Feels Good Farm

Our Story

Vini sells organic produce from their Feels Good farm at Grey Lynn Farmers Market on Sunday mornings. 

Where did you grow up?

Brazil – I was a city boy with no farming experience.

What did you study?

I studied industrial engineering. Then I worked for industrial consultancies, and medical start-up.

How did you end up farming?

It started by travelling and being exposed to a lot of Ideas and philosophies -

from yoga to permaculture. I found that I kept getting closer to soil and to myself.

Did you get some training along the way?

Yes - during the pandemic, I stopped in Argentina at a permaculture centre where I learnt about sustainable agriculture. I worked on organic farms in Argentina and Patagonia.

That’s still far away from New Zealand

I met Taryn in Argentina - she’s a Kiwi. And I had been to New Zealand on my travels and loved it. We knew that New Zealanders value organic food, so it seemed like a great place for us to establish a farm.  

Where is your farm?

In Waiuku. We lease an organic plot from Permakai that is enabling us to establish an organic farm more quickly.

When did you start your business?

Towards the end of last year, when we returned to New Zealand.

What are you growing?

Everything is certified organic. Beans are our first crop, and we have plans for watermelons, sweetcorn, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, mustards, squash, okra, flowers, and much more.

How is it going?

It’s a lot of hard work, of course, but we are loving it. While we get our farm established, we are bringing along produce from other organic farmers we know. I have been working hard to establish a network of other organic farmers so that we can support each other.

Do you get any time off?

Not much, but our farm is 10 minutes from Kariotahi beach. It is beautiful, wild, and good to cool off in the middle of the day when it’s too hot to be working on farm.

Do you have any more travel plans?

Travel is on hold for us while we get the farm up and running. When we have time, I would love to return to Nepal, visit friends in Majorca, and visit family in Japan.

As published in Ponsonby News : February 2023