Taste the Bellarine: Local producers team up for weekend of events

A GROUP of Bellarine businesses have teamed up to deliver a series of hands-on workshops this weekend, with the aim of raising awareness of the region’s growers and producers.

Running from today (Friday, March 14) until this Sunday, March 16, Taste the Bellarine will feature eight different workshops hosted by some of the peninsula’s finest artisans, with activities ranging from berry growing and apple tasting to no-dig gardening.

Bellarine Landcare facilitator and event co-organiser Sophie Small said the weekend was about slow food, sustainable living, connecting with local growers and producers, and learning essential skills.

“We want to celebrate and support what local producers are doing, so we can really promote and spread the word about all the awesome products that have been growing on the Bellarine.

“For food security, we really need local producers growing food and local consumers buying their food.”

Monica Cavarsan, who owns Lard Ass Butter in Ocean Grove and is set to host a sourdough and butter-making workshop in conjunction with Ket Baker on Sunday, hopes participants walk away from the experience with a greater awareness of what’s in their backyard.

“A lot of people don’t know we exist,” she said.

“Everyone is seeking things from other regions, but they have great herbs, great bread, great butter, great produce in their backyard – and that’s what these events are all about.

“It’s based on the European traditions of bringing people together, with food at the centre of it all.”

One of the weekend’s key events is the “Farm to Ferment” workshop scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, March 15), which will bring together Farm My School, Bellagreen Organics, Bellarine Landcare, ferment connoisseur Patrick Meaney and Bellarine Fungi.

The three-hour session will feature educational tours of three productive farms, vegetable harvesting and a guided walk exploring the remnant vegetation of the Basin Reserve, before participants take part in a fermenting workshop and enjoy a simple lunch.

Bellarine Fungi owner Cameron Matthews said the weekend was as much about sharing knowledge with the community as it was about produce and being sustainable.

“We want people to come and go having felt like they’ve learned quite a bit and have something that they can work on themselves or grow themselves. It’s about sharing what we’ve all learned.

“Our business has benefited quite a bit from local mushroom farms who have helped us…which has done us a great service, and we want to continue that dissemination of valuable knowledge.”

For more information, including the full program of events, or register for a workshop, head to bellarinefarmgate.com.au