Back by popular demand, the Sustainable Backyards Bus Tour returns for the 2023 Trail.
Relax and enjoy an array of hand-picked properties with Taranaki’s finest growers and makers. Be inspired, gain tips and enjoy beautiful kai during this informative tour.

Enjoy a day out visiting and learning more from different sustainable backyard producers. Your visits will include: 

Magpie’s Rest: Jo-anne and Allan’s 5 hectare self-sufficient property has extensive vegetable gardens, orchards, heritage chickens and livestock. Heritage plants are left to self-seed and provide for sowing next season. Throughout they have a reuse-first philosophy with homemade tumble compost bins, a glasshouse made from windows and climbing frames, and shelving storage from pallet wood. They also have an affordable passive solar home and like to share their techniques for preserving produce.

Lure for Coffee where you will get to see the abundance of flowers particularly dahlias as well as raised beds that protect produce from Jellie the lovable kune kune pig.   

Blue Petal Botanicals: Martina and Murray’s kitchen garden is based on organic principles and sits centre of their 2-hectare property. Explore raised garden beds surrounded by a Fir field as wood for posterity, coppicing eucalyptus patch for firewood, and a terraced espalier orchard and herb field – part of Blue Petal herbal and honey production. Learn about mulch uses, composting, worm farming, comfrey liquid fertilising, recycling, and much more.

Eudaimonia: Caroline’s gardening mission is to empower individuals to cultivate healthy soil, grow nutrient-rich foods, and foster a community that values the health of soil, plants, animals, humans and the planet. The property uses organic practices and permaculture design and is home to a menagerie of soil microorganisms, a playground converted into recycled pallet beds, a food market forest, chickens, bees, donkeys and composting experiments.

The Edible Estate: In 7 years Melanie and Matthew have developed a garden with over 60 fruit trees, multiple raised beds, a garden for the bees, a chicken coop, a garden for the bees, pig pen, potting shed, compost bins, milking goats, sheep and worm farm. Learn how they upcycle in their garden.

Lunch will be at Simply Divine Café in Egmont Village. Please purchase your ticket at www.gardenfestnz.co.nz or email Cathy at cathy@discovertaranaki.co.nz

$185 inc. catered lunch with wine, coach transport, garden entry.

20 seats available and 2 buses