The most important thing to pack for Saturday might be an empty ice cream container. South Alive's listing for its Bountiful Backyard Workshops asks children heading to the bucket garden or microgreens sessions to bring their own bucket or container, and it suggests an old ice cream tub will do the job nicely.
The workshops run all day on Saturday 14 November at South Alive's base, 262 Ness Street in Appleby, and are hosted jointly by the Riverton Environment Centre and South Alive. Entry is by gold coin donation. The organisers warn that "Spaces are limited - arrive early to secure your spot!", which is worth taking seriously for the morning sessions in particular.
It matters because the day takes the skills that usually sit with experienced gardeners, from raising seedlings to building soil and keeping worms, and hands them to whoever turns up, at a price that suits any household. It also brings a Riverton favourite into South Invercargill. The Riverton Environment Centre, run by the South Coast Environment Society from Palmerston Street in Riverton, has made Bountiful Backyards its signature event, with a full workshop weekend at Riverton in early October last year. On its website the society wrote: "A huge thank you to everyone who came to our Bountiful Backyards Workshop Weekend in Riverton on October 4th & 5th 2025!"
The programme is built in four blocks. From 10am to 11.15am, adults can learn seed sowing and plant growing. From 11.30am to 12.45pm there is a quick and easy vegetable garden session for adults, while children make bucket gardens. After lunch, from 1.15pm to 2.30pm, adults get a no-dig garden workshop and children learn to grow microgreens. The day finishes with a family workshop on worm farming from 2.30pm to 3.45pm. The organisers add one firm rule: "Children under 14 must be supervised by an adult."
The host venue fits the subject. South Alive grew out of the Invercargill City Council's urban rejuvenation strategy in its 2012 to 2022 long-term plan, and it describes its aim as "A vibrant and diverse community that takes the lead in its own future." Its teams include Fruit and Nut, Sustainable Living and Beautification, and food security sits on its list of projects. The Riverton centre has also brought its gardening ideas to the city before: in February last year it ran Bountiful Backyards tours of three Invercargill backyards, including a quarter-acre section with more than 30 vegetable varieties and a 1908 Tudor-style home being restored as an organic urban homestead.
None of the sessions asks for more than a little time and a willingness to get soil under your fingernails. By the end of the day, a family could go home with seeds sown, a plan for a no-dig bed and a fair idea of what worms need to turn kitchen scraps into compost, all of it starting with that old ice cream container.
The Bountiful Backyard Workshops are on Saturday 14 November from 10am at South Alive, 262 Ness Street, Appleby, Invercargill. Entry is by gold coin donation; South Alive can be reached on (03) 218 6882.
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