Building Wayfinder: Episode 3

The market garden isn't an embellishment on the winery and vineyard; it's an integral part of the working farm.

A short stroll from the restaurant, it grows fresh produce for our two venues while doing several other jobs at once. It feeds biodiversity across the property, helps return nutrients to the soil and creates another way for people to understand where their food comes from.

In Episode 3 of Building Wayfinder, Head Market Gardener Amy Dyson and Market Gardener Bec Davie take us into the garden and explain what it takes to build a healthy growing system from the soil up.

Start with the soil

Good growing begins below ground.

For Amy and Bec, that means caring for the soil as a living system rather than simply somewhere to put plants: healthy soil supports the insects, microorganisms and plant life above and below the surface. Get that balance right, and there’s less need to intervene.

It’s the same thinking that runs through the rest of the farm. Wayfinder is farmed regeneratively and organically, with decisions made not simply to minimise impact but to actively improve soil health and biodiversity.

The market garden gives that philosophy another place to take root. Organic matter can be returned to the soil, different plants create habitat and food for insects and other species, and what might otherwise be considered waste becomes useful again.

Growing with the seasons

There’s no fixed recipe for a market garden. What grows well changes with the weather, the soil and the time of year, and working here means paying attention, adapting and allowing the seasons to set the pace.

For Amy, that's one of the best parts of the job: “I reckon the thing I love most about this kind of work is the connection to nature. It's an absolute privilege to witness and be part of watching the seasons ebb and flow.”

Similarly, that curiosity runs through Wayfinder. As Head Winemaker Andrew Trio puts it: “We hope to create a strong sense of connection between everything that’s happening on the property. In addition to organic grape growing and winemaking, we have bees, farm animals, large‑scale revegetation work, and a market garden and restaurant offering an authentic farm‑to‑table experience.”

From garden to plate

Fresh produce will make the short journey from the garden to our two venues, giving the kitchen a direct connection to what's happening outside. For guests at Wayfinder Winery & Farm, that connection will be visible too. You'll be able to walk through the market garden and see what's growing, learn a little about what goes into growing it well, and then continue on to the restaurant to find some of that produce on your plate.

It brings the different parts of Wayfinder closer together: the farm, the garden, the kitchen and the people who come to experience them.

As Bec says, “A short stroll from the restaurant, from garden to plate. I don't know that it gets much better than that.”