Organised by Slow Food Singleton

About

Visit 11 local gardens in & around Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley & chat with the gardeners to learn about techniques for growing vegetables, fruits & other edibles. Learn about gardening successes and failures, and how you can grow food in your own garden.
Choose the gardens that you want to visit and make your own itinerary for the day.
Addresses and details of gardens will be sent to ticket holders in the week before the Trail.

Proudly organised by local community group Slow Food Singleton www.facebook.com/slowfoodsingleton and featuring the gardens of members.

A summary of each garden is further down this page.

Visit our hub for the day at the Singleton Community Garden: see what's growing, chat to gardeners; the Singleton Red Cross stall will sell homemade snacks, lunches, cold drinks, cakes & slices; learn about Slow Food Singleton, the Singleton Seed Library and the Community Garden.

Location

Get directions

TICKETS PRICES ARE:

• $10 adult
• $5 Slow Food Singleton current financial member
• $20 family

Please purchase via the 'Get tickets' button.

Tickets will also be sold at Singleton Community Garden, Bathurst St Singleton (cash only) on the day of the Trail from 10am to approx 1pm.

ACCESS TO GARDENS
You will need to provide your own transport to each garden.
Ticketholders will receive full details of the addresses, opening hours and accessiblity of each garden in the week before the Trail.
Please note that only the Singleton Community Garden is accessible by wheelchair, and most gardens are not suitable for mobility walkers.
Pets are strictly NOT allowed on the Trail.
Note that Trail day will run regardless of the weather; a bit of rain doesn't deter gardeners!

A summary of the gardens:
Some of these gardens were in our first Trail in 2022, although they will look different this year, and there are 5 new ones!

Singleton Community Garden (open 10am to approx 1pm)

Our wonderful Singleton Community Garden on Bathurst St (near Harriet St) will be the hub for the Trail (see Costa's video of the garden in 2022 on our Slow Food Singleton Facebook page) Chat to the gardeners and see the extensive range of vegies growing in raised beds, their excellent composting systems and the Indigenous Learning Circle and Bush Tucker Garden with edible plants grown there.
Slow Food Singleton will also sell tickets for the Trail (cash) and have info stalls: learn about the Slow Food movement, our local activities, the Singleton Seed Library and 'borrow' some seeds (if you are a Singleton LIbrary member) or BYO seedlings to swap!
The Red Cross Singleton Branch will have a stall (cash only) from 10am until sold out, selling refreshments and cakes.

A garden just east of Singleton (open 10am to 4pm)

This garden is fully fenced and netted (bird and possum proof), constructed 2 years ago on a former half-sized tennis court. It has a concrete base and 22 raised beds, most holding 2 cubic metres of soil, plus there are many pots. Beds are constructed with standard sized treated pine sleepers and metal corner posts, lined with plastic and internally braced.  There is a vast variety of plants: berry crops, dwarf trees, vines, perennial and seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs. Good use is made of horse and chicken manure, spoilt hay and other compostable materials for filling the beds. A seaweed / water fertilising system (using a 1000 litre IBC container) and 4 composting bins also feature.

A Singleton Heights garden (open 10am to 4pm)

This sloping suburban backyard garden is just 3 years old and features a small ‘food forest’ full of fruit trees and many perennial herbs and flowers. It even has a small flowing creek and pond housing the resident goldfish and mussels. The more traditional raised bed section is used mostly for annual  vegetables and herbs, as well as other garden beds throughout the yard growing other useful plants. There are over 70 medicinal and edible plants and also chooks foraging.

A garden in The Retreat (open 10am to 4pm)
(see Costa's video of this garden in 2022 on our Slow Food Singleton Facebook page)

The main garden space is within a fully enclosed 10m x 19m struture, covered in netting and contains 17 raised wicking beds, growing all sorts of seasonal vegetables. An opportunity to see how to keep birds, bats, tree roots etc at bay! There is also a ground level bed outside the enclosure for things that won’t be eaten by birds etc and another raised bed for larger or spreading vegetables. Two bulk compost bins are also used for this garden.

A garden just west of Singleton (open 10am to 2pm)

This garden has been established by an enthusiasic 15 year old gardener and is part of a large rural garden.
While still in its early years, the garden already has raised and potted gardens, containing a variety of vegetables, herbs, native bush tucker plants, and a few fruit trees. There is also a worm farm and a good composting area - chook and sheep bedding and manure are used in the composting. The raised garden beds are homemade from recycled materials. Very little is not reused or recycled.

 A garden in downtown Singleton (open 10am-2pm)

A small urban vegie garden established in the last 2 years from a bare backyard. Growing fruit, vegetables, bee attracting plants and natives as well as chooks. The garden is designed to be portable: the beds are portable once the soil is removed and there are plenty of pots – an ideal setup for a renter

A Singleton Garden (open 10am to 4pm)

This garden run by a community group was established in 2012 and grows food crops to make and donate items and meals to local groups. It has 5 garden beds, some with filtered shade cloth covers. A variety of vegetables and citrus trees are grown. They use composting/recycling etc in their methods where possible.

A garden approx 10km from Singleton (open 10am to 4pm)

This large and open garden is in a rural setting, surrounded by paddocks. The house garden, established 15 years ago, is a fenced garden with raised recycled wood and rock-edged beds.
There are citrus trees, seasonal vegetables are grown randomly and a lot of vegetables are self sown.
The gardens are well mulched with hay.

A garden in downtown Singleton (open 10am to 4pm)

This large country garden has many fruit trees (fig, citrus, macadamia) and berry and rhubarb patches. There are wicking beds for vegetables, compost bins, a worm farm and garden beds for roses and flowers. Another interesting feature is a shallow vegetable bed above concrete water tanks that are being used as a retaining wall.There is a large native plant area, as well as Japanese mini-forests in the adjoining paddock to provide habitat for native animals and birds.
Singleton Red Cross will also be selling plants from this garden (cash only).

A garden approx 20km east of Singleton (open 10am to 4pm)

Planting began on this 15 acre property 5 years ago. A horse round-yard was converted to a vegetable garden with 6 large raised garden beds, plus fruit trees. Another garden area has 5 sunken cast iron bathtubs for garlic, onion, potatoes etc and also includes cherry trees, kiwi fruit etc. There is a dedicated fruit orchard with approx. 40 fruit trees, and a fenced herb garden near the house with raised garden beds, including 2 worm farms. Wind breaks are planted around food areas, and chooks forage throughout. Native trees have been planted to encourage wildlife habitat.

A garden approx 17km east of Singleton (open 10am to 2pm)

This 100 acre farm is inspired by biodynamic and permaculture principles. About 20 acres is under cultivation, mainly a wide variety of fruit trees - apricots, plums, figs, apples and stone fruit. There are also vegetable and berry gardens, with sheep and chickens used to keep grass at bay. They have a greenhouse set up as well, and the remaining property is managed for wildlife habitat.

Questions?

Contact Event Organiser