When we first offered or, more accurately, were asked for pick-your-own flowers we were happy to oblige. A lovely group had come up from Somerset for a wedding nearby and it was a lady among this group who gave us the idea. As we found out afterwards, her name was Therese Lang, and as it happened we couldn’t have asked for a better person to give us such handy business advice. Therese, amongst other achievements, was involved in the creation of the Country Living Fairs as well as Grow London and the Chelsea Fringe.
As you might expect following such great free advice — as well as Therese’s group of friends and family — many others have come to love doing ‘pick our own’ on our flower plot — from brides, to mums and dads on the school run. Amusingly, more than one bride has said that it would be hard for her wedding day to compete — something we suggested, politely, they might not want to share with their future husbands. Many have said that it was the best part of their wedding preparations.
Although we are lucky enough to spend many hours on our flower plot, and may sometimes take for granted what a wonderful and calming place it is to be, we are constantly reminded by visitors. Plus, the actual process of picking flowers, in such a lovely spot, alongside a few buzzing insects, and surrounded by orchards is something you can’t put a price on.
As well as picking flowers, it’s an intriguing and mesmerising thing to watch too. We love to see the different flowers, styles and arrangements that people come back to the shed with on our Friday PYO afternoons — no one container is ever the same. It’s also lovely to hear the positive comments. We feel very lucky indeed to be involved in a business that makes people happy and gives us such positive feedback.