Macca's Farm
A 64-hectare South Gippsland farm with its own butcher, hydroponic vegetable crops and a kilometre of waist-high strawberry rows open for picking.
About this market
Macca's Farm runs across 64 hectares at Glen Forbes, about ten minutes inland from Phillip Island, and the operation is unusually broad for a farm-gate shop. Peter McDonnell grows four varieties of tomato plus eggplant, cucumber, capsicum, zucchini, beans, snow peas, chillies and a full run of herbs and leafy crops, and raises around 100 free-range Wessex Saddleback pigs, 75 grassfed Angus cattle and free-range chickens alongside them.
A farm that does its own butchering
The point of that spread is that almost nothing has to be bought in. There is a full-time butcher on site and a commercial smoker, so the bacon and ham the farm is known for are made from its own pigs, and beef comes back from the abattoir as full bodies to be broken down here. The produce store carries the farm's hydroponic vegetables plus locally sourced free-range lamb, honey, jams, cheeses, relishes and biscuits, and the cafe bakes its own cakes, bread and condiments.
Farm at a glance
Vegetables come off the farm's own hydroponic setup rather than a wholesale market, which is why the leafy crops read as fresher than a supermarket equivalent and why the range shifts with what is actually ready. Beetroot, spinach, three types of lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and broccolini rotate through alongside the tomatoes and herbs.
The pick-your-own strawberry field is what most first-timers come for. Roughly a kilometre of rows, grown off the ground at waist height, with two container sizes sold at the produce store and no objection to bringing your own. Peak picking is September to April, and the elevated rows mean nobody spends the afternoon bent double.
Growing the strawberries off the ground was an accessibility decision as much as an agronomic one. The waist-high rows are reachable from a wheelchair, which is rare for a pick-your-own field.
Planning a visit
Opening is Wednesday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm, so a Monday or Tuesday trip will find the gate shut. Strawberry picking is seasonal and weather-dependent even inside the September to April window, so a phone call ahead is sensible if that is the main reason for the drive. The cafe has an outdoor eating area, which makes this a stop worth budgeting an hour or two for rather than a quick produce run on the way to Phillip Island.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is Macca's Farm open?
- Wednesday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm, at 2185 Dalyston-Glen Forbes Road, about ten minutes from Phillip Island.
- When can I pick strawberries?
- The best picking runs from September through to April. Containers in 250g and 500g sizes are available at the produce store, and you can bring your own of a similar size.
- Is the strawberry field accessible?
- Yes. The strawberries are grown off the ground in waist-high rows running about a kilometre in total, which makes them reachable from a wheelchair and easier on the back for everyone else.