The Northern Beaches invention enabling everyone to be veggie independent.
From the moment he first toiled the land, right up until 2009, Matt Harris was a miserable failure as a food gardener. He couldn’t grow anything. But, like every Aussie battler, especially those of us who call the Northern Beaches home, he wasn’t going to let a plentiful abundance of parched disappointment stand between him and success. He was destined to grow, so Matt dug deep into the research of how on earth you turn arid patches of home soil into plentiful bowls of nutritious produce.
Hey presto, the Vegepod was born, and the ability for every Aussie battler to gain food-growing independence was suddenly a reality. “The Vegepod makes growing veggies simple for anyone,” Matt explains. “It takes all of the hassle out of a backyard veggie patch. It’s self-watering. There’s no weeding, no digging. The cover keeps the pests and animals at bay, meaning all you have to do is harvest your crops.” All the failure had been worth it.
Matt’s breakthrough comprised three core factors. Firstly, the Vegepod is all about container gardening, with the pods being a raised gardening bed, allowing veggie growth in a controlled environment, away from the ground and away from the pests. Next, the Vegepod is self-watering, ensuring veggie health via a wicking system to water the plants from below. Finally, the all-important protective cover. This creates a greenhouse for the Vegepod by using a polyethylene knitted mesh to protect crops from UV and pests. The cover also helps manage temperature by allowing water and air to penetrate.
With the first prototypes in 2009 producing the goods, Matt’s brother Paul Harris and friend Simon Holloway soon joined him, seeing the amazing potential of Matt’s invention to not only form the foundation for a flourishing business, but to also transform people’s lives, to give everyone food-growing independence. And this was long before you had to mortgage your home to afford a head of lettuce, or the idea of adding cauliflower to a dish required winning Powerball.
“The Vegepod product is obviously the core of our business,” Simon says. “But the reason our customers are so passionate is that this is a movement, a means by which you not only grow your own food, but you can feel secure that no matter what the hell’s going on with inflation, with supply chain nonsense, all the bad news we’re inundated with, forget about all that. If you’ve got a Vegepod in your backyard, on your balcony, in your living room, wherever, then you’ve got food that you’ve grown yourself ready to load up on your plate.”
Vegepod has truly global appeal. Having been up and running for just over a decade, this business with Shed Quarters in Terrey Hills now has customers in 21 countries: Australia, USA, Canada, Egypt, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Mauritius, Poland, Portugal, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland UAE, and Wales.
Beyond the global reach, Vegepod also has a huge diversity of customers thanks to their dedication to ensure growing food is accessible to a huge array of different people and organisations. “We get the Vegepods to schools, hospitals, businesses, Indigenous gardens, community housing, aged care facilities, even prisons, everywhere” Simon beams. “We want everyone to be connected to the produce they create, to be veggie independent. Being able to grow your own food makes such a massive difference to a person’s approach to all aspects of life, it’s empowering.”
Learn more about Vegepod at vegepod.com.au. follow @vegepod on instagram,
call 1800 428 431 or pop into the Vegepod Shed Quarters at Terrey Hills, 5/287 Mona Vale Road.