THE MIND BEHIND BACKYARD JEM
Backyard Jem was born after many years of Shannon's personal growth and wanting to improve the health and well-being of her family, the environment and her community.
Shannon knows this is written into her DNA as she comes from a long line of family that were gardeners and fisherman. Always growing up around fresh fish, fruit, veggies and preserves, she was never far from the soil that grounds her. Now the backyard garden is just a bit bigger and the produce more abundant, flavourful, and full of nutrition that can help heal. After all, food is a story, connection, life giving, healing and enjoyment.
“I just learnt to became more aware and mindful with my actions, thoughts and decisions. I started with small changes, removed or made them stick and kept adding to fit in with life.” - Shannon Wright
ABOUT US
Shannon and her family live on their 5 acre farm in Ngaruawahia, where they live what they teach. They a have set up a working model of a profitable small scale market garden and a food forest using an established orchard.
OUR TRAINING
Shannon’s passion is teaching and sharing her knowledge on how to have a harmonious integration of life and nature. Shannon completed a permaculture design course with the Koanga Institute and a 4-day hands-on workshop for small scale market gardening run by Curtis Stone from the Urban Farmer and Jodi Roebuck from Roebuck Farm. This helped her visualise her values and ethics to see Backyard Jem come to fruition.
OUR MISSION
We wish to create a healthy productive and meaningful lifestyle for our family. We are aiming to be active community members by being able to provide healthy food responsibly grown for health and wellness of all. We are well on our way to becoming very good growers, in order to teach others how to do this. We want abundance and happiness in our daily lives from a farm that works for us (not the other way around). We hope our nutrient dense food lifestyle will have a positive impact on those around us, by projecting our knowledge and enabling people a sense of empowerment on how to achieve a better lifestyle.
Shannon Wright
Founder and Director
THE BACKYARD JEM METHOD
Regenerative Organic Small Scale Farming
ReGenerate
We believe in restoring, respecting, reviving and taking care for the earth and giving it new strength and health.
ReNourish
We believe that everyone will thrive from produce grown in more nutrient dense nourished soils that provide nutrition and flavour to enjoy.
ReConnect
We believe in creating a space to upgrade, learn, experience, create, breath, understand, appreciate and be grateful for the whole.
Striving to reshape our local food system,by responsibly growing organic food to be more nutrient dense,focusing on the fundamentals to all life, health, wellness, the whole.
Grass Roots
OUR HEARTS DEFINE WHAT OUR MINDS BELIEVE
Growing food consciously ensures everyone has access to health.
We are what we eat (think, say, do and be),
when we choose nutrient dense food,
we choose to eat right, feel great,
achieve better health,
physically, mentally and emotionally.
We want to use our knowledge, experience and passion to empower society to know how to grow their own nutrient dense food,
right in their own backyard, connect with nature and being grateful for you.
Create connection and community on many levels through foods.
