We established our Kitchen Garden and Orchard in 2007, the first in the region and NSW to do so. We lean into the seasons and plant what works here in the Hunter Valley where we have hot summers and cold winters. We get excited when the new season produce is ready to harvest and our kitchen team shape our menus around that produce. This keeps the focus truly seasonal and hyper-local.

Other produce includes our olive groves, manzanillo's harvested each April and then brined and marinated.

Bees are important for so many reasons, mostly as pollinators and our hives give us fantastic honey.


Our chickens are free range and we have them for eggs, not meat. We mostly have the popular ISA Browns which is a French hybrid, bred for egg laying capacity, easy going personalities and low maintenance requirements. From time to time we will also have Leghorns (white feathers, Italian and shy), Rhode Island Reds (hardy but bossy), Australorps (black, glossy feathers, friendly and love people) and Plymouth Rock (black and white feathers and friendly).

Our estate reared lambs are mainly the Suffolk breed, renowned for their meat. They are all free range, grass fed and humanely processed. They will rotate on and off our menu throughout the year, as supply permits.

As farmers we are committed to caring for the land. Margan is certified with Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, the first in the Hunter to achieve this and the only restaurant to have this accreditation. Our Ceres Hill Farm, home to the restaurant, cellar door and winery is managed using sustainably techniques including organic and some bio-dynamic practices. Our kitchen garden and orchard will never see synthetic weedicides, pesticides or fertilisers.

Our vegetables and fruit are grown in quality soil that is nutrient rich and alive with good bacteria. And we harvest when the produce is at optimal ripeness, so no requirement for extended cool room storage here. We think that’s why our produce tastes better and we hope you do too!