Winter is coming and our team at the Farmers Arms Hotel are getting hot under the collar.

The change of seasons is our favourite time of year. The old deciduous trees on Wombat Hill are still cloaked in their outrageously colourful red, orange and vermillion autumnal leaves.

“I love the mists that hang in the valleys and drift through the forest,” says our hotel and motel supervisor, Megan Evans. Like most of our staff she has been with us for years and loves the shorter days and longer nights. “One of the things I love at the Farmers, is being able to look at the rain, mist, or snow outside and having the comfort of being inside,” she says. “We pour hot mulled wine or a rich local red, there are locals and visitors all sitting by the fire and around the bar. It’s a perfect excuse to have a drink and stay warm and cosy.”

Our chefs love the colder months too. This is the time when the winter vegetables, growing in the deep, rich, chocolate brown soil, are at their very best. The frosts make the carrots sweet and the brassicas (cabbage family) crisp and tasty. It gives them a chance to put on classic slow-cooked meat dishes like beef cheek and lamb shanks, corned silverside or a rich seafood laksa.

Come and join us at the Farmers Arms and perhaps stay in our new Art Motel across the road – arrive as a visitor and wake up a local!

thefarmersarms.com.au