The farm is not-for-profit and along with the convent, sits on a beautiful patch of land next to the Yarra River in Abbotsford.
The site is located at 18 St Heliers St, Abbotsford.
The grounds run a bunch of fun events every month:
Visit the farm
You can see the farm animals up close! The farm is open from 9:15am-4:30pm every day of the year, and an adult ticket is $10. There is no native Australian wildlife on display here, only farm animals like cows, goats, chickens etc. but they’re pretty cute.
Farmers Market
Runs on the second Saturday of every month from 8am-1pm, entry is $2
Loads of fresh produce is for sale – even if you aren’t going to buy anything, you can grab a coffee and a pie and wander through the stalls trying samples and chatting to the local farmers. The market is very popular as all of the produce is of a high quality and is mostly organic, sustainable farming.
Abbotsford Convent
The Abbotsford Convent grounds can be accessed by everyone, and they are beautiful. The convent was built in the mid 1800s and was used by a group of nuns, holding up to 1,000 women and children within the convent grounds at one point. It was sold in 1975, and was almost demolished in the early 2000s, but luckily petitions and public outcry prevented this from happening.
Lentil as Anything
Lentils is one of the coolest restaurants in Melbourne. It is a not for profit restaurant, entirely vegetarian, and runs on a ‘pay as much as you want’ basis. Customers choose how much money they want to pay, and all money paid is put into donation boxes near the entrances to the restaurant. Please don’t abuse the system – if you go, pay something, even if it’s a small amount. The restaurant is staffed mostly by volunteers and has a very community driven focus. If you’re interested, they’re always looking for volunteers, so have a look on their website – www.lentilasanything.com/abbotsford
Hours
Breakfast: 9am-11:30am
Lunch: midday-4pm
Dinner: 6-9pm
Shadow Electric
Shadow Electric is an outdoor cinema in the convent grounds, and it shows movies most evenings from early January to early April every year. Sadly, it does not run year round because Melbourne’s weather is too temperamental and crappy, particularly in winter. Each movie costs around $20-25 and they show a variety of new movies and old classics – check out the program at www.shadowelectric.com.au
