Old Church Growers Market and Cafe
A twice-monthly growers market on the grounds of a deconsecrated Bendigo church, started to give backyard growers and multicultural producers somewhere to sell.
About this market
The Old Church Growers Market exists because the building it sits in could not store the food people kept bringing it. The Old Church on the Hill had been running one-off pop-ups where a producer arrived with vegetables or a batch of Afghan bread and sold out on the spot, but as chief executive Rosita Vincent explained when the market launched, the centre had no storage to sell products through the week. The market fixed that. It now runs the first and third Sunday of the month, 10am to 12pm, at 36 Russell Street in Quarry Hill, alongside the Old Church Cafe in the same time slot.
Growers, backyards and water spinach
The market launched in June 2023, set up by the Old Church on the Hill together with Regional Victorians of Colour, and it was aimed at two groups at once. Farmers and backyard growers needed an outlet, and, as Regional Victorians of Colour director Linto Thomas put it, the market let growers know there was an appetite for produce like water spinach and pumpkin leaves, staples for multicultural communities that the market has been able to supply. The stall list the church publishes is short and specific: locally grown, freshly harvested produce, plus eggs, milk, honey and olive oil. The building itself is worth the visit, a former Methodist church that now hosts a pantry, playgroups, a craft group, language classes, a ukulele group and carpet bowls through the week.
Market at a glance
The venue has been standing on this hill since before Federation.
The market's grounds belong to the old Quarry Hill Methodist Church, whose foundation stone was laid on 5 November 1900 to a design by local architect William Beebe. It was deconsecrated on 11 September 2011 and sold on 13 November 2013 to be run as a community centre. The produce tables sit on a site that was a place of worship from that 1900 foundation stone until 2011.
Good to know before you go
Two Sundays a month, two hours each. This is a short market by design, 10am to 12pm on the first and third Sunday, so a late start means an empty table rather than a quieter one. Older listings for this address carry a Saturday market, which is how it began in 2023, so check the church's own what's on page rather than a directory before you drive over. Quarry Hill is a short run from central Bendigo and 36 Russell Street is a suburban corner, so parking is on the street around the church. Bring bags and cash for produce, and give yourself a few minutes for the cafe, which the church lists in exactly the same slot. If the produce is what you came for, arrive at ten.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Growers Market on?
- The first and third Sunday of the month, 10am to 12pm, on the grounds of The Old Church on the Hill at 36 Russell Street, Bendigo.
- What is sold there?
- Locally grown, freshly harvested produce, plus eggs, milk, honey and olive oil, from farmers and backyard growers rather than resellers.
- Is the cafe open on market days?
- Yes. The Old Church Cafe runs on the first and third Sunday, 10am to 12pm, the same slot as the market.