Congratulations to all the winners of our 2025 Community Gardens Australia Awards!
Note: no entries were received for Young Community Gardener for the 2025 CGA Awards.
Thanks to our sponsor WaterUps for supporting the 2025 Community Gardens Australia Awards.
COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARD for gardens that reach out to their communities.
WINNER: Woolgoolga Community Gardens
Woolgoolga Community Gardens (AKA Woopi Gardens) is a cherished gathering place connecting individuals, community groups, businesses and local services. New arrivals often find friendships, local knowledge and opportunity here. The garden often hosts activity groups such as yoga, tai chi, music groups, creative and wellbeing gatherings, and is used by Rotary, Lions and Mission Australia for meetings. School groups visit to learn about planting, bees and composting, and they have welcomed Duke of Edinburgh participants and local disability services. They maintain strong partnerships with local businesses, collecting coffee grounds, food waste and woodchip mulch to produce tonnes of compost while modelling sustainable living.
The garden also recycles paper, cardboard, jars and plastics. As a registered Centrelink and TURSA Work for the Dole host, many participants continue volunteering beyond their placements, finding belonging and purpose in the welcoming environment. The garden regularly contributes to Woopi News, the local news magazine, and maintains active social media to stay connected. They supported a proposed local sustainable community farm by hosting a fundraiser and providing endorsement, which led to a first evening music event with internationally acclaimed folk act ‘We Mavericks’. These partnerships strengthen local resilience and cultural life.
Beyond gardening, the garden offers informal support. Visitors are often guided toward employment or services, and many find the space beneficial for mental wellbeing. Morning tea is freely shared, and volunteers contribute as much or as little as they wish. The culturally diverse membership reflects the broader Woolgoolga community.
Find out more about Woolgoolga Community Gardens at: https://www.woopigardens.com.au/
COMMUNITY GARDENER OF THE YEAR for a quiet achiever who is always there to support others.
WINNER: Michael Hughes, Edgeworth David Community Garden
The community garden champion is Michael Hughes from Edgeworth David Community Garden. Mike is a tireless, inventive and clever man who has over the past 5 years, with a little help from others, has created trellises, archways, skylights in the shed and greenhouse, and a commemorative pergola. He has also built several swales and berms to reduce water run-off and has conducted a free 10-week basic permaculture course at the garden for our members and volunteers. Mike has achieved this while working privately and tending to his own very large and productive permaculture garden. The garden has thrived over the past five years under his keen hands. Mike is friendly, informative and happy to share his skills, philosophies and knowledge with others.
Find out more about Edgeworth David Community Garden at: https://www.facebook.com/hornsbyecogarden/
SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION for gardens using great ideas that improve environmental resilience.
WINNER: Berkeley Vale Community Garden
Berkeley Vale Community Garden site was without potable water. Water was captured from adjoining roof tops into water tanks. The average member age is above 60 years so carrying water in containers was challenging and dangerous. Installing a water supply would have cost more than $8,000. Through a grant from the FreeMasons, the Garden was able to design and install and solar powered pump system that provides a pressurised water supply for all garden beds. Captured roof water can now safely be used at no ongoing costs.
Find out more about Berkeley Vale Community Garden at: https://bvnc.org.au/community-garden/
BIODIVERSITY CHAMPION for a garden promoting greater biodiversity both within the garden and in the wider community.
WINNER: North Brighton Community Garden
In July 2025, the North Brighton Community Garden partnered with Holdfast Bay Council to transform land behind the garden into a thriving Pocket Park. By layering cardboard and mulch to naturally suppress kikuyu grass, volunteers planted over 300 plants of native species to promote local biodiversity. This restored ecosystem mimics pre-European grasslands, creating a vital sanctuary for native insects and birds. Working together with the council and wider community to restore this land has strengthened connections with the environment and fostered a shared sense of local stewardship.
Find out more about North Brighton Community Garden at: https://www.northbrightoncg.com/
PERMACULTURE CHAMPION for gardens that have put inspiring ideas into action and champion permaculture practice.
WINNER: Moodji Farm
Moodji Farm applies permaculture principles across its entire operation. The site uses zoning and microclimate sectors, with native and non-native windbreaks to protect crops and structures. Raised beds and hugelkultur swales improve soil health, water retention, and fertility, while six distinct composting systems recycle all organic matter on-site. As a non-powered site, energy for volunteer catering is supplied by a solar dish, and all inputs are organic. Animals, including bees and chickens, support ecological balance. Design and integration decisions are made collaboratively, using a consensus-based volunteer model, ensuring all members contribute to resilient, regenerative, produce sharing, and self-sustaining systems.
Find out more about Moodji Farm at: https://www.facebook.com/eatdirtpermaculture/
BUSHTUCKER GARDEN for growing, showcasing and educating the community about Indigenous foods and their uses.
WINNER: Warrane Community Garden
Warrane Community Garden’s Native Garden, planted in March 2022, is now well established with 54 locally native plant species. Twenty-seven species are documented Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) food plants. Visitors use a numbered map to identify plants, learn about their uses and growth habits, and, where known, see Palawa names. Highlights include Grey Saltbush, whose leaves make a popular crisp snack, kanikung (Pigface) fruit, whose salty, sweet flavour intrigues visiting school groups, and highly productive Bower Spinach. The garden showcases local plants while connecting us to the knowledge and practices of the Mumirimina whose country we stand on.
Find out more about Warrane Community Garden at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/warranecommunitygarden/
A view of the Bushtucker Garden: Blue flowered plant – Linum marginale – Native Flax. Seeds can be eaten. To the left – Pelargonium australe- Southern Storksbill. The root can be cooked and eaten. Photo: courtesy Warrane Community Garden.
