Guy Lilleyman started growing microgreens during lockdown and now sells them alongside the family beef and eggs. Photo: Tenele Conway.
There are not many reasons to head out on Kambah Pool Road. Dead-ending at a swimming hole on the Murrumbidgee River, for decades it saw some summer traffic heading for a cool-down and not much else.
Then in 2018 a fridge popped up. Situated in front of the Lilleyman family property, Amberly Farm, the fridge was stocked to the brim with eggs laid right there on the farm, and over the years it built a cult following of people who swore that once you’d gone Amberly, you wouldn’t be buying any other eggs.
With distribution across a number of outlets in Canberra, including the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, Guy Lilleyman, one part of the Lilleyman family farmers spanning two generations, noticed customers were still making the journey to their farm gate, and an idea hatched.
“We were working at the front of the property one day and watching all of the cars pulling in for eggs. The road doesn’t go anywhere, so they were making a special trip just for the eggs, and we saw the opportunity to do something bigger.”
The shipping container-based micro-market was installed in 2024. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Dropping a modified shipping container into place, the Lilleymans set about creating what they call the Amberley Micro-Market, a 7-day-a-week farmers market right at their front gates.
The self-service micro-market is stocked with meat and produce that may have some of the lowest food miles in the region: a 100-metre trip up the driveway.
Restocked daily, you’ll find hormone-free, chemical-free, grass-fed Black Angus beef, an arm of the farm managed by John Lilleyman, the patriarch of the family.
You’ll also find spray-free microgreens, a lockdown project led by Guy Lilleyman. Ma’s Pantry products include kumquat marmalade and Ma’s famous chilli jam. Ma refers to Carol, the matriarch of the Lilleyman family, and then there are the pasture-raised eggs, a project started by Adam Lilleyman, Guy’s brother.
The micro-market has given the Lilleymans an outlet to sell their produce profitably. Photo: Tenele Conway.
“We originally wanted a way to improve the soil, and so we started with 500 hens, but to be a viable business producing eggs, we’ve scaled up to 5000 hens that can roam across 100 acres, and that seems to be the sweet spot,” explains Adam.
Adam laughs that he could write a book of all the things he’s learnt not to do with chickens over the years as he reveals that the Lilleymans were new to farming in 2012, when John and Carol’s retirement project of buying a Kambah cattle farm got out of hand.
Pasture-raised Amberly Farm eggs are what the Lilleymans are best known for in the region. Photo: Tenele Conway.
It’s an unusual way to get into the game, with John’s background in software engineering providing minimal experience in rearing cattle. Turns out it’s a path all the Lilleymans followed, with Guy explaining that he’s actually a musician as he stands in his heated tent, running his fingers through his mizuna and pea shoots.
In addition to his microgreens, Guy heads up the micro-market project, explaining that the tiny shop, which not only stocks their produce but also produce from like-minded businesses from around the region, has been a turning point for the family farming business, allowing them to tap into direct-to-consumer sales, lowering their cost of sale enough to finally make the farming financially viable.
“100 per cent of our eggs are now sold through the micro-market; not having to sell them at wholesale prices has been a game-changer,” Guy explains.
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With the micro-market running smoothly, the family is now seeking approval to run farm tours, and if you ever get the chance to set foot on Amberly Farm, it’s well worth your time.
If emotions can be attributed to chickens, these are the happiest you’ll find. The chicken pre-school, as Guy refers to the training paddock for new arrivals, is an amusing procession of chickens learning to do chickeny things like perching.
The Maremma dogs stand nearby guarding their individual flocks with the seriousness of the Royal residence security at Buckingham Palace. The automated egg-weighing apparatus is a Wonka-esque machine that separates the light from the heavy, and the humid microgreens tent shows that small ideas can feed a neighbourhood.
Until that tourism project finds its feet, pop by the micro-market; there’s plenty of inspiration for dinner.
The Amberly Micro-Market is at 325 Kambah Pool Rd, Kambah. It’s open from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm, 365 days a year.