Fresh Produce

The Vegie Patch

The Plunkett Fowles vegetable garden has been created to provide a continual supply of fresh, organic produce to the restaurant.

Gardeners Brian Bowring and Jessica Bateman are local legends for their contribution to the dazzling garden at the Harvest Home Hotel (next to Avenel’s tiny railway station, on the way to Nagambie). They have planted and managed the vegie patch using organic principles – natural balances rather than chemicals. Successful organic gardening requires skill and dexterity to make each bed flourish.

With careful selection and planting the vegie patch can provide Asian salad vegetables as soon as 10 weeks after planting, while other vegetables such as garlic can take as long as six months to be ready. Our plantings include lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, tomato, radish, onion, strawberry, spinach, carrots, beetroot and more. While the vegie patches won’t supply all of the restaurant’s needs (you can’t predict a big wedding reception months in advance) these lovingly tended organic gardens will ensure a constant supply of fresh, crisp vegetables.

Our vegie patch is a showcase of our drive towards an environmentally sensitive and sustainable enterprise. We are working to integrate organic principles into our much bigger vegie patches – the vineyards. In the meantime, we get to share the products of our own gardens with friends of our food and wine.