Food growing is taking centre stage in the Bay of Plenty this weekend as backyard and community gardens open their gates to the public.

Tauranga’s Sustainable Backyards calendar, run by Envirohub Bay of Plenty, offers activities throughout March, with the Community Garden Festival Day on March 14 and the Edible Garden Tour on March 15 offering a glimpse of what can flourish just beyond the fence.

Envirohub BOP project co-ordinator for Community Garden Festival Day, Te Ara Dirkse, said the aim was to show people how community growing works and to inspire them to give it a try.

“It’s really about opening the gates and letting people see what’s possible.”

Thriving vegetable gardens at the Ōtūmoetai Railway Community Garden.

Participating gardens, which will open their gates from 10am-1pm on Saturday, include Ngāti Kahu Māra Kai in Bethlehem, Merivale Community Garden, Ōtūmoetai Railway Community Garden, Rock Pāpāmoa Community Garden, Giggles Childcare Centre Community Garden in Te Puke, Linton Park Community Centre in Rotorua, and Kai Rotorua. Each site will offer its own mix of activities.

At Rock Pāpāmoa Community Garden, chef James Broad will host a live cooking demonstration using char-grilled garden produce and gourmet dips.

Ngāti Kahu Māra Kai will showcase its newly-planted food forest, with permaculture teachers leading guided tours and explaining how the garden will help supply kai to the local community.

And no matter which garden families visit, a children’s scavenger hunt will be waiting.

Dirkse said support from the Tauranga Western Bay Community Event Fund meant organisers could offer demonstrations and workshops at no cost to the public.

On Sunday, the focus will shift to backyard growing with the Edible Garden Tour in the Ōtūmoetai area from 12.30pm-5pm.

The tour is organised by Grow on Ōtūmoetai, an initiative working to build a more connected and food-secure community.

Facilitator Ruth McLean said the tour was part of a “fun food revolution” showcasing suburban residents already growing their own food.

The aim was to inspire others and highlight how practical gardening can strengthen communities and reconnect people with what they eat.

One stop would feature a tiny garden created less than a year ago, where the homeowner was harvesting vegetables within a few months.

Another property had long replaced its lawn with fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.

Other sites would demonstrate creative use of space, including a once-weed‑ridden strip of unused railway land now growing kūmara and kamokamo and hosting chickens.

The tour would also include a shared “street garden” where neighbours cultivate a communal plot and spend time together. Visitors would hear directly from the gardeners themselves, who would share their experiences and answer questions.

To find out more about the Community Garden Day Festival on March 14 and the Edible Gardens Tour on March 15, visit: https://envirohub.org.nz/programmes/sustainable-backyards