Local food and drink directory

This garden is membership-based but membership is free. It is open to the public every Wednesday, 9am-midday, and the 2nd Saturday of each month, 10.30am-midday.

The garden is an accessible learning space for community members and families interested in being actively engaged, sharing tips and knowledge about gardening, growing food from seed to harvest and sustainable living, re-using, re-purposing and recycling what they can.

Murray River 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.

The Natural Food Market sells healthy foods, with a focus on whole foods. Produce is sourced as locally as possible, with a focus on seasonality and freshness. They stock both organically certified produce, as well as produce that follows the similar principles (including no preservatives, no added sugar, no numbers, ethically produced, and clear labelling of where it is grown or produced) but has not been certified.

The range of food includes: fresh, seasonal, organically certified fruit and vegetables; dried goods (pulses, wholegrains, seeds, nuts and dried fruits); various flours; teas & coffees, spreads & condiments; both gluten and gluten-free breads; and refrigerated cabinets full of dairy, tofu, meats & drinks (such as kombucha).

There are no plastic bags in the shop and customers are encouraged to bring their own containers. There is a boomerang bags dispenser for those who've forgotten to bring their own.

Nillumbik Estate is a family owned and operated boutique vineyard and winery in Smiths Gully. The cellar door is open every weekend and offers some of the most breath-taking views in the region across to the Kinglake Ranges, from its elevated viewing deck.

Nillumbik Estate offers an extensive range of premium wines including its estate grown Domenic's Paddock Pinot Noir made from 20 year old hand-pruned and hand-picked vines. Pizzas and antipasto platters are also on offer.

Winemaker John Tregambe uses traditional hand-crafted winemaking techniques stretching back generations. The son of Italian immigrants who arrived in Australia in the 1950s, John's interest in wine making was sparked when watching his father practice age-old winemaking techniques in the family home. John also holds Masterclasses providing visitors with an insight into his winemaking and viticulture styles as well as the history of Nillumbik Estate and the region. Each session includes a guided tasting of his fine wines, followed by a antipasto plate and a glass of wine on the deck.

This garden is open to the public.

What: The garden is a communal growing space open to all community members, with communal garden beds and a food forest. Although there are no individual plots, there are areas of the garden set aside for growing plants of particular interest or liking. The garden is maintained during regular communal planting, harvesting and working bee days, and gardeners are also encouraged to donate some extra time individually when they can.

Who: The garden is managed by a small group of dedicated residents. Community members can become involved as a friend of the garden (lending support and advice) or as a gardener.

When: Community gardening days are held on the second Sunday of each month, from 9am.

The garden also hosts a food swap on the second Saturday of the month, 11am-midday, organised by the Darebin Urban Harvesters.

Offaly Good Food's chicken liver pate is made from Certified Organic chicken livers. All of the livers come from chickens that are already being used for meat, hence no waste. The chickens are placed on a balanced diet, in clean housing and are free to roam as they please during the day.

What separates the Organic Empire from the majority of other home delivery services is their unique farm to door service. They are committed to connecting communities with local farmers, artisans and food producers. Fresher foods, fair trade for farmers, better for the environment and better for your health. Their values centre on:

1. Sustainability: they only harvest and order what you order; they re-use their delivery boxes.

2. Local: much of their produce and groceries is sourced from local farmers and producers and both parties know each other.

3. Organic: most of their produce is either Certified Organic or Certified Biodynamic. Where not, it is still grown without any artificial chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or insecticides.

4. Convenience: You can shop online 24 hours a day, at whatever time is easiest for you, or place an order to have a box delivered each week.

5. Community: they promote community by empowering people to eat well through healthy life giving recipes, teaching the skills of food production from their own farm and promoting health with education.

6. Price: their priority is to make organics accessible to all, delivering the highest quality organic produce at the best available price.

Considering the many artificial additives, GMOs, and other expendable food processes that we are unwittingly subjected to, Organic Times wants to provide a range of quality, fair-trade chocolate products that not only taste delicious but are made from certified organic ingredients that are both better for us and for Mother Nature too.

Their signature line is their Organic Chocolate Licorice, which goes magically with their chocolate. Complementing this magic taste is Rapadura sugar - an ingredient in their chocolate - grown and produced by Hand-in-Hand, their fair-trade partners. The special thing about Rapadura is that it is an unrefined sugar made from minimally processed organic cane sugar. This means that the molasses and all the goodness remains in the sugar, creating a rich, caramel flavour and a higher mineral and vitamin content.

As innovators of introducing organic chocolate-coated produce to the market, they use premium, organic couverture chocolate and specialise in coating organic produce such as macadamia nuts, roasted almonds, hazelnuts, coffee-beans, sultanas, ginger and licorice. Their range comes in both dark and milk chocolate.

Their chocolate is made using certified organic cacao bought through the Hand-in-Hand fair-trade system which is then processed and manufactured according to an old-established Swiss chocolate recipe. The produce they coat is also certified organic. They use fair-trade organic coffee-beans and most of their other produce is sourced from Australian organic farmers.

In addition to their chocolate-coated line, they also bake delicious, home-style organic cookies, using their organic chocolate in a variety of flavours. And if you are looking for organic ingredients, they offer butter, sugar, flour, cocoa and carob powder.

The word 'paleta' comes from the Spanish word for icy pole. It represents a long and old Mexican tradition of tropical and exotic fruit recipes. Paleta's icy poles are made from authentic Mexican recipes using real fruit. Flavours include strawberry, mango, coconut, lemon, chocolate, raspberry, rockmelon and hibiscus. No artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. What you will find is nothing but the intense rich taste of real fruit.

At Panton Hill Vineyard and Winery you'll discover beautiful buildings reminiscent of Tuscany, in a bush setting only 45 minutes from central Melbourne. In this family founded and run boutique winery you can taste a wide range of high quality, aged wines - dry, sweet, sparkling and fortified - which are totally estate produced using biological techniques. A huge open fire awaits you during the winter months or in summer, you can enjoy the beautiful courtyard. Homemade pizza and the cured olives are a menu specialty.

PEACE farm (Permaculture, Education, Arts, Community, Enterprise) a small permaculture farm which, inter alia, teaches farm workers and interns how to grow plants and also save seeds. Their Certified Organic nursery produces a wide variety of heirloom veggie & herb seedlings, companion plants and fruit trees. They supply two wholefood stores plus a few nurseries and they sell their surplus at markets during Spring and Autumn.

PoppySmack's products include viet dipping sauce, tangy tamarind sauce, caramelised pineapple sauce and salty sweet hoisin. These sauces are home recipes and full of yummy goodness. All their products are gluten-free and dairy-free, with no preservatives added. At the markets that they sell at, they also demonstrate how to make rice paper rolls for free tasting.