Victoria offers the freshest fruit and vegetables available for purchase at farm gates, gourmet food tours and many other experiences for food lovers to enjoy.
Fresh produce
While you're enjoying Victoria's magnificent food and wine, you can also experience the abundance of fresh produce, purchased straight from the farm gate. Over the summer months, you will have many opportunities to stop and buy fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts directly from the farms where they are grown. Many farms also value-add to their produce, offering jams, chutneys, preserves, oils and some offer home-style meals in on-farm cafes and restaurants.
Bacchus Marsh
Located in a scenic fertile valley, Bacchus Marsh is home to huge market gardens, orchards and wineries. Visit Paynes Orchards where you can buy from fresh produce in the shed or pick your own from the trees at certain times of the year. Dellios Apples also operates a farm gate allowing the public to buy direct from the grower.
Cobram
Situated on the Murray River, Cobram is well-known as a major fruit growing area in Victoria specialising in citrus. Visit Tranquil Hills where oranges, exotic citrus and other fruits are turned into an assortment of jams, jellies, juices and chutneys. The Big Strawberry, a short drive north-west of Cobram, grows a range of berries which are then made into jams, condiments and liqueurs. Visitors can pick their own fruit at certain times of year then enjoy a meal or snack in the farm's cafe.
Red Hill
At the centre of the Mornington Peninsula's wine growing district is the small town of Red Hill, surrounded by hills covered in vines. Stop off at Ellisfield Farm for a unique fruit farm experience where visitors can pick their own cherries or purchase items including wine, olive oil, jams and marmalades. At Sunny Ridge, visitors can pick their own strawberries and enjoy amazing strawberry temptations such as farm-made strawberry ice cream and other delicious desserts.
Olive farms are becoming widespread in Victoria, with some open to the public for tasting and purchasing of their products. Visit Clearstream Olive Farm at Alexandra, McIvor Estate at Heathcote or Robinvale Estate at Robinvale.
For the environmentally conscious, you can help reduce the "food miles" by savouring the locally grown produce right in the area where it is grown. You can enjoy a delicious meal knowing that the produce has not been transported vast distances or kept in cool storage for months. Your food comes direct from the field to your plate. Wait until you taste the difference!
Food and wine festivals
Celebrate Victoria's flavoursome food and wine by attending one of the many regular festivals held throughout the year.
- Melbourne Food and Wine Festival - www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au
- If you're in Victoria during March, check out the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival - a fortnight long festival which has been held annually since 1993. It attracts both local and international chefs and winemakers and offers over 250 events in Melbourne and across Victoria.
- Budburst - www.budburst.com
- An annual Macedon Ranges festival which celebrates the new wine season. Sample wines at local wineries throughout the district and experience the lifestyle of the region.
- Grampians Grape Escape - www.grampiansgrapeescape.com.au
- A gastronomic spectacular held in the heart of the Grampians National Park at Halls Gap. Indulge in delicious food, great local wines and get involved in creative cooking demonstrations. Around 100 of the best producers of food and wine in the region exhibit their products during the festival weekend.
- Harvest Celebration - www.harvestcelebration.com.au
- They says that a farmer's hands tell the story behind a million meals, and this is evident at the Harvest Celebration in Beechworth. Held across a weekend, this festival celebrates the annual harvest with a kaleidoscope of food and wine lovers proudly showcasing their magnificent wares.
- Harvest Festival - www.dmproduce.com.au
- Head to the Macedon Ranges and celebrate the food growers and chefs of the region during the annual harvest week. Drop in on farm gates and cellar doors for festival specials, participate in food preparation or sample the fine food at one of the winemakers dinners.
- Harvest Picnic - www.harvestpicnic.com.au
- Held at Werribee Park in Werribee and at Hanging Rock near Woodend, it features cooking demonstrations by some of the country's leading chefs, sampling and purchasing of products by food and wine producers, plus entertainment for the whole family.
- Tastes of the Goulburn - www.tastesofthegoulburn.org.au
- The Tastes of the Goulburn festival at Seymour showcases the finest food and wine from the local area by winemakers, restaurateurs and producers.
- Wandiligong Nut Festival - www.brightvic.com
- We love our nuts in Victoria, and each May in Wandiligong you'll find the Wandiligong Nut Festival where you can listen to music, taste chestnut soup, watch cooking demonstrations and maybe enter the "Not Entirely Nutty Cooking Competition".
- Yarra Valley Food & Wine Festival - www.yarravalleyfestival.com.au
- Celebrate the great produce of the Yarra Valley as around local wineries join together with restaurants and food producers to entertain and tantalise taste buds.
Cooking schools
A relatively new trend is the emergence of cooking school restaurants which allows visitors to experience the whole cycle of food production, from collecting the ingredients from the farm or garden, to preparing and cooking their own meal.
- Al Dente Cooking - www.aldentecooking.com.au
- Be inspired by Mediterranean cuisine at this cooking school, located at The Oaks Winery near Yarra Glen. Discover the wonderful secrets of authentic and traditional home-style Italian cooking using fresh local ingredients. It's where Italy meets the Yarra Valley.
- Diana Marsland Cooking - www.dianamarslandcooking.com.au
- Established in 1981, this cooking school is located in a beautiful country house in Woodend. Students of all ages can participate in cooking classes in a warm and friendly atmosphere and afterwards everyone sits down to eat and drink.
- George's Gourmet Cooking Retreat - www.georgesonarthurs.com.au
- Situated atop Arthurs Seat and overlooking Port Phillip Bay, this is a cooking school with a difference, modelled on the live-in participatory cooking schools that are famous in Europe. Several cooking themes are available which run over two or three days. As well as cooking, participants enjoy a local winery tour and visit to Peninsula Hot Springs.
- Spice Island Cooking School - www.spiceisland.com.au
- Learn the art of cooking in a state of the art kitchen on Phillip Island with a group of like-minded people. Using the best ingredients that Gippsland has to offer, classes are geared to people of all cooking skill levels.
- Spoons Cooking School - www.spoonscookingschool.com
- Participate in a small group cooking class at a country property near Daylesford. With an emphasis on seasonal ingredients, discover the enjoyment of home cooking.
- Wild Oak Cooking School - www.wildoak.com.au
- Situated adjacent to the Wild Oak Restaurant in Olinda, the Wild Oak Cooking School provides practical hands-on experience and small class sizes to ensure a high level of contact with professional instructors. A range of classes are available to suit all levels and interests, providing a fun day or night out.
