The Market Gardeners of Warriewood Valley were part of a cosmopolitan community which not only enriched the area economically but also culturally and socially.

From the late 1920s migrants from Italy and former Yugoslavia began arriving in the Warriewood Valley to become part of the developing tomato farming industry.

The area expanded as a farming district and was known as ‘Glass City’, due to the valley being covered with approximately 3,500 glasshouses during the peak of production between 1947 and 1954.

From the 1960s market gardening declined as produce shipped from other states became cheaper.

Today some of the street names in the Warriewood Valley are tributes to the varieties of tomatoes which once grew on the same land, Jubilee, Daydream, Apollo, Ponderosa and Prosperity.

To hear more about this fascinating era, join the Local History team on Harmony Day (Tuesday 21 March) for a special talk at Mona Vale Library from 10-11am. Find out more.