Show off your kooky veggie patch and win
Chooks with attitude, wonky veggies, quality compost and creative food patches: keen gardeners, it’s time to pull on the gumboots and get snapping to wow some of Australia’s biggest names in gardening.
Sunshine Coast residents growing food in the backyard, balcony, school patch, community garden or even the windowsill have the chance to impress the nation, as entries open for the annual Grow It Local Awards.
Judges include Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis, River Cottage's Paul West, permaculture legend Hannah Moloney, world record-holding large vegetable grower Kevin Fortey, and composting coach and author Kate Flood.
Supported by Sunshine Coast Council’s Living Smart Program, the Grow It Local initiative aims to bring fun and creativity to food growing, with the awards featuring quirky categories to engage growers of all means and expertise.
Grow It Local co-founder, broadcaster and author Paul West said growing food was a practical and accessible action for anyone to live more sustainably.
“Collectively, home growers are powerful positive change agents — our awards are a way to celebrate and uplift this great work,” Paul said.
Grow It Local ambassador Costa Georgiadis said he looks forward to judging the awards each year.
“Cultivating diversity is central to the Grow It Local vision in our gardens, communities and for the planet too, and these awards really highlight the brilliant positive work of diverse gardeners across Australia,” Costa said.
Entries close on Sunday March 31, 2024.
To enter the Grow It Local Awards, gardeners must:
- Be a member of the Grow It Local community, with registration a free and easy process at growitlocal.com
- Post a photo showing their entry with the hashtag #GrowItLocalAwards2024 on Instagram or Facebook
- Tag @growitlocal
- Mention Sunshine Coast Council and the award category in the post caption.
Grow It Local Awards 2024 categories:
- Australia’s Biggest Vegetable
- Homegrown Harvest Award
- Australia’s Best Chicken Name
- The ‘Why I Love My Patch’ Award
- The Wonkiest Vegetable Award
- Sustainable Gardener Award
- School Garden Award – growing the future
- Best Compost Award
To check out winning entries of previous years, visit the Grow It Local website.
2023 Wonkiest vegetables and honourable mentions.
