A little idea came to fruition on Monday and it was a resounding success on so many levels.
Our garden is large with lots of lawn, a few shade trees, a veggie patch and an orchard in it’s infancy but on the whole. still very much a blank canvas. A story, written by my dear friend Claire Mactaggart, in the March 2013 issue of Australian Country Style magazine caught my attention. It was titled “Room to Move” and featured renown garden designer, Clint Kenny. Bringing a Garden Designer to “Mystery park” was a great idea, but imagine if we could share Clint’s ideas and expertise and give inspiration to the wider community while concurrently raising funds for our local branch of ICPA.
Fast forward to Monday, and with lots of support and organisation from Claire and a small band of helpers from our ICPA branch we hosted 80 odd adults and 50 children on the lawn.
There were so many highlights of the day, but I think one of the most memorable for many people, will be the children’s Produce Stall. It held lots of goodies including pumpkins, sweet potatoes, eggs, play dough, freshly harvested rocket and basil, limes, capsicums, basil plants, mango trees, strawberry plants and numerous cuttings potted up. It was solely operated by the children, aged 11 and under. Their entrepreunerial skills astonished us all with bargains throughout the day. Marketing strategies included discounting and more for less. 4 limes for 2 dollars anyone? Shelves were bare by lunch.
Not only did the children manage the Produce Stall ….. registrations were taken, name tags assigned, lucky door allocated and money exchanged by a little team. They really shone!
Guests enjoyed lots of home baked, freshly made biscuits, slices, scones and cakes for morning tea followed by an array of freshly made sandwiches. The crab ones disappeared quickly, as did the smoked salmon, egg, smoked beef and cucumber.
The girls who kept the kitchen humming and a happy place need applauding!
My niece, had the thermomix working hard on Saturday, making up these drink concentrates. Guests, both young and old, enjoyed the refreshing ginger beer, lemon and raspberry cordial. The good old soda stream came into it’s own, adding the bubbles on the day!
Thank-you to Reid Liquor who donated a carton of wine to serve with lunch.
Tess flew home from Brisbane for the week-end. She is a girl of many talents and was an absolute domestic goddess for three days. She and Lauren were a great and gorgeous team!
With everyone fed and watered, we introduced Clint to the crowd.
Guests intently listened as he shared his ideas on garden design.
Bob Conaghan generously donated five beautiful pens handcrafted from local timber. Lucky we had a couple of talented men in the crowd who could run an auction. They quickly drummed up $220 from the crowd. And that fellow with the pen in his hand wouldn’t take my bids!?
Clint concluded the afternoon with a little showcase and explanation of some of the tools of the trade. I was thrilled to see this little store on my lawn and did happen to spot a child or two doing some mother’s day shopping. You can browse the Garden Tool Shop online as well.
For me personally, the whole day achieved much. It was wonderful to bring community together to enjoy each other’s company and find out a little more about garden design.
I’m also passionate about including children and it was lovely to see the smiley faces wandering about. The bigger kids certainly kept themselves busy whether learning the art of retail selling, organising the registration table, directing traffic in the parking lot, making sandwiches, offering drinks to guests or in downtime having a hit of cricket or playing a bit of football.
In excess of $2000 was raised for our branch of ICPA. This will help fund delegates to attend both State and Federal Conference. (ICPA works together for equity of access to education for all children living in rural and remote Australia)
Lastly, hosting the Garden Design Day and having Clint Kenny speak meant that I could squeeze in a consultation with him the following morning. I’m extremely excited about what is going to evolve!
That is if I can keep that rascally little pig from roaming about!
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