Seed Tend Flora - Summer 2024, where to even begin. I gave myself a few weeks to reflect on this very special day as it left me positively overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. So much of it in-fact I wasn’t sure what to do with it as it has been the end of a very busy event season (joy, coupled with complete exhaustion). Then Kathryn supplied the images from the day and it has been such a pleasure to relive it all again through her lens.
On the 31st August, a beautiful group of women travelled from Aberdeenshire, Cumbria and all corners of Yorkshire and Lancashire for our first ever cut flower growing workshop! Attendees joined us in our village of Laycock, West Yorkshire on the outskirts of Brontë Country for a day of floral exploration and celebration.
Gardening and working the land can be a hard task, but also the most rewarding and frankly there’s no easy shortcut to getting the best results. However, armed with some well rounded insight, tips and guidance our Seed Tend Flora workshop had been designed to set this brilliant group on a path to becoming seasonally abundant hobby cut flower growers, as-well as giving them a helping hand when it came to setting their sights on a career in market garden growing or supporting their own floristry business with the production of cut flowers.
Over the year I took time aside to curate and plan the structure of the day, promising insight on the following:
Seed sowing and the growing calendar
Curating flowers for beauty and function
Essential Annuals and Perennials for the cut garden
Setting up your cut garden - logistics / materials / equipment
Undertstanding regenerative gardening methods
The importance of biodiversity and soil health
Upon arrival our guests were offered light refreshments, an opportunity to settle in and meet other attendee’s and browse a large selection of reference books I have sworn by over the years.
It was quickly notable that we were set to have a brilliant day together, each individual guest bringing their own warmth and character to the group, enriching the experience, making everyone feel at ease to learn.
To begin the session we formed a group circle with Camille Thomas of Clough Edge Veg (a local market gardener and dear friend) and myself kicking off the day with some short introductions. Then we invited each attendee to share their reasons for being with us, an opportunity to gain insight on how we could truly tailor the experience throughout the day and begin forming new friendships and connections.
We moved out into the sunshine for a large portion of the mornings session, which was made up of a series of activities and information based learning. Each attendee received a thorough growing guide which we went through with detail and discussion. From growing and storing dahlias, succession sowing and the different planting approaches when growing for cut cultivation.
Whilst this was all happening our incredible chef for the day Rachel Walker (another wonderful friend of the Honour Farm fam), was busy in the kitchen preparing a feast for us all with produce it’d harvested with Cam only the day prior for a genuine farm to fork experience. Assisted by Danielle, they both performed a vegetarian sensation consisting of over a dozen sharing platters to us all to indulge in.
The table had been thoughtfully set, with candles lit and abundant floral baskets sprawling over the table linen with blooms cut a short walk away in our walled garden, with fallen crab apples collected by our kind neighbour Tom in his orchard.
So once we’d finished our morning of learning we were ready to sit down, connect and nourish ourselves with the fruits of our labour together.
On a personal note, I hadn’t met any of our attendees before so having that time to speak one to one and make new friends was a highlight. We were joined by a couple of community outreach officers from the RHS, graphic designers, textile artists, small business owners, florists.
A compelling gathering of admirable women.
In true Honour Farm style, I roped in the entire family in the build up to the day, including my husband Jonathan baking us one of his infamous burnt basque cheese cakes.
Once stomaches were full we made our way to a place of great importance, the Honour Farm cut flower garden. This is where i’ve been growing for the past year or so since moving to this property. As you may know if you follow on Instagram, our property sits on an acre plot which consists of a modest walled garden directly behind our house, a historic graveyard (unique) and an open field. I’ll chat more at length on this another time and there are previous posts on the Floral Notes journal which have documented our development to date.
But our first goal was to cultivate the walled garden into a productive cut flower garden as a trial area ahead of establishing a larger scale operation in the main growing field (which is currently maintained by our two sheep Penny & Soane). Our Seed Tend Flora workshop was a first look at the dedicated work i’ve been carrying out here which demonstrates what potential there is for us all if we make a commitment to the land which surrounds us. This wonderful group of women were the first visitors we’ve had and that doesn’t exclude family, we’ve really locked ourselves away to the process of gut renovating and land work - so it was emotional and beautiful watching their reactions and feeling that shared appreciation for our very special and sentimental corner of the world.
From the garden Camille of Clough Edge Veg gave a brilliantly insightful in-depth talk on soil health, regenerative agricultural practice, pest management and more whilst attendees took view across the landscape from the potting yard where our recently built floral design workshop is based.
Offering tips from her own learnt experience at their minimum till veg farm in our village, Cam answered questions asked which opened up new discussions for more shared learning and connection. Then I jumped in on the talk to offer up as much personal experience possible.
The quack pack were also at large for the afternoon and made sure they stole the limelight whenever possible.
To top off the afternoon session everyone was invited down into the garden to explore, interact with the plants and ask more nuanced questions around specific flowers, their growing habits etc where I was delighted to respond, sharing more of my passion for flowers.
Before leaving to head back to the village hall for tea and cake, everyone headed into the field for an explore our unusual plot and of course to meet the sheep (who were very pleased to receive an afternoon treat).
Back at the ranch for the final portion of the day we indulged in cheese, fruit, cake and more cake before returning to our learning circle for final Q & A session. Each guest then left with a gift bag, a small token of our appreciation to get them started from home. I think I must have embraced every individual who joined us before they left, which was unexpected and restorative after a whirlwind few weeks on the road installing wedding flowers for our summer couples.
To keep the days momentum going guests were invited to join a closed Seed Tend Flora growers group on Whatsapp, where they have been able to ask further questions and share with each other next steps of their growing journey. I can’t wait to see all the flowers the future holds for each of them and the great sense of reward and pride that’ll bring as a result of their nuturing hands.
A huge thank you to those who joined us, for supporting everything we do at Honour Farm Flowers by purchasing a ticket.
Also to Rach, Danielle and Cam, for being such incredible, talented friends.
And to Kathryn Taylor, for capturing the day with such candor and beauty.
Hattie x
Testimonials of the day:
’A truly joyful day being immersed in the beautiful world of Honour Farm. It was a privilege to spend the day surrounded by likeminded women whilst being inspired by the work and words of Hattie and Camille. I have already started to embed the knowledge that I learnt on the day and haven’t stopped thinking about the delicious, locally harvested lunch or floral arrangements since! Thanks so much for such a beautiful day!’ - Alex Bergin, attendee.
‘I had the best day with Hattie and Cam at the Seed Tend Flora workshop. So much thought had gone into every aspect of the day, from the content covered, to the beautiful table we sat around and the delicious food we ate. I came away feeling nourished and inspired. Thank you so much!’ - Sophie Henson, attendee.
‘Our day at Seed Tend Flora hosted by Hattie at Honour Farm was nothing short of magical! I gifted the day to my daughter for her birthday and it was just perfect. From the moment we arrived everyone was so friendly and the room beautifully decorated, a feast for the senses. Talking of a feast the lunch was 5 star! During the morning and afternoon sessions we were given valuable insight into the development of a flower garden for a business or pleasure and many tips. I for one left the day full of enthusiasm to go home to my own garden and get planting. A huge thank you for a wonderful experience.’ - Caroline Langfield, attendee.
‘Hattie’s workshop in this beautiful part of Yorkshire was a joy. As an artist and novice flower grower I left feeling artistically inspired, as well as confident to start my own flower growing journey. A beautiful day surrounded by wonderful women who share a love for growing. Hattie’s passion and knowledge of growing cut flowers were beautifully woven with her unique aesthetic to give us a memorable day. I look forward to booking onto further workshops.’ - Hannah Shkandriji, attendee.