was required to establish a market garden business.
He spent between $10,000 and $20,000 to establish a viable business.
"There are reasonable profits to be made in a bag of salad — but only when you sell it direct-to-consumer," he said.
He cultivated business relationships with chefs, who liked supporting local growers and promoting the use of local ingredients.
Word-of-mouth between chefs then increased demand for his produce.
His crops include leafy greens mizuna, rocket, kale, radish, scallopini and zucchini flowers.
His business expansion includes leasing about 0.2ha in Outram, which he began planting in August last year.
He has been selling his produce at the Otago Farmers Market in Dunedin since October last year.
Installing greenhouses to increase production is another of Mr Robinson’s plans.
He is using the open day as a way to show a small-scale intensive market garden can be a viable and sustainable business.
A business needed to make money to operate sustainably, he said.
"You can’t be green if you’re in the red."
