One New Farm: Inside Build a Farm in a Day, Colac

Some farms take years to establish. Farm My School Colac took a single weekend.

This is what it was all about – the children, the people, the community!

In just 24 hours, more than 700 students, teachers, volunteers and community members came together at Colac Secondary College to do something remarkable: build 2.1 linear kilometres of garden beds for a regenerative school farm — from bare, underutilised ground to a working farm, in a day.

This is Build a Farm in a Day, Colac – and it's the fastest, most visible proof yet of what happens when a whole community decides to grow something together.

Why Colac?

Colac was chosen as the second site for the Farm My School model for a simple reason: it already had everything the model needs to thrive — a strong community, deep farming heritage, and a school genuinely invested in giving its students a real, hands-on education in food and sustainability.

Built in partnership with VicHealth, Colac Secondary College, Colac Otway Shire, and Colac Area Health, the Colac farm follows the same model that began at Bellarine Secondary College — transforming underused school land into a living, working farm that feeds, educates and connects the people around it.

What 700 People Can Build in a Day

The numbers alone are worth sitting with:

• 700+ volunteers – students, teachers, families, ambassadors and community members, all in the one place at the one time
• 24 hours – from first shovel in the ground to a completed farm
• 2.1 linear kilometres of garden beds, composting areas and outdoor learning spaces built from scratch. The second stage will be to increase to 3.4 linear kilometres and introduce a polytunnel and nursery in 2026.

That's not a metaphor about community spirit – it's a literal, physical farm that didn't exist the day before and did the day after, built entirely by the hands of the people who'll use it. It was magic in the making!

More Than a Farm

What makes a day like this matter isn't just the garden beds – it's everything they represent. Every row built at Colac is a future outdoor classroom, a future source of fresh produce for local families, and a future pathway into farming for a student who might never have considered it otherwise.

As Costa Georgiadis put it:

"I like to imagine a future when everyone has an education grounded in the garden."

Colac just made that future real, 24 hours at a time.

What Comes Next

A farm built in a day still needs a community to grow it.

In the months ahead, Colac Secondary College students will begin learning directly on the farm they helped build – growing food for their own classes, workshops, events and families across the region, just as Bellarine has done since Farm My School's first pilot.

Would you like to be part of what grows next at Colac?
Partner with Us
Donate
Learn more about Farm My School Colac