The urban farmers taking over someone else’s backyard as a reprieve from the pandemic

On a quiet street in suburban Melbourne, there’s no sign of the transformation taking place.

Behind an old cottage in Fawkner, Catie Payne and George Clipp carefully tend to rows of flourishing crops.

The pair have long wanted to try their hand at farming. But despite years of experience working on market gardens and farms across Australia and abroad, they were unable to afford land of their own.

That is, until an innovative project in Melbourne’s north gave them the chance to try their hand at urban farming — using someone else’s backyard.

“It’s wildest dream…