From Soil to Shelf: Growing Local with Ground Grocer

Tucked away in the heart of the Currumbin Ecovillage, Ground Grocer is more than just an organic grocery store — it’s a living example of what happens when community, sustainability, and real food come together.

Owned by Paul Cook, this family-run store is now proudly offering truly local food — grown just a short walk away on Paul’s very own 2-acre property. This is what local food systems look like in action.

Eight months ago, we partnered with Paul to transform his land into a thriving edible landscape. With a custom design and full installation, we created a Mini Food Forest alongside a system to grow seasonal vegetables and salad greens — all cultivated with care and purpose to feed the local community.

Since then, we’ve been visiting weekly to support the ongoing maintenance of the space, guiding Paul through the journey of soil regeneration, syntropic farming, and planting succession techniques. Each week, fresh harvests go straight from the garden to the grocery shelf — no packaging, no transport, no food miles. Just nutrient-dense food, grown with love.

As demand has grown, so has the garden. We’ve already expanded the production area, and Paul couldn’t be happier with the transformation taking place — in the soil, in his shop, and in himself as a grower.

This is a true farm-to-shelf story — where one small urban farm is regenerating land, strengthening local food security, and nourishing a community one veggie at a time.

This is just the beginning!