Nourishing

On this International Womens Day, it got me thinking about how we, I’m sorry guys I am talking to the women out there, your women, your wives, partners, daughters and mothers take on so much.  How we rush from working a full day to rushing home to keep our families nourished. It’s still there the need to do everything, to feel like we have to work harder and smarter and juggle everything to be the perfect partner.  I know I do it, although my family is all growing up I still take on the lions share of the work in the home as well as running the company, alongside Ian but he often has to remind me to go home, that need to work harder for longer has been ingrained into us women of a certain age, to be as good as the chaps.  So when my good friend Leonie Cornelius approached me about a garden that she had been thinking of for some time, it grabbed me.  I had said that we wouldn’t do another Bloom garden for another ten years, our garden in 2022 alongside another dear friend Andrew Christopher Dunne was such a success, winning Gold and best in show but it was draining in so many ways, emotionally, physically and financially that we said ten years but then Leonie’s ideas spoke to me, they resonated with me and I loved the idea of it so it really didn’t take much thinking about.

Over the last  four years, I’d say my own health has started to take more of a priority, reaching fifty was somewhat of a wake up call that got me thinking about how my mind and body has been affected by this constant need to be doing something and although I’ve not slowed down so much, day to day I have taken time out, purposefully go switch off.  I go on fasting retreats, alone for health reasons but also for head space, I took a full month with Ian away last summer and intend to do the same this year.    Two years ago we built a wellness garden, with hot tub and sauna and a yoga deck, somewhere for us to go to wind down, before and after a busy day at work. I recently did my first sea swim, swim probably not being what I’d normally call it but in Donegal in January I really felt heroic.  I meditate daily and take time for pilates three times a week.  So time with Leonie is like a meeting of minds, we’ve both felt burnout and both felt the need to take a step back and heal.  This garden is just that, a meeting of minds that tell the story of how this is so very important and some of what we have found to be beneficial, good food, good company, being outdoors and at one with our gardens and just sometimes feeling the sun on your back and the wind in your hair and being a peace.

This last week, Leonie and I headed to Tuscany, to spend some time in the Italian March sunshine and find the last couple of pieces for the garden, we have most from our own nursery but our good friends in Tuscany spoilt us with amazing food, simple food done well, the most beautiful olive oil and of course the occasional glass of chianti.  We were spoilt with the weather, 25degrees in March and we took time out, enjoyed gelato and walked in the olive groves while Aldo trimmed them back. We took inspiration from this countryside and we laughed and soaked up this time.  We can now share our news that this year, at Bloom in the Park we, Leonie Cornelius and Caragh Nurseries are joining together to bring you Nourish – The Caragh Nurseries Garden.

Over the coming weeks and months we will be sharing our journey of this garden and what brought us here and we hope you’ll join us