As we wrap up the spring-summer session of our project, Four Seasons in Our Garden; A Yearbook, we’d like to share the highlights from our recent community gathering.  Our associate artists Brenda Kearney and Naomi Draper led the workshop and Kids’ Own project manager Lorna Kavanagh was also in attendance.

We welcomed friends and family of the Cranmore Community Gardens for an evening filled with good food and great company. The wood-fired oven kept everyone warm and served up delicious handmade pizzas. We also enjoyed wild garlic bread, lemon and rosemary cake, and lemon and mint cordial—all homemade using garden ingredients.  The evening was a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and recipes. Everyone brought their favorite garden-inspired dishes, and we exchanged tips and tricks.

It was exciting to see the enthusiasm for new ideas and ways to use our garden produce. Guests enjoyed tours of our garden, seeing the fruits, vegetables, and flowers we’ve grown. A mini exhibition in the poly tunnel showcased our hard work and dedication throughout the season.  A mini corsage-making station added a colourful touch to the evening. Everyone created their own flower corsages, which they proudly wore during the event.

Associate artist Brenda reflected on the sessions;

“When Naomi and I began working with the Wednesday afternoon group at Cranmore, we approached it with the theme of ‘welcoming what shows up’; we wanted this welcome to extend across the group, and also to garden visitors (human and non-human), ideas, plans and unexpected surprises. Through 8 weeks of workshops – in drawing, print-making, observation and garden explorations – we worked and grew together as a group. Beginning at the start of April, during a particularly cold year, the garden was only just coming into spring; over the weeks, we honed our observations together and welcomed new growth, fresh shoots, and abundance in the garden. We were struck by the warmth and enthusiasm of project participants, each week getting on board with activities and sharing their work and ideas freely. In keeping with our themes of welcome and hospitality, we punctuated the sessions with things to eat and drink: fresh herb teas from the garden, Naomi’s mint lemonade (a definite crowd pleaser!), and seasonal snacks made with nettles, wild garlic and edible flowers.  For our last session, we opened the garden to other guests and visitors and gathered around the pizza oven to eat and celebrate together; we wore party corsages of summer garden flowers, shared work we had made together and extended our welcome to whoever showed up! I think we were lucky with our seasonal timing – planting seeds of welcome in early April and seeing them bloom nearly two months later, as the group shared their garden warmly and generously with visitors.”

As we look back on this event, we’re excited for what’s next in the Four Seasons in Our Garden: A Yearbook project, the Summer sessions. With more activities and garden adventures planned, we look forward to continuing our journey together.

Thank you to everyone who has participated. Your enthusiasm and community spirit make our garden special. Here’s to more seasons of growth and togetherness!

We extend our thanks to our partners on this project Canmore Co-Op and our funders Creative Climate Action/Creative Ireland