It was common in the hot summers of northern Victoria for farming families to build a kitchen with a dug-out in which they stored meat and dairy products.

This photo depicts the kitchen built by the Gamble family at Patho in the 1870s.

Like other Victorian rural areas, the rural population of the Patho Plains is decreasing. When landowners move out of the district, they take a wealth of historical knowledge and experience with them.

The Patho Plains Oral History Project was developed to capture the historical knowledge of farmers and landowners to better understand the changing landscape. These interviews and photographs form part of that project.