When we meet people on the allotments, we rarely ask about the 'day job'. Some allotmenteers run small 'kitchen table' businesses, or have interesting paying hobbies. ‘Little Florrie’ - a natural alternative to airfreighted blooms - is one of these.
| Claire Bate worked as a freelance florist for 20 years before waking up one morning with an idea. Instead of using artificial-looking, scentless flowers, intensively grown and flown in from all over the world, she wanted to work with natural, seasonal flowers with old-fashioned scent. In a bold move, she completely remodeled her garden as a haven for flowers which she could cut for weddings, celebrations and farewells. |   |
 | Says Claire, “I’m nutty about nature and the bees love the flowers I grow. I can often be found out in the garden photographing insects or flowers in close-up. Building the cutting garden has been very hard work, as anyone with an allotment will appreciate.” |
| Looking for a name, Claire chose ‘Little Florrie” – Florrie is a diminutive of the name Flora, which is latin for flower. Brides who book their flowers with Little Florrie get something which is not only unique but, seasons permitting. locally grown; they also have the satisfaction of knowing they are supporting the local community. |  |
Claire Bate will be at this year's Summer Show on July 18th at Kennington Junior School from 2pm to 5pm. ‘Little Florrie’ can be found on Facebook, or Claire can be contacted at claireflower2011@hotmail.co.uk or on 07884 185098
Would you like a stall at our show? Email the website compiler at ashfordallotments@yahoo.co.uk for more info. If you have an interesting hobby or small business, get in touch as we'd love to do a news item about you.
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