Interview with Caring Farms Co-Op
Published on 20 May 2026
Caring Farms Co-Op is an inclusive urban farm in Greensborough supporting people with disabilities. This interview highlights its Grassy Woodlands Rehabilitation Project, restoring native ecosystems, boosting biodiversity, and engaging volunteers, with long-term goals of creating a self-sustaining, resilient landscape. The project was funded by a Banyule environment grant.
Can you tell us a bit about Caring Farms Co-Op and what you enjoy about working for the organisation?
Caring Farms Co-Op is an inclusive urban farm located on a previously unused, blackberry-riddled road reserve in Greensborough. It began in 2014 when 2 men with intellectual disabilities, Josh and Scotty, along with their horticultural teacher Rachel, outgrew their former urban farming program and moved onto the site.
Since then, it has grown into a thriving market garden, food plant nursery, and native revegetation site, with the overall mission of providing a place of work and agency for people with disabilities within an agro-ecological urban farm.
What I personally enjoy most about working on the farm is being connected, responsible, and responsive to a beautiful piece of land while working alongside some of the most dedicated, hardworking, and funny people I’ve ever met.
Can you tell us about the Grassy Woodlands Rehabilitation Project?
The Grassy Woodlands Rehabilitation Project is a multi-decade effort to slowly and methodically restore the ecological functioning of a portion of our site containing significant remnant vegetation, with the aim of returning it as closely as possible to its pre-colonisation Grassy Woodland ecosystem.
We are undertaking this work through vegetation mapping with ecological botanist Doug Frood, mowing and catching invasive species to reduce the seed bank and shift soil conditions in favour of native grasses and herbs, flame weeding, direct seeding, and targeted but intensive planting of native ground-layer grasses and flowers.
What inspired you to take on this project, and why is it important?
The project began in 2023, when research into our site revealed that it contained a distinctive and relatively rare vegetation class: Grassy Woodlands (Yellow Box – Manna Gum – Volcanic Hills Grassy Woodland), as previously mapped by local ecologist Cam Beardsell.
Not only was this vegetation type significant within Banyule, but we also learned that very few remnants remained locally. The project took on even greater significance after receiving a Banyule Environment Grant, which allowed us to undertake detailed vegetation mapping and confirm the presence of remnant grassland and tree species on site.
It’s incredibly important to preserve and enhance the small pockets of native vegetation communities that remain within urban environments and to improve the ecological functioning of these fragmented ecosystems wherever possible.
What outcomes have you seen so far, and how is the project supporting local biodiversity in Banyule?
One of the most visible outcomes on the site has been the planting of more than 1,600 native grasses and wildflowers in dense, species-rich ‘core areas.’ We have also had strong success with direct seeding native species into carefully prepared areas.
Our mowing-and-catching approach has helped open up the previously dense invasive grass layer across much of the site. This has created more inter-tussock spaces and, interestingly, has become a major feeding ground for corellas, which have been actively eating large amounts of onion grass.
What has been especially exciting is seeing self-seeded native plants beginning to establish outside of the original planted areas, an encouraging sign in what will be a long-term process toward creating a more self-sustaining ecosystem.
We’ve also been really encouraged by the increase in insect activity, particularly the noticeable hum of pollinators and other insects throughout late summer. We haven’t yet had the funding to undertake formal insect or bird surveys, but the early signs have been very positive.
What are the long-term environmental outcomes you’re hoping to achieve?
Ultimately, we would love to see a largely self-sustaining ecosystem dominated by native species. We are under no illusion that, within a chemical-free management system, the complete eradication of invasive species is unrealistic.
What we do hope to achieve is a gradual shift in the underlying soil and ecological conditions in favour of native species, alongside increasing levels of natural regeneration and self-seeding across the site. In turn, we hope this leads to greater plant, insect, and bird diversity over time.
We are also currently working on establishing insect pathways across the boundaries of the site to better connect with the surrounding landscape.
Importantly, the project is intended to positively influence our market garden and food-growing areas as well. Re-establishing tree species will provide valuable windbreaks, while increased biodiversity is known to improve resilience and assist with natural pest management.
How has the broader community been involved, and why are projects like this important for the wider community?
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have a dedicated core group of volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the past 3 years to help bring the project to life. They’ve spent countless hours mowing and monitoring the site, laying solarisation tarps to suppress weedy areas prior to planting, and assisting with the large-scale tubestock planting efforts.
We’ve also had support from an Intrepid Landcare group, who assisted with removing larger woody weed species, along with public planting days where it has been fantastic to see families and community members come together to help revegetate the site.
Beyond the obvious visual and environmental benefits of transforming an unloved, rubbish-strewn area, projects like this are important because they create opportunities for people to connect meaningfully with country and to participate in the process of ecological restoration and transformation.