Abundant Harvest

With two hectares of vegetable, herb, and flower gardens, a two-hectare vineyard planted with chardonnay and pinot noir, plus a 250-tree olive grove, a 300-tree orchard and a bakehouse – not to mention The Lodge, which can sleep 12 – Alla is busier than ever. Thankfully, she’s helped by husband Allan, daughter Larissa and son-in-law Robin, plus a team of more than 100 people. After Victoria’s extended lockdown last year, the properties are now bustling with guests. Here, Alla reveals what led her to buying Dairy Flat Farm and also shares a few of her favourite recipes:

A good time in my life, I thought, to further share the ethos that has always been close to my heart, of knowing the provenance of the food we serve. The world had changed. More people cared about such things. In our kitchens, we had always worked from the ground up – starting everything from scratch. As a family, we now felt comfortable enough to invest more in enriching the experience for our teams and guests. We considered closing the loop in growing and producing more of the raw product destined for Lake House, and possibly providing the opportunity for guests to enjoy the experience firsthand. Serendipitously, a very close-by property was on the market. It would be a financial stretch, but we thought it doable. Besides, what could go wrong?

Two years of an ever-expanding budget, hard toil, and much creativity from our team and talented members of the local community ensued. We were ready to open. And then came my late-stage cancer diagnosis, COVID-19, and the closure of our business for most of 2020.

A box of just-harvested produce and another of freshly baked sourdough loaves and pastries is delivered daily to the Lodge kitchen for guests. Dinner might be a farm feast or a table at Lake House. Lodge residents sink easily into the daily background of activity all around them: the harvesting and baking for Lake House kitchens, ongoing gardening, and even beehive and vineyard management.