June Blooms
Yes, I know that I’m a few days late, but I wanted to share this feature that RTE made - about me! And they are calling me a Climate Hero! I was delighted to get the chance to talk about the importance of choosing locally grown flowers, whether you buy them from a flower farmer, or grow them yourself.
Irish Flower week is July 3rd to July 10th, watch the Flower Farmers of Ireland instagram for competitions, give-aways, and other lovely flowery things. And follow the hashtag #IrishFlowerWeek2022!
Back to the review of June ….
So as usual in June, my garden was at its peak. There were foxgloves and alliums, the tree lupin was spectacular and fragrant. The calendula in the tunnel was pumping out blooms. Now that we have passed the solstice, many of the plants are concentrating on making seeds, that rain fuelled flush of rapid growth is over, and while we have lots of summer left, we are moving towards the winter now.
Here’s a video that we made to promote a Flower Bar event in John Dalys while the garden was at it’s peak - the event was great fun, and there will probably be another one in September, but you can enjoy all the lovely flowers at their peak.
I ran 2 workshops with the Refill mill in June- one was an Edible Flower workshops - We had drinks, savoury and sweet foods, all made extra special with the addition of some edible flowers.
Eibhlin and I also ran a natural skincare workshop, participants went home with lots of self care treats - I have a lovely facemask waiting for me in the fridge!
That’s it for workshops until August - I’m taking July off - sort of - I have a wedding (my first) to get ready for at the end of July, so lots of practicing making bridal and bridesmaids bouquets, and buttonholes (my favourite). I hope that I’ll be able to share some photos of that with you. Also there will be a lot going on for #IrishFlowerWeek2022. Hoping to have some fun with flower crowns in Dublin…
I’m due to talk about composting on ‘Lets Go Green’ on Midlands 103 - Mondays form 7-9. It might be Monday the 4th of July when that show is broadcast. I’ll post a link to the recording next newsletter.
The Fleadh is on at the start of August - I’m sponsoring bouquets for a Comhaltas event and making stock for the Refill Mill.
I’ll be doing a few events for the Westmeath Libraries in August and September - if you’re interested you can book at the relevant library.
11th August – Kilbeggan Library – Jam Jar flower arranging at 6.20pm
18th August – Moate Library – Growing sprouts & microgreens at 6.20pm
25th August – Castlepollard Library – Gardening for Biodiversity at 6.20pm
8th September – Athlone Library – Seed Saving at 6.20pm
22nd Sept - Mullingar Library – No dig gardening at 6pm
I found this lovely video about composting and soil that I really enjoyed - hope you do too!
And in keeping with tradition, I’ll finish with a song - seeing as I’m now a hero… (just for one day)
Enjoy the long evenings, the light, the birds song and any bit of sunshine that we get!