Full house doesn’t even begin to describe our Patch to Plate dinner last Saturday — we overbooked and somehow ended up with 49 adults, 4 children, plus our own crew! We may have run out of chairs, but we certainly didn’t run out of food, good company, or laughter. Even with wild winds and wintery chill outside, the barn was buzzing and warm. Out in the patch, things look a little different. The rain and cold make it tricky to prep soil or even imagine planting. I find myself

This week had a slightly different rhythm with the public holiday in the middle. Since we’re not too keen on watching horses go around in circles, we decided to open up the Barn instead. The weather wasn’t exactly on our side, but we enjoyed welcoming a few visitors who came through for coffee and to pick up some seedlings. Thursday was spent mostly in the kitchen, preparing for the small market in Cobden. It was lovely to be part of Alderwood Manor’s late-night shopping even

A big weekend of teaching is behind me! Across three locations, I had the privilege of sharing my knowledge about planting out veggie patches and setting up for a successful season of homegrown produce. It’s always inspiring to see people keen to get their hands in the soil and take those first steps toward growing their own food. Back home, the week was spent in the eco garden, knee-deep in hand weeding. The unwanted plants seem to leap out of the ground at triple speed this

The greenhouse is filling up quickly with seedlings, and this week we finally started planting in the patch. Timing couldn’t have been any better — we managed to get the seedlings into the ground on Tuesday afternoon, just before a beautiful soaking of rain arrived. The wind that followed on Wednesday was another story altogether! Thankfully, we had tied up the broad beans and escaped with only minimal damage. It feels good to see life returning to the garden again. Each week

A fully booked-out Patch to Plate Dinner filled up our Barn once again! It was a great evening joined by families, couples and singles from far and wide. Our next dinner is set for Saturday, 8. November  — it will be a Lasagna Night  with Panna Cotta  for dessert. Things are happening in the patch too. While our offering of veggies is small, we are busy cleaning up the winter crops and getting the beds ready to plant. We’re also flat out producing seedlings for the coming sea

Last Saturday we had a good reason to celebrate! After a few solid practice rounds with our wood-fired pizza oven, it was finally time to...

Last weekend was all about teaching our second module of the self-sufficiency course — held here at the Barn, in Colac, and in...

Third term school holidays were very much welcomed by all of us. It’s good to step away from the books for a while, catch our breath, and...

This week Jamie and I stepped away from the farm and everyday work life for a much-needed little break. With our children well cared for,...