Discover the art of cooking nutritious food at Moonacres’ spring classes in the Southern Highlands. Running in November and December, these sessions will teach participants about good food, highlighting the link between soil health and quality produce.

Moonacres is a farm, cafe and school at Robertson that strives to promote a healthier way of eating.

“If what you're putting in your mouth has not come from healthy soil, what you're putting in your mouth is not healthy,” said Phil Lavers, the owner of Moonacres.

Phil has led Moonacres for the past 17 years, driven by a passion for farming, food and business. Formerly a financial trader in Tokyo, he made a life-changing decision to bring his family back to Australia in 2006 and hasn’t looked back.

“I'm learning a lot about farming, soil and nature, working with those things and I've also developed myself as a businessperson,” Phil said.

“I'm still very excited about what I do. Just as a little example, for my dinner last night I cooked beetroots in possibly the simplest way you can possibly cook beetroot, and they were just astounding.

“The quality of the food that we produce continues to excite me and I get all giggly about it, it's crazy.”

Phil emphasises the vital link between soil, good food and good health. He recently travelled to Europe to see how farmers there are improving the soil and therefore food, noting the high quality at Mirazur, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in France.

“It was just exciting to look at the soils and understand their plans, and meet the people,” Phil said.

“It’s good to see that there's other people out there who care as much about food and where it comes from as I do.”

The Moonacres team aim to share their food knowledge by running spring community classes in November and December. These classes offer participants the chance to learn from and engage with various chefs, such as Danielle Alvarez, Trisha Greentree, Alex Prichard and Emiko Davies.

“You'll be around the bench with the chef or the teacher and you'll learn specific school skills around a product or a menu,” said Ange Clarke, the manager at Moonacres cooking school.

“We’ll sit down, talk with them, get to know them and eat some of their food together.

“So it's a really lovely opportunity just to get to know the teacher better and talk to them about their experiences.”

With the bonus of learning to cook from a pro chef, these classes provide an opportunity for people to start putting more thought into what they are eating.

“It's not just about the cooking, it’s about the process of eating good, healthy food together,” said Ange.

Moonacres' first class this spring featured a collaboration with a UK-based group, The Land Gardeners, who visited while touring with their book, Soil to Table. On my visit to Moonacres cafe, I perused the book and was delighted by its comprehensive content, covering soil life, composting tips and a wealth of recipes.

“It's a window into a world that we can choose to be part of if we decide that we want to look after the soil,” Phil said of the book.

Moonacres classes and the chefs involved

• Saturday, 18 November: Asian cooking by Trisha Greentree from Fratelli Paradiso
• Saturday, 25 November: Sourdough class with Lachlan Campbell
• Sunday, 26 November: Christmas Baking with Anna Phillips
• Friday, 1 December: Homemade Christmas Gifts with Sophie Hansen and Annie Herron
• Tuesday, 5 December: Spring Farm Tour with Phil Lavers
• Saturday, 9 December: Everyday Japanese with Emiko Davies

To book one of Moonacres' spring community classes, click here.

To buy the Land Gardeners' new book, Soil to Table, visit their website.