Greenspace Edgecliff: Urban garden from sustainable group arrived at the Edgecliff Centre

An urban garden filled with flowers sold to some of the city’s most exclusive restaurants has popped up in an old bank lot at the Edgecliff Centre. Find out why.

The shopping centre at Edgecliff train station is an unlikely place to find a green oasis – but that’s exactly what has arrived at the location of an old St George bank.

Rows of vertically stacked planter boxes – currently filled with edible flowers to be sold to some of Sydney’s most exclusive restaurants – were set up this week at the Edgecliff Centre.

The transformation is part of the rising popularity in urban farming, which uses vacant space in cities to let people engage in agricultural practices in urban settings.

The pilot farm set up in Edgecliff is the brainchild of Peter Fox, the owner of technology and urban farming business Greenspace.

The vertical farm start-up uses electric lights and an automated watering system to grow flowers, greens and herbs in planter boxes, with the goal of reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture and improving sustainability.

The mysterious doorway to the pop-up vertical garden at the Edgecliff Centre.

Mr Fox says urban farming is easier than ever thanks to advances in technology.

He told the Wentworth Courier his vision was to see similar urban farms across Sydney, before expanding to Melbourne and Brisbane.

“We will be doing more farms like this in Sydney, and then Melbourne and Brisbane,” he said.

Founder of Greenspace Peter Fox.

Mr Fox, who has a background as a tech entrepreneur including a stint in San Francisco, said he launched the business when he saw an opportunity to harness technology for urban food production with the Edgecliff urban farm set up in the space of hours.

“It’s converting the existing built environment into a food production factory,” he said. “Our model is community vertical farming.”

The model is portable and easily replicable, with Mr Fox having high hope it could help city dwellers reconnect to food production and introduce more urban farming to Sydney.

A larger location on Sussex St in the Sydney’s CBD is currently growing herbs and microgreens for use by fine dining restaurants.

Edible flowers grown at the Edgecliff space.

Edible flowers.

Mr Fox said urban farms were more viable due to advancing technology.

“Most of our buildings are six star buildings,” he said. “So they‘re 100 per cent renewable energy. We particulate water, so they use 95 per cent less water than traditional farms.

“This space uses less [energy] than an office. It‘s quite amazing.”

Mr Fox said he hoped to generate interest through the Edgecliff location as Greenspace expanded, with plans to open on city rooftops and have units placed in offices.

“Our mission [is] to democratise vertical farming,” he said. “We want to have as many of these farms as we can, with most of our farms being herbs and microgreens and salads, and we will venture into foods [such as mushrooms].”

“We can operate these farms anywhere. Each one of these farms can service the community, the residents of the building; whether it be an office or retail centre, or a residential building.

“That’s the dream.”