Roast Dinners, Fruit Trees & Winter Clean-Ups

Last Saturday we welcomed more than 50 guests to the barn for our very first Patch to Plate roast dinner.

It was a wonderful evening, with plates piled high with roast meat, seasonal vegetables and a whopping 12 kilograms of potatoes.

To finish, we served a traditional Swiss Bee Sting cake—a little taste of my homeland that was the perfect ending to a winter meal.

A full barn is something we never take for granted.

We see it as a real blessing, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who chooses to spend their evening around our table.

This week I also began one of my (favourite) winter jobs—pruning fruit trees.

Between our own orchard and a few others that I look after, there are plenty waiting for me. Winter has a way of keeping the calendar full, so I’d better get myself into gear if I want to finish them all before spring arrives.

The birthday celebrations also continued at our place. This week it was Tim, our oldest boy, celebrating another year. His sister kindly cooked dinner for him, although the birthday cake is still waiting to be baked.

I have a feeling it’ll be worth the wait!

Another classic winter job also found its way onto the list—a proper shed clean-up.

Sheds are wonderful places… they seem to hold absolutely everything. Perhaps a little too well at times.

This week I found myself in just the right frame of mind to tackle it properly, sorting through years of accumulated bits and pieces with a much more determined eye than usual.

By the end of it, I’d successfully created one very impressive mountain of things to go. Naturally, I made it someone else’s problem—my husband’s!

Over the years I’ve discovered that’s one way of getting jobs done.

Rubbish tip… here we come.

What’s happening at the Barn

Patch to Plate Dinner

Saturday, 8 August

$25 per adult, proudly supported through Look Over the Farm Gate funding.

Becoming More Self-Sufficient

Our six-module workshop series begins at the end of August, with classes running at the Barn, Warrnambool and Colac.

Winter has its own rhythm. The gardens may be quieter, but there’s always another tree to prune, another project to tackle, another family birthday to celebrate, and, if you’re not careful, another shed waiting to be cleaned.