Twelve months ago, Dan Paris was a world renowned actor, photographer and videographer. Now, in a classic case of COVID career change, he finds himself as a market gardener on Western Australia's remote south-east coast.
So Mr Paris got to work, improving a couple of garden beds he had established for his children shortly after purchasing the block a few years back. "So I ended up with some free time and I thought, 'maybe I could sell some vegetables to the markets'; maybe I could make $500 every few weeks just to keep things ticking over," he said.Mr Paris researched a number of market gardeners, in Australia and overseas, who were making a living out of small plots.
But it certainly has not been easy, battling aphids, moths and dry seasonal conditions in his first year farming. The concept is popular in Europe and in some Australian states but, when he started at least, little known in regional WA.