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 Sunday 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.

There is a community garden at the location.

Organised by Outer Eastern Permaculture Swap.

Their honey is unheated and is without added rice or corn syrup. Seasonal varieties may include Grey Box, Messmate, Yellow Box, Red Gum and Manna Gum. The honey comes from hives which are migrated from Eltham and around the Green Belt, Yarra Valley to central Victoria, plus honey from rescued hives across Melbourne.

They also offer creamed honey, honeycomb, and a highly sought after local honey remedy for hay fever, sinus and pollen related asthma (see testimonials). Plus chai tea and bees wax candles.

Finally, as Bee Rescue, they also rescue bees across Melbourne from pest controllers.

Located on a scenic hillside with a beautiful view, Belleview Farm is a small boutique farm selling free range eggs. Their birds are raised and tendered to on the farm and Belleview Farm takes pride in their welfare. They ensure that the birds are fed a nutritious, vitamin-enriched diet including seeds, grains and canola. The farm is pesticide-free and chemical-free.

Ben's Bees sell raw honey - honey that has not been treated in any way. It is taken from the hive in frames designed to hold honey, spun with centrifugal force, drained through a fine sieve to remove any wax particles, and bottled.

They also sell candles, beeswax, soap, hives, bees and clothing.

Their services include bee & swarm removal, beehive pollination and European wasp removal.

Billy van Creamy's ice cream is made with a simple philosophy. It is based on the idea of home style cooking. The creaminess doesn't come from any secret ingredients, synthetic stabilisers or emulsifiers, or in fact anything that you wouldn't find in a regular pantry at home; rather, it simply comes from balanced recipes made with organic milk, fresh cream, raw sugar and free range egg yolks. They make everything from scratch using real, whole ingredients. This means roasting and grinding organic nuts, making honeycomb, jams, coulis, caramels in their own kitchen. Their aim is to bring people the childhood joy of eating ice cream but with some adult sophistication in flavours that aren't based on the body's reaction to sugar, rather the perfect balance of flavour and texture.

Billy van Creamy are committed to reducing their impact on the environment, which is why they use as much recycled or recyclable packaging as they can. They support organic and ethical farming to reduce the impact that their supply chain has on the environment. They also support the local art and culture scene, which is where the art in their shop comes from.

Bizzy Beehive sell raw, unpasteurised honey, including orange blossom and wildflower. The precise flavours of the raw honey depend on where the bees collect their nectar and pollen so every jar is distinctive.

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.

Butt's Gourmet Smokehouse are a small family business which is focussed on producing smoked meats and fish plus gravlax. Their smoked products include trout, trout pate, ham, bacon, kransky, kangaroo, lamb, beef/pastrami, chicken, eel, quail and turkey. Their pork & turkey are free range, their lamb & beef are pasture fed, their chicken & quail are barn raised, and their eel & kangaroo are wild caught. There are no 'e' numbers in any of their products and they use no artificial smokes, flavours or fillers.

The business started smoking fish in the 1970's but started off life as a butchery in the 1930's. They have kept the original open fired smoke ovens but also have a modern smoking oven capable of cold smoking. They use only river red gum as timber for their smoke.