Food Fossickers

PEPPERGREEN Farm hopes to create Bendigo’s own mini food bowl. The Farm’s horticultural co-ordinator, Ros Woodburn, likens the vegetable production program to horticultural therapy, providing local people with disabilities the chance to produce since 2007. “This could be a hub ..

Coffee is the fuel of life for Ryan Lynch, master roaster and business owner of T’hooft coffee roasters. He opened the unique cafe in 2006, and two years later fell in love with and became obsessed with coffee. His taste for a good coffee roast was developed by trial and error and that mea..

The Cambrian Hotel in Arnold Street has undergone some major changes recently. Externally, a new verandah has been added to return the hotel to its former heritage glory and a month ago, brothers Adam and Andy Carswell took over the dining room. Both men are Bendigo-born, Adam is the behind-the-..

The lovely match between cafes and reading has created a partnership that now, tried and tested, looks set to continue. St Luke’s partnered with the Good Loaf bakery and cafe last year for a trial of Saturday morning bookstalls. Developing St Luke’s online social enterprise with Brot..

Meat-lovers rejoice, a new restaurant opening in the former Puddler restaurant in Williamson Street will be a welcome return to the good old steakhouse style. Paul Pitcher, former executive chef at the National and Queen’s Arms hotels for the last seven years is working towards a Valentine&r..

Renowned as one of Bendigo’s best locations for a restaurant, The Boardwalk Bendigo is enjoying a new lease on life with new faces, new menu, new plans going ahead and a name tweak. New owner Andy Lawson took over six weeks ago and immediately went to work with paint and elbow grease. &ld..

The new year welcomes some new places to eat and be seen in Bendigo while other eateries are celebrating new chefs and menus. One of the newbies is The Groove Train at the Mitchell Street entrance to the Bendigo Marketplace. Open since early December, they were kept busy over the Christmas break..

Christmas lunch has been slaved over, served and savoured and now many of us have leftovers languishing in the fridge. The ham and turkey that was so scrumptious at the feast starts to lose its appeal after a couple of days on the menu. Here’s a quick and easy recipe from www.taste.com..

One Bendigo business is doing something about getting the healthy living, healthy eating message out to our younger citizens. Bendigo Wholefoods organised a Go and Grow poster competition among local primary schools to coincide with the onset of spring. Eight schools took part creating a mammoth..

This week the Bendigo Community Farmer’s Market welcomes a new stall holder in The Australian Meat Goat Company. Echuca Boer Goat Breeders Ian and Ruth Turpin are renowned in national and state showings for their Camboer Stud champions and have decided to branch out into the domestic goat m..

A monster annual Christmas sale to be held at Mandurang Valley Wines on Sunday will see a wide range of goods on offer. Baked Christmas cakes and puddings, panforte and shortbread. Preserves of jams, jellies, sauces and chutneys. There will be all types of plants; kitchen garden herbs, vegetables..

Don’t worry about decking your halls with boughs of holly this festive season, it’s another of those traditions not relevant in our part of the world. For a wonderful alternative, put a vase of gorgeous peonies on your hall table, I guarantee your guests will be gushing with comments. ..

There are many traditions surrounding the good old Christmas pudding. Did you know this Sunday is “Stir up Sunday”? The plum pudding, plum duff (in the UK) or figgy pudding (in the US) has its origins in medieval England where Christmas is celebrated in the middle of winter and ..

Traditional pub meals are the order of the day at the Axedale Tavern since Garry Van Wynen, Corinne Cummins and Corinne’s mum, Wendy Kelly took it over about 12 months ago. Corinne and Garry lived in the Axedale district for five years, after moving from Kalgoorlie. &l..

At the beginning of spring, we gardeners were keen to get our veggie gardens up and growing and looking forward to the fruits of our labours come summer. To get those plots started, Keith MacDonald of MacDonald’s nursery shared his tips for a no-dig garden with us. So h..

TURN off the Old Calder Highway at Harcourt, up the drive winding between the vineyards, to the heart of Bress, and you pretty much feel like you are visiting Arcadia. Cradled in the granite embrace of Mt Alexander, this cidery and winery is picturesque to the point of cornines..

Winemaker Wes Vine is fast becoming something of a China expert. Although he had not ever thought of travelling there just a few years ago, when he visited Nanjing on a trade mission organised by the Victorian government in 2008, it was the beginning of what has become a massive part of his ..

By VICKI HARRINGTON The Bendigo Exhibition Centre will be bulging at the sides on the weekend of April 28 and 29 next year. It will be housing the annual Australian Chrysanthemum Championship, the Goat and Produce Fair, and for the first time, The Biggest Pumpkin Challenge. Competi..

The Bendigo food scene has fared well again in the newly released The Age Good Food Guide 2012. For the second consecutive year, Whirrakee Restaurant achieved a much-coveted chef’s hat in the new guide. The one hat category is awarded for restaurants achieving a score of 15 out of 20, an..

Spring has sprung and it’s time to bring your inner gardener out of hibernation. Whether you want to be more self-sufficient, save money, be more environmentally aware or just grow and enjoy your own fresh and tasty produce, spring is a great time to start a kitchen garden. Keith Macdonald..