Raised in snowmelt fresh water, the trout and Atlantic salmon at Buxton Trout and Salmon Farm are used by some of the best chefs in the Yarra Valley and savoured by seafood-loving home cooks.
Where: Buxton, Murrindindi Shire, Taungurung Country
Who: Mitch and Deb MacRae
Mitch, where are you guys?
We’re on the Maroondah Highway north of the Black Spur. We’re right on the banks of the Little Steavenson River, which rises in Lake Mountain. It runs 20 kilometres through the mountain-ash forest, and a small part of the river water is diverted through our pond system.
What do you farm?
What it says on the name. We grow trout and Atlantic salmon. We sell fresh fish, smoked fish, trout and salmon caviar, and some pâté. The fish, on average, are harvested around 700g, yielding 400g of fillet. The quality of the water shines through in the flavour of the fish, which is always very clean-tasting but still really succulent and tender with all the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. We smoke a lot of our fish slowly over mountain-ash chips to produce delicious smoked fish. We also “milk” our fish for eggs, which we lightly salt to make our caviar.
Who’s a fan?
The chefs at Tarrawarra, Levantine Hill, Oakridge, and Balgownie wineries all use our products.
Do you look after fishers?
Come to the farm, catch your own fish, and we will clean it for you. We’ll pack it on ice, and you can take it home, or you can make a day of it and cook it right here under the trees on one of our barbecues.
Where do we get it?
Come and see us at the farm gate to catch a fish or buy fresh or smoked fish, caviar, and pâté. We have a good number of retail outlets like Limnos Seafood and Happy Tuna at the Queen Victoria Market, Kitchen & Butcher in Healesville, Yarra Farm Fresh in Coldstream, and Hannah’s Grocery in Croydon.
Buxton Trout Farm, 2118 Maroondah Hwy, Buxton, buxtontrout.com.au