Amazing Local Food Part 1: Thompson's Farm Stand at The Shed

One of the most exciting things for us in the village at the moment is the opportunity to get really locally grown fresh veg. In general, out here, local is a relative term. It's over an hours drive to either Bathurst or Mudgee to go shopping, to the chemist or the doctor etc. In previous years we've been able to get a fair bit of local fruit, mostly from the feral fruit trees that were planted all over Hill End in years gone by. This year though, with the massive lack of rain and heatwave in the Summer not much of the fruit we had access too was any good. The Cherry Plums in our garden went straight from not ripe to shriveled and pruny in a matter of days. We are completely on tank water and our tanks aren't very big so we don't have a lot of water spare for plants. We also  have a tiny garden and what space we do have, gets very little sunlight so we can't grow a lot of our own food. Because of this we're really enjoying the opportunity to get fresh, local and chemical free produce.

Bec and Dave have restored the old Thompson vegetable garden and are growing loads of fantastic food.

Everything we have bought has been fresh and delicious. There is also a range of fantastic preserves and local honey available. Bec has plans to source more local stuff and expand the farm stand once she has things sorted a bit more and is able to find the time.

I've always been willing to drive a fair way for fantastic food but it's a real pleasure to be able to buy beautiful produce from just down the road, literally.

If you're in Hill End on a Saturday then you should definitely check out the farm stand, it's open at 10am and is on Beyers Avenue, just after the road splits. Stay on the road towards Mudgee and the farm stand is on your right.