All ready to bloom
Gardeners all across the region have been making last-minute touch ups to their flowerbeds ahead of three Taranaki festivals that get under way tomorrow.
The Taranaki Garden Festival, the Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival and the Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail run from November 1-10.
Merrilands resident Elaine Schreiber has been involved with the Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival for more than 20 years, first getting interested when she lived in Inglewood and the festival approached her as there were no gardens to view in between New Plymouth and Stratford.
And she hasn’t stopped – even when she moved to New Plymouth eight years ago.
‘‘I still open because it’s the love of people,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s the people that you get to know and meet.
‘‘People come here that used to go to Inglewood and remember that garden.’’
Her garden, which is named Bushview Garden, spans around the entire home and even has a small oasis down the back overlooked by Mt Taranaki.
‘‘I just think gardening is good for the soul. I call it brain food.
‘‘When you’re in the garden you can lose yourself.’’
Last year the Taranaki Garden Festival went through its wettest festival in memory.
According to MetService, the start of the 32nd festival would be sunny and warm before the rain comes in from Tuesday.
That hasn’t put off avid gardener Lynn Bublitz from showcasing his garden for the second year.
Bublitz has been preparing and planning his garden, which he’s enjoyed for 46 years, for months and was still making the final touches yesterday.
‘‘The lead up to the festival takes some time,’’ he said.
Carl Freeman was opening his urban farm to the public for the first time as part of the Taranaki Sustainable Backyards, which celebrates local efforts in sustainability and inspires others to have a sustainable lifestyle.
Two years ago Freeman and his wife Kati transformed their Frankley Rd backyard into an
urban farm, which has 50 five-metre long vegetable beds, a seeding area, a seed nursery, a hot house, fruit trees, chickens, ducks, bees, berries, mushrooms, as well as compost, and a worm farm.
They sell the vegetables they grow at the farmer’s market every Sunday on Currie St and decided to showcase their backyard to inspire others.
‘‘It’s to inspire other people and share what’s possible,’’ he said.
The Taranaki Garden Festival gardens cost either $5, $10 or $15 per person per garden and both the Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival and Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail cost $2 per person per garden.