Sightseesteph

Nestled amongst the urban landscape is a rooftop garden offering a farm-to-table dining experience.

The Acre Farmhouse restaurant and glasshouse café, found on the roof of the Burwood Brickworks site, is surrounded by 2500 sqm of sprawling gardens. You'll find the Acre Farmhouse restaurant to offer a dining menu that is predominantly made up of seasonal ingredients grown on site. Next door is the Acre Glasshouse, which offers a more casual café breakfast and coffee menu.

This place has been self-described as one of the largest urban agricultural projects in Australia. Wander around the thriving greenery of vegetables and flowers. Visit the little quail coop from which eggs are collected. See the worm farm that is used to minimise waste.

What impressed me was the hydroponics set up found inside the greenhouse that sprouts a range of edible greens - 11,000 to be exact - ranging from microgreens, lettuce, herbs, strawberries to edible flowers. Water flows through the growing channels periodically throughout the day. The farm provides the bulk of the fresh produce served at the restaurant with any fruit or additional ingredients supplied locally.

An interesting fact about Acre is that the soil used in the garden beds have been specifically created to be lightweight for use on the rooftop - a combination of clay, sand, coconut fibre and compost.