Our 2nd summer outing took us the Derbyshire village of Eyam. We had such a good turn out that we were split into 2 groups of 13 ladies, enabling everyone to spend time with Gill Bagshawe from ‘Wild in the Country’ and also visit the museum which was next door. It was a very beautiful sight as we arrived early evening, and saw all the different flowers she was growing.
Gill has been growing and selling cut flowers since 2015, from her small rented plot in the village, where she lives. Her motto is “Grown not flown, providing seasonal cut flowers for humans & nectar for bees and butterflies”. She has 20 raised beds, plus perennial borders and various pots when she can find a space! We were greeted with a cup of tea and delicious cake, and sat under a gazebo next to her pretty garden shed whilst Gill talked about how she eventually came to enjoy her passion for growing flowers full time, and then brought out a selection of her flowers.
She introduced us to the 3 types of flowers that she grew, the 3 F’s – Focus, Foliage and Fillers, and showed us how these 3 categories could be used when thinking about a flower arrangement. She supplies wedding venues, individuals, shops and anyone who wants to have fresh, locally grown flowers. Gill encouraged us to avoid supermarket flowers if possible, as very often they have been grown in poly tunnels and flown half way round the world! Flowers from the Farm is an organisation which encourages people to shop locally for flowers.
We have just 3 more meetings in 2022, including a celebration of our 60th Anniversary in September. Our membership has grown this year and we are now fully established at Swythamley Centre as our meeting venue, so our future is looking healthy! Guests are always welcome to join us on the 1st Tuesday each month at 7.30pm.