Pick Your Own Broad Beans

Joe’s Market Garden’s Melbourne Cup Day Pick Your Own Broad Beans Family Event: connecting community, tradition and local seasonal produce.

CERES Joe’s Market Garden brings Coburg the first Pick Your Own Broad Bean family event on Melbourne Cup Day. Come November, the broad beans at Joe’s Market Garden are ripe and being picked by the boxful. Instead of trying to back a winner on Cup Day, let’s be part of a local food tradition: gathering together to pick broad beans; immerse in the cultural history of Coburg, Joe’s Garden and the joy of local seasonal produce.

Market gardeners Emily and Monique will be convening their regular market stall with some exciting extra guests for this special family event. Live music, children’s activities, broad bean cooking workshops and a raffle will join with regular market fair. Entry is a suggested donation of $10 at the gate. Half the donations will go towards refugee and asylum seeker assistance.

In the local multicultural community of Coburg, Joe’s Market Garden’s broad beans are famous, having been planted from seeds saved each year since the Garita family acquired the market garden in 1945.

Fresh broad beans are hard to come by in supermarkets as they aren't a vegetable with a long shelf life. If you're a true broad bean connoisseur, you can't eat broad beans unless it has come straight from a farm! Come pick your own on Melbourne Cup Day!

CERES Joe’s Market Garden

Located in Coburg, 2kms north of CERES Environment Park along the Merri Creek bike path. This 1 hectare plot has been farmed continuously by Chinese and Italian gardeners for over 150 years – Joe’s Market Garden is Melbourne’s last surviving inner city market garden. In 2003 CERES began farming here under the guidance of Joe Garita, whose father bought the land in the 1945. Joe’s Market Garden is certified organic farm growing organic herbs and vegetables. Irrigation water is taken from the mains supply and a 100,000 litre underground water tank collects rainwater from neighbouring townhouses. The produce grown is sold through our CERES Fair Food enterprise and at a farm gate stall each Saturday morning. Joe’s Market Garden is now managed by Emily Connor and Monique Miller, the next generation of urban market gardeners.