April 2025 - Summer? Winter?

...a roller coaster of a month...

Apr 30, 2025

Well, here we are after a hugely busy April - and a busy May to come. We had some exceptionally warm weather at the start of the month, and I didn’t manage to open the back door on my tunnel, so it got very hot. My Ranunculus decided that it’s time to hibernate, so the glorious blooms of March have reduced somewhat. Luckily I also planted some in large pots outside, so they will be coming on stream this week.

One of the perks of being self employed is that I should be able to make the most of weather like this, unfortunately, this time around I had so many workshops scheduled that going kayaking wasn’t a possibility. Must do better with scheduling! Not complaining about being successful, though!

My apple tree is in full blossom, fingers crossed for lots of apples!

In other news, we now have four workshop listed so far for the Crafty Yellowship project, and more to come later in the summer.

And continuing with the weather - that hot weather was followed by torrential rain, hailstones, horrible cold winds and more torrential rain. Happy that we needed some moisture in the soil, but it was exceptionally heavy. Lough Owel is not looking very full, which is worrying since it’s the main water supply for Mullingar. And now we’re finishing up April with some more heat and sunshine - back door in the tunnel is wide open, and fingers crossed that nothing in there will burn - I had to take out my potatoes - luckily they were in containers - the soft green growth was wilting in the heat.

Seasonal Activities

I have been doing lots of seed planting - courgettes, squash, the half hardy annual flowers like French Marigold. I have been planting out earlier sowings, I filled a tray with lovely strawflowers, and the slugs proceeded to munch on all of them,

It’s a busy time! Beds to be weeded so that the new flowers can be planted. Trying to time the planting so that the plants get rained on - but preferably not in the form of hailstones!

Coole Meadow

So, we got all the potatoes planted - in out no dig donkey mare beds, and also in some sheep fencing bins with composted grass, manure and some spent compost. These didn’t work out great last year, hopefully we will have a bit more success this year. We have been a bit more methodical with the layers of organic material. The potatoes at the top are volunteers from last year.

The broom is providing colour in the field, and structure and colour in my subscription flowers.

We still have lots of composted hay and regular compost to use - now we need to find places for it, before we start in on the mowing again. What mowing we are doing now around the trees, we are using to mulch straight away - no grass or weed seeds yet to worry about.

Workshops

A lot of workshops to tell you about!

The Crafty Yellowship kicked off really well with ‘Bloom where you’re planted’. Here’s a lovely creation from the night by Emma from Mullingar Gathers.

I ran a workshop in the Rediscovery centre where I helped people to make wormeries out of 10 lt Mayo buckets (generously donated by chippers) and old election posters. No one was grossed out, and lots of happy worms went to new homes.

I had 2 outings to Cavan, one for foraging for wild garlic and making pesto al fresco, and another for a soap making workshop. I’m getting rather fond of Cavan, and there’s more to come later in the year for that lovely county.

I’m almost finished with a 4 week gardening course in Water st community garden in Castlepollard - it has been a lovely time, with a nice mix between learning and hands on practice. The no-dig beds are looking good, and hopefully we will have some plants ready to go in next weekend. The best looking bed at the moment is the edible flowers/herb bed, with borage, calendula and feverfew all looking fantastic.

I headed down to Portaloise and delivered a gardening for biodiversity workshop, lovely to meet people who are keen to increase biodiversity and do the right thing by Mother Nature.

I delivered an intro to no-dig gardening workshop in Mullingar, Moate, Athlone and Castlepollard. Normally we overbook a little, because since these events are free, people book but don’t show up. (Don’t do this) Moate proved us very wrong - we had a full house of 20 very interested gardeners who all went home quite happy with seeds and plants.

Final worksop of the month was a Sunday afternoon Kombucha workshop - I really enjoy the part of these workshops where we have some cheese and crackers and taste different flavours - this one didn’t disappoint!

Flower Farming

So, as I mention above, my tunnel ranunculus are headed for hibernation - they are plants which normally grow in the Mediteranean under deciduous trees and bloom in early spring, so they are done for this year.

I had butterfly ranunculus in pots, and they were doing fine, but the heat stressed them - pots are drier and hotter than the ground - and they all have greenfly now. Lesson learned.

My biennials - sweet william, honesty, foxgloves, sweet rocket are all doing great. The honesty has bloomed and the others are on the verge. I won’t pick the honesty, although it does smell great - but it’s even more beautiful when it goes to seed. Aquilegia (a perennial) has self seeded all over and is in full bloom.

We (the flower farmers) are headed to Bloom again, and getting ready in all kinds of ways for what promises to be a great event.

And, believe it or now, now is the time that we organise next years Ranunculus order! This is one of the great things about belonging to the flower farmers - the opportunity to place wholesale orders for gorgeous varieties.

Thanks for reading Big Sky Flowers Newsletter! This post and all posts are public so feel free to share!

Learning

Here’s a teapot and vase that I had a lot of fun making in my pottery class. The vase turned out a lovely pewter colour - I’ll share it with some flowers in it!

I learned that it’s possible to get sunburned in March sitting by the sea.

I also learned that Greenpark Meadows is not ready for biodiversity - not going to say more here, but if you’re interested, ask me about it.

Upcoming events

Loads coming up in May!

The Crafty Yellowship project- We have 5 different themes/craft practices, taking place in Mullingar and Castlepollard. Next one up is “Lets go Bananas” in Castlepollard - 14th May, 7-9pm. Should be a fun night with some botanical decoration and block printing.

Back making worm homes - this time in Longford on May 7th - in EDI centre Longford

Headed to Cavan in July for a Kombucha workshop in P3 cafe. Lisa who runs the cafe reached out to me earlier in the month, and I’m delighted to collaborate with her on this, and to reach a new audience in Cavan. Wish I lived closer, I’d be dropping in to the cafe for yummies on a regular basis!

Mullingar Gathers has lots on too - if you haven’t been to one of their events you’re missing out! Games night Friday May 2nd. And then an afternoon tea party at Cuige on May 4th - if I haven’t gone camping I’ll definitely be there - to book a ticket click here. And best of all the community supper on May 17th, always a great feed and good conversation. AND there’s a plant swap on Saturday May 10th, 12-3pm at the Refill Mill. Bring your extra plants and/or take home plants that were someone else’s spares. Revel in natures abundance!

The May bank holiday weekend is happening in Mullingar - check out the Bailiu line up - lots for all ages and tastes.

I’ll be teaching Soapmaking in November in Coolamber Gardens - quite the posh venue and a wonderful day out if you wanted to treat yourself or a friend.

Biodiversity week is May 16th to 25th - I’m running some events with family resource setters, and there will be a grand opening of the Streamstown pollinator trail on May 23rd - keep and eye on my social media for details.

Cruinniú na nÓg will be coming up in early June - I’m running a flower crown workshop in Water St, and my delightful collaborator Bertille is running workshop looking at making percussion instruments out of recycled materials. It shoddy be a lovely day for the community - there will be a lunch for participants and opportunities to socialise for all.

Big Sky Flowers Newsletter