Growing food

At Gembrook Retreat, we believe that one way to live a soulful life is to be aware and involved in the ways we eat and source our food. We have a number of food producing plants on the land.

We have two orchards. Maggie planted about 200 chestnut trees, and about 60 trees are still producing. Each year in April we have a Chestnut Harvest Day, where we invite people onto the land to pick, roast and eat chestnuts together. This event is by donation. 

The fruit tree orchard has over 100 trees, including apple, avocado, fejoa, fig, kiwi fruit, lemon, macadamia, nectarine, olive, orange, peach, pear, persimmon, plum and quince. This has been maintained and expanded by Jane and the orchard mums for a number of years, and FRoGR members can join in on our Friday working bees.

Jane has a vegie patch that produces vegetables for the residential community year round. There are a number of weeks over summer when all our fresh fruit and veg can be harvested from the land, which is very satisfying!