“This tiny little humble creature that’s been around since the beginning of time has survived everything and still eats our garbage and turns it into great product to grow beautiful food in,” owner of worm supplier Brooklyn Worms, Mel Farthing, said. She said she had “a real passion for worms” and would love to see every Australian school and business with a worm farm.

Brighter Force, a freshly formed team from Brighter Access of people with disabilities, have been busy visiting local cafes twice weekly to collect nitrogen-rich coffee grounds and food scraps for the garden’s composting bays. In just a few short months, the enthusiastic but small team have collected over 1500 litres of food scraps.

Co-ordinator Abby Hooker said she was “dumbfounded” by the statistic. “It’s obviously making such an important impact on the Inverell community, and we hope to take that as far as we possibly can,” she said.

A collaboration between the gardens, McDonald’s restaurant, Brighter Access and the Inverell Shire Council, organiser Jane O’Brien is excited by the grassroots nature of the project. 

“This program has come from deep within the community, as in it’s people in the community that have had ideas, we’ve had conversations and we’ve all come together to create a program,” she said. She was relieved to avoid the painstaking process of applying for a grant and hoping and praying for the funding. 

“I think that says a lot for the Inverell community and the people involved, but also I’ve got a really good feeling about the sustainability of a program like that, when it comes from the community,” she said.

Inverell Shire Council general manager Paul Henry said the program had the potential to significantly reduce food scraps ending up in landfill.

The farm will be unveiled next Friday, September 9 from 11am.