LOW IMPACT, BIG FLAVOUR
Jimmy Walker grew up on a dairy property in Moruya, before life took him in other directions: An arts degree, chasing winters across the globe, driving snow cats and working big, broadacre harvests.
But eventually the pull of the soil was too strong to ignore. Five years growing vegetables in Tasmania for supermarket contracts taught him plenty; the scale, the systems, the chemical sprays.
“I learned a lot from those farmers,” Jimmy says. “But I didn’t feel great about it.
“I wanted to prove you could grow nutrient-dense food without chemicals, improve the land and still make a living.”
Moving closer to home in 2020 with a newborn son, Jimmy and wife Andy Flynn settled in Candelo, 20 minutes south-west of Bega.
“It made sense,” he says. “I could be halfway between my family in Moruya and hers in Jindabyne, with the mountains one way and the surf the other.”
Grassboots Farm started as a quarter-acre patch of garlic behind the house. Then came a borrowed block and, finally, in December 2023, the family landed their own property at Tantawangalo.
Today, Grassboots is just over a hectare under production, with garlic as the hero crop alongside seasonal veg and salad mixes. Jimmy and Andy sell through markets, local chefs and produce boxes, keeping food travel miles low and flavour high.
“It’s about feeding the local community,” he says, “without getting sucked into the supermarket system.”
Sustainability runs through everything at Grassboots. The new farm had poor soil, so he’s working steadily to bring it back to life.
“Cover crops are key,” Jimmy explains. “Intensive horticulture takes so much out, so I’ve got to put more back in than I take.”
Compostable salad bags are next on the list, closing the loop so packaging can return to the ground.
The work is relentless – irrigation to run, beds to weed, pumps to fix – but the rewards outweigh the grind.
“Being able to fill the fridge from your own backyard is special,” Jimmy says. “Doing it for your neighbours is even better.”
