Natives for extra spice

Peppermint Ridge Farm owner Julie Weatherhead runs the business with Anthony Hooper.

By DANIELLE GALVIN

PEPPERMINT Ridge Farm owner Julie Weatherhead is using her knowledge of bush food to teach at her cooking school in Tynong North.
It started in 2012 and always attracts keen cooks from the region.
Some of the cuisine includes hummus with Australian spices, pea and pancetta fritters and slow roasted pork belly.
“I have always been interested in native plants and in encouraging people to plant more of them in gardens and farms to restore some of the ecosystems we have lost,” Ms Weatherhead said.
“Enjoying dishes cooked from some of them is another reason to plant natives.
“I have been researching species that will grow easily in Victorian gardens, have great flavours and are attractive garden plants for 15 years that will help people create their own native herb and spice gardens.”
In the cooking school, the team works together to recreate Julie’s dishes.
She said it is very much a team effort and at the end they sit down together and enjoy the beautiful lunch they have cooked.
“The class always includes a tour of the Australian spice garden and tasting shots of the hot infusions made from the leaves of the plants such as lemon and anise myrtle,” she said.
There are a number of events coming up at the farm including open garden days, cooking classes and organic vegetable growing classes.