You’ll have the chance to tour one of the region’s hidden gems and most inspiring productive gardens when Michael and Tracey Mogridge’s Witchcliffe property features on this year’s Edible Gardens Festival.
Coming on May 24&25, the annual not-for-profit gardening and sustainability festival features brand new open gardens to tour, live demonstrations and expert workshops. See the full program HERE.
One of the gardens on the program is the Mogridge’s 150-acre regenerative farming plot, home to a Black Angus beef herd. While it’s a very large property, there is much to see and learn here for the home gardener. Tracey has created a bountiful and beautiful fenced veggie garden. It’s bursting with seasonal annual and perennial crops that is spray-free, with cover crops and green manures used to boost soil health.
Plus, she’s built a large DIY greenhouse which means she grows year-round tomatoes, cucumbers and other crops normally associated with summer. She’s mad about worms. And has several industrial-size worm farms to process garden and kitchen waste and return goodness to the soil.
Tracey’s epic edible garden includes a bountiful fenced veggie garden
Using animals and up-cycling in the garden
An animal lover, she has geese, ducks and chickens for weeding, pest control, eggs and to supply plenty of nitrogen-rich manure for the compost. A newly planted orchard is also well worth a look. As are the extensive native gardens to bring in wildlife and pollinators.
Meanwhile, this garden is a masterclass on using recycled and upcycled materials. As a keen gardener and regenerative farmer, Tracey is passionate about producing high quality, chemical-free food and her message is to “be curious where your food comes from”. “Take your time. Have a wander. Enjoy this superb property – and don’t forget to say g’day to the newly-born calves,” she says.
During the festival, her husband Michael will be running live demonstrations on creating your own “garden super brews”. That includes homemade seaweed spray, soil inoculants and microbial teas to turbocharge the amount of life in your soil.
“Make sure you bring plenty of change too, for the delicious morning tea and preserves stall being run by volunteers to raise funds for the Margaret River Community Garden,” says Tracey.
Tracey’s DIY green house means she can grow summer crops year-round
More inspiring gardens during the Edible Gardens Festival
The Mogridge’s is one of three gardens are open to the community from 9am to 1pm on Saturday of the festival and a different three gardens will feature on Sunday. Locals can tour the gardens, hear from the gardeners who created them, pick up tips and inspiration for growing your own food, catch a live demonstration on a different topic at each garden, and buy delicious local produce, food and drinks.
Saturday and Sunday day tickets are $20 for adults and free for children 16 and under. Meanwhile, in-depth workshops run by local experts on a range of gardening topics are ticketed separately at $25 each. And are held in the afternoon of both days. Grab your tickets HERE.
“Tracey and Michael’s garden is sure to be a hit, as are the other five gardens on the program which all showcase real-life edible gardens and gardeners keen to share their passion, top tips, successes as well as failures,” says festival organiser Trevor Paddenburg.
Edible Gardens Festival organiser Trev Paddenburg
Local businesses also get on board
Margaret River Mitre 10 is again supporting the festival, with ticket-holders able to cash in on a 20 per cent discount on all fruit trees, potted plants and vegetable seedlings. Yates Australia is donating thank-you gifts for the gardeners and volunteers.
“Whether you’re already growing your own food or want to make a start, the festival is the perfect chance to get up close and personal with experienced green thumbs. And tap into an immense bank of local, place-based knowledge to help you on your food-growing journey,” Trev says.
He thanked the event’s community supporters, partners and sponsors including the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, Margaret River Regional Environment Centre, Margaret River Mitre 10, Yates Australia, Lazarus Horticulture Services and Landscape Supplies, and South West Tree Services. “We couldn’t do this event without them, as well as the gardeners generously opening their properties and the dedicated team of event volunteers,” he said.
