The best farm gates and food producers in the Adelaide Hills
Before it was wine country, the Hills fed Adelaide - and it never stopped. The cool ridges grow the state's apples, cherries and berries; the green valleys run dairy herds whose milk becomes some of Australia's best cheese and yoghurt; and a tradition of farm-gate selling that began with Hahndorf's pioneer women carrying baskets to market is alive at every cellar-door-sized food stop in the ranges.
This list ranks the producers where buying the thing means meeting its maker - or at least standing where it was made. Anchor a route around Beerenberg in the south and the Lenswood Coldstore in the high orchards, and graze your way between.
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1
HahndorfBeerenberg Farm
Sixth-generation strawberry fields and the famous farmhouse condiment range.
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2Woodside
Woodside Cheese Wrights
Kris Lloyd's washed rinds and fresh curds, made metres from the counter.
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3
WoodsideMelba's Chocolate Factory
Old-school chocolate and confectionery in a former butter factory.
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4Mount Barker
Paris Creek Farms
Biodynamic milk, yoghurt and quark from the southern valleys.
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5
Seasons matter out here: strawberries run roughly November to April, cherries crowd into December, and apple season peaks in autumn. Ring ahead for picking conditions, and bring an esky - the back seat of a warm car is no place for washed-rind cheese.
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Image credits
- Old Farm, Strawberry Hill.jpg by Michal Lewi , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons