Month: March 2017

This morning we harvested from a couple of older yards that had been sensibly planted with food security in mind (long before food security was a ‘thing’)!  One was in Sturt St and included apple, lemon, fig and walnut trees.  The second was this crazy wild backyard in Ballarat East; behind a Victorian house in … Continue reading Wild orchards in Ballarat

As well as providing lovely fresh fruit for eating, The Hidden Orchard also contributes to the winter stores of our harvest volunteers. Here is some gorgeous Spicy Plum Chutney made with plums & apples from last Saturday’s harvest. Continue reading Spicy Plum Chutney

Over 40 kg of plums and nearly 90 kg of apples were harvested this morning, with the bulk of the harvest distributed to Food is Free Laneway.  This amazing bounty came from just three trees!  The plum tree (see picture below) didn’t look that stunning until you got up close – it was loaded with … Continue reading Saturday bonanza

Apples, pears & plums with the possibility of blackberries and quinces. Thanks to the generousity of the local community we have the opportunity to harvest apples, crab apples, pears and plums in the Black Hill and Eureka areas tomorrow morning starting from 10am. Where: Meet at the playground on the corner of Peel St and … Continue reading Sat March 18 harvest

Thanks for your interest in harvesting and making use of neglected fruit from the Ballarat area.  Although we’ve only been going a few weeks, The Hidden Orchard has already distributed hundreds of kilos of fruit to local organisations – and our harvest volunteers have taken home their share to eat, juice, stew or otherwise enjoy! … Continue reading Welcome to The Hidden Orchard