Te Puke district prominent in BOP Garden & Art Festival

Pongakawa chef Andrew Taggart will host Farm to Table as part of this year’s Garden & Art Festival.

Te Puke’s involvement in the biennial BOP Garden & Art Festival is flourishing.

Not only will local talented gardeners and artists be showcasing their creativity during the November 14-17 festival, but new Te Puke events have been added to the calendar.

A Farm to Table Lunch at the Stables and Gardens on Wheels are both being introduced to the festival this year.

The From Farm to Table event offers ticket-holders the opportunity to enjoy seasonal produce from chef Andrew Targett’s own Pongakawa garden. There will be the opportunity to enjoy flavoursome cuisine while taking in the surrounds of Andrew and Annemarie Cambie’s rural property with its focus on family, food and horses.

BOP Garden & Art Festival director Marc Anderson says the Farm to Table event is set to be highly popular, offering an opportunity to round up a group of friends to enjoy “delicious” salads, vegetables and condiments paired with sirloin or fish … while enjoying an atmospheric setting.

The lunch will be held on each of the festival dates at 1200 Maniatutu Rd, with tickets (bookings essential) selling for $30.

Also sparking interest is an inaugural Gardens on Wheels event, which has been organised by the BOP Sustainable Endeavours Charity Trust in collaboration with the festival team.

Organiser Karen Summerhays says this free community event will be a public display of all sorts of gardens on all sorts of wheels.

“The criteria will be: does it have wheels, with a garden on top? If so, you’re in,” Karen says.

Part of Te Puke’s Queen St will be sectioned off for the fun-filled event, which will be held from 10am until 3.30pm on Sunday, November 17. There will be prizes for exhibitor categories, plus exhibitors can sell items beside their displays.

Marc says what’s expected is a showcase of clever and quirky garden design and artistic flair, with gardens atop all sorts, from tricycles’ back trays – yes there will be a children’s section - to car boots, to wheelbarrow, to trailers to the back of utes.

“It’s going to be a great day, with a garden market, food and coffee, a garden wheels parade at noon, and miniature garden displays as well as whatever wheeled gardens people turn up with. It’s not too late to get your ideas together.”

For more information check out Garden on Wheels on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Marc says Te Puke people can look forward to a garden and art trail (sponsored by Palmers Bethlehem) that will include some newcomers as well as long-time favourites – both generally and locally. The latter includes Gael Blaymires’ daffodil garden which was not in the last festival although had featured previously. Another firm favourite available to visit again is Ron and Pat Howie’s garden.

Newcomers include Andrew and Annemarie’s food forest.

Marc says the festival’s perimeters have changed slightly this year. The northernmost gardens are in Whakamarama and Ōmokoroa, not Katikati, as in the past, and stretching down to encompass Pukehina and Pongakawa.

Bayleys is proud to again be festival partner. For more information and tickets go to the festival website. Outlets selling the tickets include Pacifica Home and Garden Store, Tropicana Gardenworld and Te Puke Florists.