There is no doubt that fresh is always best, but restaurateur Lisa Margan is taking that concept to new heights.

When the head chef at her restaurant Margan, located in Broke just on the border of the NSW Hunter Valley wine region, requires produce he doesn't put in an order, he simply heads outside.

There, 90 percent of the produce he needs to put together the restaurant's seasonal menu is growing right in front of him in a half-hectare commercial fruit and vegetable garden grown and run by the restaurant.

Lisa, who met her winemaker husband Andrew Margan while studying applied science and food technology at university, has had a long professional history with food.

"I am a nutritionist by profession and a chef by trade so the two things have come together nicely," she says.

"We live in a rural region and have always had a domestic vegetable patch. We simply expanded the concept so that we could share the produce with our diners."

The restaurant's garden is run by a full-time horticulturist who works with both Lisa and the head chef Josh Davidson to prepare a seasonally appropriate menu. For the autumn months they are picking pomegranates, quinces, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, corn, peas, beans, baby turnips, parsnips, leeks, celery, beetroot, chillies, garlic, spring onions, shallots, celeriac, silverbeet, spinach, radish, fennel, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, rocket and heaps of herbs. The restaurant also has its own bee hives, which produce natural honey.

"The garden produces about 90 percent of the restaurant's vegetable needs in most seasons except winter when we get frosts which can limit our harvest," Lisa says.

"Our orchard is only two years old so we get less fruit at the moment, but that will increase within a year or so. We get fantastic free range eggs — about 12 dozen each week — which supplies most of our egg needs although we also purchase additional eggs for cooking, which are always free range."

So when you have a restaurant and winery to run, why go to all the trouble of maintaining a large garden? It's all about quality control and the environment.

"We can control quality and supply, reduce our 'food miles and carbon footprint', grow interesting varieties such as 'heirloom' species and provide our customers with ultimate freshness," Lisa says. "We can pick it and have it on a plate hours later."

And you can tell the difference. Each dish not only tastes fresh but the aroma of the food is instantly enticing.

The menu is based around a modern Mediterranean style, with influences drawn from Italy, France and Spain.

"We design our menus around what is being harvested so we look at what we have and then ensure we use it accordingly," Lisa says.

"So we won't have strawberries on the menu when it is not summer, but when we start picking them then we will have strawberries on everything! We are just installing a greenhouse so we can stretch out our seasons a little more and protect our leafy vegetables and micro herbs from cold weather."

Lisa insists that anyone can grow their own home vegetables, even if they don't have a green thumb.

"A home garden is really easy — it just needs occasional love and not to be forgotten," she says. "Even a tub of fresh herbs can add such a dimension to a dish."

So what are her tips to setting yourself up with a constantly producing fruit and vegetable garden?

"Set yourself up well first and only plant what you can realistically manage," Lisa says. "If that is a pot on the windowsill, then start with that. Most vegetables and herbs require good access to sun and protection from wind so bear that in mind."

During the Hunter Valley's Good Food and Wine month, Lisa will be inviting people to take a tour of the garden alongside the restaurant's horticulturist followed by a hands-on cooking school and demonstration. A lunch and taste matching with Margan wine will conclude the class.