OUT of the Box was not just a foundation customer for Merbein’s Ben Mitchell, it was almost confirmation he had made the right decision in becoming a market gardener.
A partnership which began in cyberspace in his part-time fledgling farmer days when he was still making up his mind if he had made the right decision.
After dabbling for a couple of years, Ben opted for full-time two years ago, and as busy and successful as he has become, he still looks fondly on Out of the Box.
And he now sends them selections from as many as six varieties on a weekly basis, depending on their orders.
The sizes change every week, depending on season, quality and, at OOTB, the demand for the packaged goods.
These days instead of voicing doubts he was in the right business, Ben can be found rattling off crops such as lettuce, spinach, rocket, beets, capsicum, and it goes on, and on, and on.
With two acres under production at his Merbein property, Ben has set up a year-round market garden, and with the assistance of two part-time helpers is supplying product to downstream users, such as OOTB and Dareton IGA.
He might be motoring along but Ben doesn’t mind admitting he still feels a bit like he has gone back to school, because market gardening meant a seriously uphill learning curve since going full-time.
“I guess you could say I am just starting to figure it out,” he says.
“But the plan is to have year-round production, with the most crop I can achieve.”
The other thing he was determined on – and which has been reinforced by his constant scouring of the web for the stories of others in the same game – is to keep changing things all the time, “to do it better”.
Which is still a little tricky for a basically one-man band.
“It’s hard to do trials on a small block like mine, because I only have so much land (which is irrigated and fertigated to do everything so he needs to get it right with how much is out of the production system at any given time),” Ben says.
And when he’s not busy on his block, Ben also has to find time for bookwork, planning, budgeting, marketing, sales, client liaison – and switching the lights off as the last one out the door each day.
But as much as he is revelling in the challenge of becoming an even better market gardener, Ben is also loving the front end of the business, where he gets to mix with his customers.
“It’s perhaps the best thing about this business, what you put into it is what you also get out of it, you can be responsible for reaching your full potential,” Ben says.
“Which is why I love the Sunraysia Farmers Market, held twice a month, where I get to mix with so many people who buy my crops – I hear what they like, what they think about certain lines and because it’s your stand, you aren’t forced to pick what someone else wants, you pick what is the best you have that week.
“But farmers market or supermarket, you still have to be spot on with your quality because the customers also have a choice where they go.”
Ben says now he has become more established, he is looking to specialise in greens, especially, such as lettuces, spinaches et cetera – and maybe also specialist tomatoes.
“And I would like to get a bit more land, and see how I could grow my market off the back of 20-30 acres with organic certification,” he says.
