OpenFarm Day
Sunday 4 October, 10am – 4pm
Free family event
There’s a lot to celebrate aboutNillumbik farming – so come and join usfor Open Farm Day and find out why!
Open Farm Day is your chance to visit workingfarms and meet local farmers. Follow theOpen Farm Day trail around nine Nillumbikfarms and experience:
•Farm tours
•Live demonstrations
•Farm animals
•Product tastings
•And more…
Open Farm Day is an all-weather event. Please:
•Wear appropriate clothing
•Wear covered shoes on all farms
•Supervise children at all times
•Fill your car up with fuel before you start following the Open Farm Day trail.The closest service stations are Diamond Creek and Eltham.
•Don’t bring your dogs. No pets allowed.
And remember to:
•Bring your camera
•Bring some cash to purchase some great farm gate produce
And have a great time!
Join the event on Facebook for all the latest Open Farm Day news.
Please contact us to discuss event accessibility
1.Kings of Kangaroo Ground
Ken King planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay variety vines on his KangarooGround vineyard back in 1990 which has grown into a well-equipped winery andthe established brand, “Kings of Kangaroo Ground”.
With a passion for the pursuit of excellence achieved through minimalistwinemaking intervention, Ken ensures that all Kings of Kangaroo Ground winesare handcrafted, vegan compliant and pesticide free. You are welcome to visit thevineyard and see the wonderful vines and winemaking process.
Farm activities: Vineyard tours, talks on the wine makingprocess and wine tasting.
Where: 15 Graham Road, Kangaroo Ground
Farm gate sales: Wine
Website:
Toilet: Public toilet at tennis club
Food: Available at Kangaroo GroundGeneral Store
2.Weeping Grevillea Nursery
The Weeping Grevillea Nursery started life as a hobby for Vikki and Wayne Tonissenand from there grew in to the small yet productive agricultural enterprise. TheNursery primarily specialises in producing grafted standard weeping grevilleaswith a range of regular grevilleas. In addition to this there is a small citrus orchardand a substantial veggie garden that produces pumpkins, basil, mint, parsley,oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme. Much of this produce is available for sale onthe weekends and also at a roadside stall.
Farm activities: Walk through the nursery and orchard.Guided tours start on the hour.
Where: 10 Bartletts Lane, Kangaroo Ground
Farm gate sales: Grevilleas and in season produce
Website:
Toilet: Available
Food: Tea and coffee
3.Wedgetail Estate
Wedgetail Estate is a family business established in 1994 and is the realised dreamof French Canadian winemaker Guy Lamothe and his partner Dena Ashbolt.Wedgetail Estate is perched on top of a ridge and offers spectacular views acrossthe Yarra Valley. The six hectare vineyard is steep, forming a natural amphitheatre.
Combined with rocky slopes and scarce rainfall, these factors produce grapes ofexceptional quality with concentrated fruit flavours and wonderful complexity.
Wedgetail Estate wines are single vineyard, hand-crafted wines which ferment onnatural yeast and mature in French Oak barrels for up to 18 months.
Farm activities: Vineyard tours and wine tastings withGuy starting at 11.30am, 12.30pm,1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm
Where: 40 Hildebrand Road, Cottles Bridge
Website:
Toilet: Available
Food: Cheese platters availablefor purchase
4.Hildebrand Grove
David and Ann Strutt have been running Hildebrand Grove, a family owned andoperated organic olive farm, since 2007. The farm, which has 1,600 olive trees,produces an annual harvest of Corregiola and Frantoio olives which are first coldprocessed to produce an exquisite full flavoured extra virgin olive oil.
Come and learn about the harvesting process, oil processing and thehistory with the family who are happy to share their experiences with you.
Farm activities: 11am Harvesting talk2pm Pruning talk and demonstration.
Where: 65 Hildebrand Road, Cottles Bridge
Website:
Toilet: Available
Food: Picnic baskets and authentic Italianpasta and salads. Pre-order from
5.Omaru Alpaca Farm
Sian and Rob Rickards began their alpaca venture in 2011 with a herdof five alpacas. Since then a lot of exciting births and a few newintroductions to the herd have grown it to 30 alpacas. Open Farm Daywill offer you the opportunity to get up close and personal with thesecharming and unusual animals and learn more about the products thatcan be made from their fibre.
Farm activities: Alpaca feeding – $5 for a tub of alpacafood, felting demonstrations andface painting.
Where: 190 Hildebrand Road, Cottles Bridge
Farm gate sales: Alpacas, fleeces and alpaca products
Website:
Toilet: Available
Food: Not available
6.Shaws Road Wineryand Cidery
The wine-makers at Shaws Road Winery have been making wine together inNillumbik for 25 years. George Apted, Karl Helper and John Graves started downthe wine-making path in 1982 and opened Shaws Road in 2007.
Shaws Road wines are produced from grapes that are hand-picked and basketcrushed.
The wines are made and cellared on site, with the current production level atover 750 cases per annum. In 2015 the winery branched out in a new direction with thelaunch of Apted’s Apple Cider and the new micro-brewery Shaw Thing Ale.
Farm activities: Wine tours and talks with the wine makers every half hour from10am. Pruning demonstrations throughout the day.
Where: 225 Shaws Road, Arthurs Creek
Farm gate sales: Wine
Website:
Toilet: Available
Food: Cafe open from 10am-4pm offeringmorning tea, lunch andafternoon tea.
7.Apted’s Pear and Apple Orchard
The Apted family have been growing apples and pears forover 100 years across three generations at Arthurs Creek.Their fruit is stored, packed and marketed locally throughMelbourne Wholesale Market and directly from their farm gate.
Come along and tour the orchard and cool store and hear the historyof the Apted family and their experiences farming on Melbourne’s urban fringe.
Farm activities: Orchard and cool store tour andtalks starting at 11am, 12pm,1pm, 2pm and 3pm
Where: 864 Cottles Bridge-StrathewenRoad, Arthurs Creek
Farm gate sales: Apples and pears
Website:
Toilet:Available
Food: Apples andpears for sale
8.Sarokos Park
Come and visit Sarokos Park, a sustainable farm supporting paddock to plateliving. Owned by Ross and Carol Cardile, Sarokos Park is a beef cattle stud andembryo breeding farm. The Cardile’s welcome you to come along and learn aboutartificial insemination, embryo transplant and harvesting, and of course, to meettheir beautiful cattle and calves, which will have been born in the past few weeks.
Farm activities: Embryo transplant and artificialinsemination demonstration at 2pm.
Where: 1020 Cottles Bridge –Strathewen Road, Strathewen
Farm gate sales: Angus beef (bring a cooler bag!)
Toilet:Available
Food:Not available
9.Strathewen Angus
Working closely with Sarokos Park, owner of StrathewenAngus, Bruce Newport invites you to his fascinatingdisplay on how cattle genetics are assessed andmeasured for the breeding of black and red Angusbeef cattle.
Renowned across the country for his innovative cattlebreeding program, Bruce is giving you the opportunityto come and learn about the science of cattlebreeding and the surrogacy process of theStrathewen Angus embryos.
Farm activities: Cattle breeding and surrogacypresentations every half hour.
Where: 360 Chads Creek Road,Strathewen
Website:
Toilet:Available
Food:Tea, coffee and biscuits
10.Hurstbridge Farmers’ Market
The Hurstbridge Farmers’ Market is an, accredited market held in the rural settingof Fergusons Paddock, Hurstbridge. With producers from all over Nillumbik andVictoria, you can buy fresh, seasonal produce and specialty goods direct from localgrowers and makers.
On Open Farm Day the Hurstbridge Farmers’ Market will officially launch their owncookbook. Containing recipes from stallholders, visitors and local businesses, thecookbook features produce available at the market.
To celebrate there will be live music and cookingdemonstrations throughout the day.
Where: Fergusons Paddock,Arthurs Creek Road, Hurstbridge
Website:
Toilets: Available
Food:Available
Open Farm Shuttle Bus
Leave the car at home and explore the Open Farm Day farms on a free shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus route starts at Hurstbridge. Leaving from Graysharps Road (oppositeFergusons Park Preschool and the end of the train line), roughly every 30 minutes from10am. The final shuttle bus will leave Hurstbridge at 2.30pm.
A shuttle bus will pass each farm roughly every 30 minutes to pick up and drop offpassengers. The final bus of the day will return passengers to Hurstbridge by 5pm intime for the 5.20pm train.
For Open Farm Day shuttle bus bookings and enquiries call 9433 3316.
See the website for more information on Open Farm Day