Garden festival celebrates Taranaki spirit
INSPIRING VEGETABLE PATCHES, GLORIOUS GARDENS AND A PACKED EVENTS PROGRAMME CELEBRATES THE SPIRIT OF TARANAKI FOR THE 31ST POWERCO TARANAKI GARDEN FESTIVAL
THIS YEAR 40 private and public gardens including, for the first time, a cemetery, will wow people during the festival which runs from October 26 to November 4.
Festival manager Tetsu Garnett says three gardens fall specifically into the new edible category – the Roebuck Farm at Omata, Korito in New Plymouth and Pukemiro at Onaero. “It’s the way the world is going; people are opening their eyes to healthy living, caring for the environment and growing food themselves, in their own gardens.”
Jodi Roebuck, whose three-hectare market garden and sheepfocused restoration grazing farm has just starred on TV show Country Calendar, will be doing daily 2pm tours.
He believes it’s important for people to grow their own food for many reasons: “Health and wellbeing; the local food movement supports local production and keeps money in the region, and also for taste and money savings.”
While the gardens are the main attraction, Garnett says the events programme offers visitors the chance to learn about gardening and history, hear inspiring stories, be uplifted, to sip and sample, dance and be entertained.
One highlight will be Mitre 10 – Sizzling with Ben Shewry. At this event, the home-grown chef will cook gourmet sausages made to his recipe and pair them with Bliss Lager, a collaboration between Attica and the Garage Project. Shewry owns acclaimed Melbourne eatery Attica, this year named 20th best restaurant in the world and No 1 in Australasia. “To get a chef of his calibre is fantastic,” Garnett says.
The Gardena speaker series will cover growing food forests, New Zealand natives, hanging baskets, a garden history tour, market farm tours and a spring bouquet workshop.
There is also a floral art design show – Bollywood Goes Floral with Vanita Patel, a long lunch, a garden party, wine and cheese tasting, a Chapman-Taylor tour, two events starring Taranaki’s own awardwinning Juno Gin and the annual landscape design project.
This year’s offering is Living Rooms by Taranaki landscape designer, Tristan Cave. For the entirety of the festival, people can view, for free, two very different landscape designs – a minimalist active garden and a plantfilled peaceful space.