Edible Garden Trail – Garden Host FAQs

Does my garden have to be perfect?

No. We’re not after showcase gardens, our visitors are interested in real-life experiences of growing food, whether it be a verge, backyard, veranda, community, market or school garden. The key criteria is that you grow food. The trail is about connecting, building community and sharing knowledge and not about showcasing picture-perfect gardens.

What do visitors expect from garden hosts?

  • Talking to the garden owners
  • Finding out about your garden projects – even the unfinished ones
  • Sharing ideas about what you might have done differently
  • Finding out the names of plants/vegetables they have not seen before and where they can source them
  • Finding out how long it took you to develop your garden to its current stage

What do I get out of it?

Apart from showing off your garden, meeting neighbours and sharing your love of growing food, you also get to build your community of fellow edible growers by attending our closing party on the 23 November. We’ll have some great speakers, goodies and resources to assist you in your hosting.

When do I open my garden?

The trail is on one weekend a year and open from 10am to 3pm. You can open your garden for Saturday, Sunday, or both days.

Who will visit my garden?

The Illawarra Edible Garden Trail is a ticketed event, so you can expect people who are genuinely interested and excited about gardening and growing food. 

Do I have to let people use my toilet?

No. We direct all ticket-holders to use the nearest public toilet. We will provide directions but you may need to provide directions on the day on where the nearest one is from your garden.

Can I sell food, drinks and other goods?

If you do want to sell food, drinks or other goods when you open your garden, please read the below rules:

  • Some hosts like to have plants/seedlings/cuttings/seeds for sale but this is not a requirement. Selling surplus crops and seedlings grown in community and private gardens is allowed. If you are unsure, please contact IEGT before proceeding.
  • Selling or serving of prepared food and drinks is not covered by our insurance. If you choose to offer food and drinks during your open garden, then you are responsible for complying with the NSW Food Act 2003, Food Standards Code and all food safety, handling and labelling laws, regulations, and guidelines, and for holding your own insurance coverage for the selling of food;
  • Promotions of relevant commercial businesses or sales of commercial goods is accepted, as we want this to be a mutually beneficial event, however we ask for all requests to go through the Illawarra Edible Garden Trail (IEGT) coordinator for approval to make sure you meet the above requirements.
  • If given the go ahead by IEGT, you MUST provide copies of all necessary licenses, permits, permissions, and approvals to sell the Goods – see here for more information on the licensing required to sell food & drink.

How many people will turn up to my garden?

We can’t tell you how many visitors you’ll receive as it depends on a number of variables e.g. the total number of gardens participating, weather, location of other gardens near you. We will let all hosts know how many tickets have been sold, which can give you a ballpark figure.

If you’d like to attract more visitors we recommend getting together with any local gardens near you and opening on the same day, holding garden tours and workshops, and doing a letterbox drop around your neighborhood. We can provide you with flyers to distribute in your local area.

I’m not a garden guru, I don’t think I can share my knowledge.

We don’t expect you to be! We just want you to share your experiences. If you don’t know the answer just be honest about it and say you don’t know. If you’re able to attend our launch event for garden hosts on ? October we will be providing lots of information about hosting and you’ll be able to meet other hosts and share ideas and information. If you’re not able to attend the event we are happy to speak to you individually, or form a group of hosts who would like to be in touch digitally in the lead up to the event.

Do I need helpers on the day?

Yes, we recommend you have at least one person to help you on the day.  Then you’ll have someone to greet visitors as they arrive while you talk to others, pop in to the loo or have a tea and snack break. It’s also good to have someone to keep you company while waiting for the next visitor. Rope in a friend, family, neighbour, or members of local groups you belong to. It’s a fun day and they’ll get to be part of inspiring others to grow their own food. 

Unfortunately, with the number of open gardens and our limited resources, the IEGT team cannot organise volunteers to help you on the day.

What if I have an emergency and can no longer open my garden?

We understand emergencies and events outside of our control can occur. So just let us know as soon as possible and we’ll amend your registration.

Can I list the unique features of my garden?

Absolutely! The Garden registration form includes tick boxes of garden features and you have the opportunity to write a paragraph about your garden (to appear on the website). The more information you can provide about your garden, the better it will be for the visitors so they know what to expect.

Do I have to do tours and demonstrations?

No, this is optional. Some of our gardeners love doing demonstrations to share specific skills. If you do, it’s a way of attracting more visitors. We’ve also found, that holding garden tours at specific times (these can be specified when you register your garden) will save you having to repeat a lot of the same thing over and over. You can include this in the information you provide when registering your garden.

Are we covered by insurance?

Yes, the IEGT team has public liability insurance in place to cover visitors on the IEGT weekend. We can provide you with a copy of the insurance certificate and cover details if you would like more information on this.

What about COVID?

IEGT follows all covid safe requirements. We ask that hosts follow the COVID safe measures recommended by NSW Health for outdoor events: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/business

Are we required to label the plants?

Not necessarily. Having said that, if the plant is not commonly known you are likely to get questions about it from the visitors, so it may be a good idea to label them. But this is entirely up to you. We can provide you with print outs that you can laminate or recreate to put around your garden on the day.

Will I have to do much garden preparation?

No. Just do what you normally do, and plant what you know works best in your garden for the time of year so visitors can see the magic that is edible gardening. Our low effort tips to make a garden look instantly presentable would be: mulching – a bit of mulch goes a long way to make your veggies pop while reducing weeds and plant flowers! – a few flowers brings so much colour to a garden, and brings in all our beneficial insect friends. We may be able to help you out and provide some mulch and a couple of seedlings!

Do keep in mind the idea is to show what edible gardening looks like in real life, and to encourage everyones individual flare in gardening.

Will my address be displayed online?

The Trail will be open to the public and we will provide your address to our ticket holders via the PDF map emailed out two weeks before the trail. We may also be posting pictures and descriptions of your garden on our website, in media releases and social media as part of promoting the event. However, your address will not be displayed on our website.

Am I able to restrict access to certain parts of the garden?

Absolutely, especially if you think the area is not safe for visitors. We will provide you with signage to direct visitors to and around your garden, and a general entry sign for common safety concerns in a garden.

How can I help promote the event?

If you’re on social media, we’d love you to like our Facebook and Instagram accounts and to share and comment on our posts. You can also tag us when you post yourself using #edibleillawarra @food_fairness_Illawarra so we can re-share and cross-promote.

If you have any friends/ family/ people in your community that may be interested in hosting, you can direct them to Emily at gardentrail@foodfairnessillawarra.org.au! Host registrations close at the end of August.

What has been the experience of the previous Hosts?

This is the third year the Illawarra Edible Garden Trail has run, so we’ve provided a few testimonials from garden hosts from the last two years to give you an idea: 

 “I had a ball. It was lovely to chat to everyone and to nerd out with other keen growers. The only downside was opening both days meant that I didn’t get to go out and see everyone else’s space. Looking forward to next year!” Claudia

“An incredibly fun and inspiring weekend activity! I really enjoyed opening my garden for just one day and going around to see others on the other day! Last year i opened both days and didn’t have any friends or family around to keep me company, so this year i made sure i had a couple of folks around for the day and that made it a lot more enjoyable!” Georgia

What do I need to do if I wish to be a host?

You can register through our form: Host Registration Form 

Email us with any questions or to arrange a phone call: gardentrail@foodfairnessillawarra.org.au   

We will ask you for further information on your garden and once reviewed will upload your registration to the website. All you need to do is wait for the IEGT weekend and enjoy welcoming interested, like-minded people to your garden!

We will host a host get-together before and a thank you party after the event (dates TBC) where you can meet the other garden hosts and be part of the wonderful edible growing community.

How is the hosting opportunity being promoted and who are the main contacts for hosts?

Crop Swap groups at Bulli, Dapto, Otford, Port Kembla and Unanderra are reaching out to their communities of growers about the opportunity to participate as a host in 2025. We hope that word will spread far and wide to find more people who want to link in with our buzzing edible gardening communities. Each Crop Swap meets regularly to share home-grown produce, seeds and seedlings to make growing food a fun, social thing as well as to share knowledge about growing locally. Your local Crop Swap group will be your main point of contact for the Illawarra Edible Garden Trail across Wollongong Council Area in 2025. Contact details for each group are provided below:

For the Shellharbour region, there are currently no operating Crop Swaps, so your main contact is TBC. For now please contact Emily at gardentrail@foodfairnessillawarra.org.au

What plans do you have for next year?

This year in 2025 we are extending the already established Wollongong trail south to include Shellharbour Council, and we hope to expand the IEGT onto Kiama in 2026. This way, the Trail will truly be an Illawarra-wide regional event, linking growers all the way up and down the coast and giving our visitors a huge area to explore!