Probably not that much at all.
One thing they do share, however, is the fact that up until a few years ago, they both belonged to two of the very few categories of people who grew their own produce in their own backyards.
Then, all of a sudden, home-grown produce became trendy and others started joining in on a tradition that hippies and nonnas alike had been enjoying for years.
Nowadays, the concrete jungle of Melbourne - along with most of our major cities - has become peppered with gardens and veggie patches wherever they’ll fit.
This rising trend has naturally progressed alongside the slow food movement and our increasing interest in the origins of our food.
One man who has witnessed this particular lifestyle move into the mainstream over the past decade is co-founder of The Little Veggie Patch Co, Mat Pember.
A second-generation Italian, Mat’s relationship with home-grown produce stretches way back to his childhood.
Mat’s mother arrived in Australia with her family when she was around 11-years-old, settling in Kalgoorlie – a universe away from the central-eastern Italian town of Acquaviva which she had left behind.
Years later, Mat’s parents met and started a family of their own.
Every holidays Mat would visit his grandparents in Fremantle, making lasting memories which still evoke a sense of nostalgia within him today.
“The first memories for me as a kid are walking on the hot sand in the veggie patch and going to the chook coop, and recognising the smell of a tomato plant or the flowering parsley,” Mat says.
“I feel like my first experiences with food are around the sensory experiences I had in that garden.”
As Mat went on to study and play sport, like most Australian boys, those precious moments spent in the veggie patch reserved a special place in his heart.
“I definitely think having those experiences shaped me and made me really interested to reconnect with them as I got older,” Mat says.
“That’s why I’m really motivated to grow food because, being from an Italian background, food is definitely the most important thing...it’s basically the glue that binds everyone together!”
After studying commerce at university, Mat lived the dream of most young adults; travelling around the world for a number of years.
During stints back home he took up a position as a landscaper and soon discovered a passion for working with nature.
Then, out of a love for the outdoors and a longing to relive childhood memories, an idea blossomed.
“I was living with a French guy who worked on an organic farm in the outskirts of Paris and we started talking about how great it would be, rather than doing lawns and ornamentals, to help people grow food and to create veggie gardens for them,” Mat said.
What began as installing a series of raised garden beds for friends soon turned into doing the same for friends of friends, and as the snowball effect continued, so did the prospects of a blossoming business.
A mention from gardening great, Stephanie Alexander can’t have hurt as well.
“[Stephanie] was one of my old landscaping boss’s customers, and she was writing her book The Kitchen Garden Companion at the time,” Mat says.
“I got chatting to her about this business that I was starting up called The Little Veggie Patch Co, and she gave us a plug in her book.”
As you can imagine, it was upwards and onwards for the business from there.
Since the Little Veggie Patch Co’s foundation in 2008, word has spread like wildfire, and Mat has noticed a great shift in the demographic of his clients thanks to the growing “food culture” across our nation, and the increased presence of celebrity chefs and reality cooking shows.
“Our demographic has changed from mainly affluent people on big blocks with young kids to absolutely anyone, and it’s moving to much smaller spaces and to people who are first and foremost interested in the food experience,” Mat says.
As the demand for fresh food continues to skyrocket, Mat has successfully published four books, including the best-selling How to Grow Food in Small Spaces, and opened a retail space under the company’s name in St Kilda East.
It’s from this site that Mat runs workshops and sells gardening products, including The Little Veggie Patch Co’s very own range of heirloom seeds.
The company also runs another space, the location of which may come as a surprise to some.
Hidden above the hustle and bustle of Federation Square is a man-made oasis of plants and fresh produce, set up by Mat and his team.
And when we say “above”, we literally mean just that.
Situated on the rooftop car park of Federation Square, The Pop Up Patch was brought to life in 2012 after Mat and his colleagues were asked if they’d be interested in running a crate per food and beverage tenant initiative in the square.
“I’d never actually seen that car park before and I could never imagine there’d be that much empty space pretty much in the centre of Melbourne,” Mat says.
“When they came to us with the idea of running one box per restaurant we just thought what a great idea it would be to be able to give city residents the opportunity to grow food as well, and to launch a membership concept.”
While the Pop Up Patch was initially only meant to last for 12 months, it’s still standing four years after its inception, while both businesses and residents alike enjoy its products.
Restaurants such as Taxi Kitchen and Press Club have embraced Mat’s vision, sending their chefs down to the patch to collect fresh produce almost every day.
“They generally send the junior guys down and give them a chance to get a break from quite a pressured kitchen environment, to learn something about food and pass on that experience to the customers,” Mat says.
As for the residents of the area, the patch provides an opportunity for interaction and a sense of community – the part that Mat loves the most.
“In the city, there are millions of people around but it’s actually quite hard to meet your neighbours because there are so many people,” Mat says.
“So the garden has been a great conduit for people that have literally lived either in the same building or adjacent buildings for however long, to actually meet and form friendships.”
As a growing population of city-dwellers begin to produce their own fresh food, this can only mean good things in Mat’s eyes.
“When you look at the way our city is getting more congested and our food supply is coming from further away, it makes sense for us to do our little bit and to grow our own produce where possible,” Mat says.
“I also think we’re getting so attached to technology that people need to find ways to ground themselves, and growing your own food and touching soil and plants can be a really grounding and satisfying experience that a lot of people need.”
As we continue to recognise our responsibility to “do a little bit more ourselves”, and decentralise the food sources to accommodate growing populations, the Little Veggie Patch Co aims to expand its reach on a global scale, educating people from different countries and cultures through their books.
In fact, the company has already crossed Australian borders, having recently published in the United States and looking to reach Europe in 2017.
“I think we’re riding quite a big wave and we don’t just see it as something that’s building in Australia, it’s building all around the world,” Mat says.
“We’re excited to get around and experience other cultures based around food, and that’s definitely the motivation for the business now.”
For the meantime, Mat and his colleagues continue to point fellow Australians in the right direction, providing a starting point for a more sustainable, community-centric future based on the food experience and all it has to offer.
Catch The Little Veggie Patch Co at the Melbourne and Sydney Big Design Markets later this year to get all the tips and inspiration you’ll need kick-start your own gardening journey.
