Our Story

In February 2020 I became very aware of the fragility of the food system that we all rely on. Powering through the supermarket, I fought to appear calm and unflustered, while on the inside I was becoming increasingly panicked. 

The frozen food and canned sections were almost empty. The toilet paper section was completely empty. I grabbed what shelf stable items I could, along with some flour and pasta, with everyone else it seemed. 

Simon Sinek has a famous TED talk where he outlines that the “Why” of a company, or a person, is the biggest predictor of whether they will stick to something and find success. Mine, and my company’s, “Why” is that I never want to feel that hopeless and desperate again, and neither do I want that for you. I promised myself I would not forget that feeling and fall back into the comfort of modern society’s arms, relying on the capitalist economy to provide me with my basic survival needs. 

So, I threw myself into learning how to grow food from home, in the limited space I had. I brought some strawbales and tried to grow food in them as a quick replacement for the garden beds I did not have. I turned every ornamental section of my garden into a food producing space and spent the (short lockdown we had in Perth, Western Australia) trying to grow food as quickly as possible. 

I watched 1000s of hours of YouTube videos, read blogs, bought books, and attended courses. I became aware of Permaculture, Hügelkultur, mycelium and soil biology.  

However, I still had a full-time job and two little kids to look after, as well as a household to run.  

All the efforts I had put in on one frantic weekend of gardening, would be ruined, as I forgot to water, fertilize, or harvest and process my bounty in the frantic hours I had before and after work/school drop off and pickup/cooking dinner and conducting bedtime routines. 

As any good tech-savvy millennial would, I searched for a good gardening journal, piece of software, website or mobile app that might help me organise my food growing processes. 

I wanted reminders of when certain jobs needed to be done. I wanted help to know when to plant out seeds, what ph. the soil should be, which plants like to grow together and which to avoid planting nearby, what could I plant for my climate, and how much could I fit into the growing spaces I had. I wanted help knowing how to process my harvest, either with recipes or how I could preserve them.  

Most of all, I needed help to quickly become an epic gardener without the decades of experience and access to the knowledge of our elders, that used to be available to all of us.  

I found that, unfortunately, there is not a lot out there on the market that solves these problems. There are a few notable apps, and websites, but nothing that really solved all these problems. Especially for the Australian climate and food growing conditions. 

I had found a need in the market, and luckily, I had the background to do something about it. I have worked in the IT industry delivering solutions for my corporate customers for 15 years.  

Grow and Eat It, founded by me, Vanessa Mettam, is now working to develop technology that will automate the learning and planning side of growing your own food. It will utilise AI and other technologies to help you plan out your gardening journey, giving you the best possible chances of success.  

Our aim is to help everyone grow some of their own food at home. No matter how much space you have, whether it be a balcony or an acreage. Everyone should experience the joy (and savings!) of gardening and be secure in the knowledge they are self-sufficient in something, even if it is just in herbs! 

Subscribe here to keep up to date with our progress, and to be involved in a beta release, coming soon.