Local food directory

A Little Baker St Andrews produces traditional handmade organic sourdough breads plus a range of artisan croissants, cakes and savouries, all baked in a wood-fired oven. The process includes resting the dough for a minimum of 6 hours from mixing to baking, with this resting time giving the bread a unique flavour and texture and making it easily digestible. All the breads are both yeast and preservative free, using the Lactobacillus bacteria for fermentation. Local ingredients are used where possible, including: berries from Kinglake, honey from Hurstbridge, citrus fruits, mushrooms and olive oil.

Now a cafe as well as a bakery.

This garden is membership-based but membership is free.

What: Darebin Council collaborated with members of the Northcote Library Food Garden and the local communuity to develop this visible and accessible urban food demonstration site. The All Nation Kitchen Garden design incorporates permaculture principles and is based on a multi-layered garden of fruit trees, edible understory and ground cover.

Who: A group of local residents care for and manage the site in partnership with Council. The goal is to sustainably produce local food and to provide opportunities for education and community building.

When: Community gardening days are held on the first Saturday of each month, from 10am.

Available February to November. Apted's Orchards is a family owned company. It operates an orchard and grazing enterprise from Arthurs Creek and Kinglake West north east of Melbourne that has spanned 5 generations. The farm gate sales at 864 Cottlesbridge-Strathewen Road Arthurs Creek are proving very popular, with 2kg bags of apples straight from the bin - that is, unwaxed and unsorted. Farm gate sales also operate from 1105 Whittlesea-Kinglake Road, Kinglake West. Wholesale marketing is done through the associated Melbourne Pear Company which operates out of the Footscray Wholesale Market.

Certified Organic, award-winning, handmade gourmet foods that not only taste great but are also good for you. Horseradish vinegar, mustards, jams, chutneys, sauces and a range of four Panforte di Australia (quince, sambucca, ginger, siena). BIO-GRAPE range of delicious fruit pastes to serve with cheese, red wine, and chilli sauce. They are a family business, with only family members working in the business, who have been hand making certified organic and functional foods for over 25 years under their AUSTRALIAN HARVEST ORGANICS and BIO-GRAPE Brands.

Backyard Honey's raw, local, multi-floral and varietal honey is hand-harvested, unheated, cold extracted and permeated with local pollens. It retains all the beneficial nutritional and medicinal properties often lost in pasteurised commercial honey. Each harvest's colour, smell and consistency may be a little different as the foraging of bees is neither within the apiarist's control nor inclination. Some harvests may crystallise, which simply means that the bees have gathered pollens more likely to turn the honey solid. If you prefer a liquid honey, gently warm the crystallised honey on a sunny windowsill or in a warm bowl of water, remembering that temperatures higher than 40°C will reduce the honey's therapeutic properties.

As backyard beekeepers, Peter and his wife Jane were often approached by people interested in keeping bees. As time passed, they realised that, while many people dreamed of having hives to harvest their own honey, they felt they did not have the time or apiary experience required. Inspired by this demand, Peter retired in 2012 to pursue his beekeeping passion and develop an innovative urban apiary service to provide local city dwellers with the skills and equipment necessary to host bee hives and obtain pure local honey from their own backyards. Hence, Backyard Honey.

The Backyard Honey ethos is simply to provide an effective and efficient service to ensure sustainable, healthy and mindful communities.

Backyard Honey beekeepers are qualified to provide apiary incursions to complement education programmes and have worked with many schools and Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden programmes. Their bee incursions are tailored to complement and/or extend the curriculum and include a fully enclosed perspex beehive, apiary equipment, bee suits, wax and propolis and pure, raw, unheated honey tastings. Backyard Honey incursions provide a catalyst for enquiry-based learning across the curriculum for both young and old. Phone them to discover more.

Read an interview with Peter Dyer.

This garden is open to the public.

This project began as a dream of the manager at the Central Ringwood Community Centre when she spied an empty unused sunny patch of grass that begged to be filled with plants and people. This site used to be a skateboarding park that was filled in and left. A group of volunteers (led by brother-and-sister team Robin Hallett and Jess Ness) have been working to develop it into a community garden. They aim to develop and maintain the site as the primary sustainability centre in the Outer East of Melbourne.

There is an open public space with fruit trees, herbs and a bush tucker garden whose fruitful harvest is free for all to enjoy. The communal garden beds are keyhole shaped and of an ergonomic height designed for up to 10 people each. There are companion herbs beneath the fruit trees to serve as organic pesticides, soil remediators, and pollinator attractors. Everything will be labelled so that the public can learn from what is growing, and members of the garden can share their knowledge and passion for gardening, thereby building a sharing economy. Their plans also include: wicking beds; a seed library; a covered area for teaching, potting, cooking, events, etc; and a play area for the children.

They run many workshops and classes at the garden. See their Facebook page for details.

The garden's partners include the local Rotary (TTM), Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place, Heathmont College, Ringwood Secondary College, The Box Hill Institute, and the social enterprise Elishacare. The inclusion of schools and community groups is helping to build a strong sense of community ownership.

A management committee has been established, in the form of a sub-committee of the Central Ringwood Community Centre’s Committee of Management.

Available June to September.

Beenak Farm is a small farm in the Yarra Valley with five acres of kiwifruit. It is certified as Biodynamic by NASAA. Since converting to the Biodynamic method of management in 2002, they have been selling their fruit through wholesale markets and, increasingly through farmers' markets. They have been farming in this way for 35 years and are convinced that biodynamics is a sustainable way of growing food into the future. They like to tell their customers about kiwifruit and the way they are grown and regard farmers' markets as the best way of communicating with them.

This garden is membership-based.

The garden was incorporated in November 2014, and is entirely run by volunteers. The three main aims are:

1. To develop an open space community fruit and vegetable garden for individual community members and community groups who want to engage in, and learn about, sustainable gardening practices.

2. To provide a meeting place for individual community members and groups to develop a community gardening identity.

3. To promote the Bellfield Community Garden within the Bellfield neighbourhood, and across the Banyule council area and neighbouring council areas, and to form strong community partnerships to enhance and influence the success of the garden.

Benny's Berries are well known for their fresh strawberries. In addition, their jams include blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, mixed berry and spiced fig with pear and walnut. These jams are cooked in small batches ensuring minimal cooking times, enhancing the fullest flavours and colours. They are made from a traditional classic family recipe using all natural ingredients sourced from the Yarra Valley. The philosophy is to keep it simple (only 3 ingredients are used) and natural, the way our grandmas use to make it.

Available November to May. Bimbimbi Farm grow strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, rockmelons and watermelons. They are chemical-free, use only certified organic products, and are currently going through Organic Certification. The fruit is picked when ready to eat, chilled, packed and sold.

Internationally inspired gourmet blends made with Certified Organic ingredients, including curries, dukkah, relish and chai. No added colours, flavours, preservatives, GMO free, gluten-free, vegan friendly.

Blue Pear Pantry sell savoury rolls: sausage rolls, Thai chicken rolls and vegan rolls. They strive to use grass fed and free range meats in their rolls. Together with their homemade Thai curry paste, each roll is individually handmade in their home kitchen.

They pride themselves on supporting other local businesses. From graphic design and stationery to suppliers and producers, they choose to use local business.

Blue Pear Pantry have devised a range of fundraising options for kindergartens, schools and sporting clubs, with a particular emphasis on accommodating for allergens so that everyone can participate. Fill in the application on their website for more details.

Bolton Street Deli & Liquor provides a full range of groceries, from condiments and bread, through beverages and honey, to chocolate and wine. They also sell a wide range of cheeses, meats, dips and homemade produce in their deli section. Gluten-free and organic products are available.

They are THE major stockist of local food products in North East Melbourne, with products from around 20 local producers.

They also serve coffee, breakfast, snacks and lunch from 7am daily (8am on Sundays). Some examples of food options include soup, pasta dishes and moussaka.

Organised by Whitehorse Urban Harvest.

Bulleen Art & Garden (BAAG) is a nursery which specialises in edible, indigenous and low water use plants. As such, it has a large range of herbs, fruit trees and veggie seedlings. All of its seedlings are either Certified Organic or grown using Low Environmental Impact Practices.

BAAG hosts a monthly veggie swap on the 3rd Saturday of the month. It also runs regular sustainable living and gardening classes.

BAAG's landscape supplies yard specialises in soil mixes and mulches. It also has an art gallery, called the Bolin Bolin gallery.

BAAG is located along side the Yarra River. It is committed to helping to improve the local parks and has been actively revegetating the site in collaboration with Parks Victoria and the Friends of the Yarra Valley Parks for many years.

This garden is allotment-based.

What: The garden is located within the Bundoora Park Farm. Within the farm, there is a fruit orchard including an urban farm with chooks and bees. The farm also supplies tools, water and manure.

Who: There are garden plots available for rent to the general public. Annual fees are $79 for a raised plot and $105 for a standard plot. There is a waiting list for these plots.