2022 Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail

The Annual Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail spans over 10 days between Friday 28th October and Sunday 6th November, featuring 30 Sustainable Backyards around the region accompanied by 100 mostly free workshops, tours, and hands-on demos. The audience grows each year and inspires over 25,000 visitors to make environmentally-focused changes. It’s a growing movement with major benefits like curtailing climate change, living healthier lives, and deepening our relationships. 

Mobile chickens at ‘Weaving Waiwera”.

Imaginative backyards, market gardens, and community spaces offer the perfect opportunity for learning and connecting. Hosts encourage people to make change in their own backyards by offering the resources and local know-how to get started at home. People come away with “amazing tips and suggestions that you may not understand by walking alone in the garden”. 

Bena of GreenBridge showing guests around their regeneratively designed backyard.

This is the first year the Trail is offering a Bespoke Sustainable Backyard Bus Tour, a Treasure Hunt for Garden Explorers, and a kōrero from Te Ara Taiao students at Ōmata School sharing tikanga and kawa of growing kumara. Soil Resilience with Pounamu Skelton – a Mātauranga Māori Perspective will be held at The Green School on Saturday October 29th at 1pm. These learning opportunities strengthen the fabric of our community by building food resiliency through networking, as visitors are encouraged to engage directly with garden hosts and speakers. 

Growing Enviro-leaders at Toko kura (school).

Whether it’s composting, lasagne bed layering, or a water collection system, visitors will find something that makes them say, “I’d love to try that at my place!” The Trail harnesses connections and the transition to harmonious living with our environment, so pick up our first-ever booklet, choose an event from the multitude on offer, and haere tahi ki tō hoa (come with your friend). 

Get started today by learning simple tips to grow your own food with our DIY videos at sustainablebackyards.org.nz. If you’d like to be involved next year please email brittanyryan@sustainabletaranaki.org.nz.