Feedback from visitors
‘Wow…..what a fabulous weekend of edible gardens and all the passionate gardeners who create them.’ Helen Reynolds, Lake Macquarie
‘Participated in your Edible garden Trail on Saturday. Had an excellent day and enjoyed every place we visited learning and seeing something we can try or use’ Mark Jolly, Broke
‘I loved the Edible Garden Trail! For a beginner gardener like me, with big dreams but little ‘know how’ it was fabulous to see so many types of fruit and veg planting that I had otherwise only read about online. The hosts were generous with their time and advice. All round a very inspiring day.’ Kim Fasher, Ettalong Beach
Feedback from garden hosts
Garden Hosts enjoyed themselves too:
“I had the most wonderful day THANK YOU! It was lovely talking to all the visitors and I learnt some new things along the way. I had a good steady flow of people and my volunteers, some of the lovely ladies from Mingaletta were able to raise some money for their community work and look after the sign in. They had a brilliant day too. Thanks for all your work, keen to be involved again next year.” Owen Bridgeman, Miyan Nura, Umina Beach
“Our garden hasn’t looked better, it is so beautiful. And the Trail helped us to achieve that! Our volunteers put their heart and soul into the garden.” Kate Bright Gosford Regional Community Services Inc / Wyoming Eco Garden
“What a joy! Magic day meeting lots of lovely, lovely folks. Can’t wait for CCEGT 2024! “ Leslee Brown, Blue Swimmer Cottage, Summerland Point
Thank you from the organisers
‘What an absolutely wonderful weekend – we want to say thank you so much to each and every one of you who worked like trojans to prepare and open your gardens, and share your knowledge, experience and passion for your gardens with complete strangers and also lots of lovely familiar faces from our Permaculture Central Coast community and beyond.
The visitor’s thirst for knowledge and practical know-how about permaculture and organic practices was a common theme across all the gardens. Chatting with visitors who can see with their own eyes how successfully you are all growing fresh, abundant produce full of life and love without any nasties and in soil that has been nurtured, improved, and is packed full of biodiversity.
A huge congratulations to each and every one of you both for creating these wonderful spaces to grow food and live and love, and for inspiring hundreds of visitors to improve their own practices, try new techniques and get more permaculture happening in the ground.
We’d also like to say a big thank you to all the amazing volunteers who helped out in gardens and behind the scenes. You are amazing and generous and we are so grateful to you.
And last but not least a big thank you to Permaculture Central Coast who have wholeheartedly supported this project from the outset. What a wonderful organisation full of wonderful people.’ event organisers Anna Trigg and Sandi Eyles
2023 Edible Garden Trail
The Central Coast Edible Garden Trail was held on 21 + 22 October 2023. Featuring 50 gardens right across the Central Coast, the Trail was an opportunity for all Coasties to:
- see what foods grow well here in our climate,
- learn from experienced gardeners who have been successfully growing food without harmful chemicals and producing healthy and safe food for their families, some for almost three decades
- feel inspired to head home and take action, knowing there is a supportive community they can reach out to to ask questions and get advice when they need it
Ticket holders spent a weekend visiting gardens, chatting to the gardeners who created them and took home stacks of ideas to apply to their own gardens.
Encourage and support beginner gardeners
Our focus this year has been to encourage beginners to have a go at growing food at home. The Trail itself is a fantastic way to see an enormous variety of gardens, strategies and approaches. Visitors could discuss directly with the creators of those gardens the ins and outs of why they chose to do what they did. And to share not just their successes but also their failures, giving beginners a head start to avoid some of the pitfalls new gardeners might come across.
All of the garden hosts who volunteered their time and gardens for the Central Coast Edible Garden Trail were beginners too! Some many years ago, and some much more recently. By sharing their stories, and discussing their strategies and designs with visitors, our garden hosts feel they are giving back to the community, sharing this precious and valuable knowledge to new generations of gardeners.