In case you missed it this week’s been National Gardening Week and yesterday was worldwide naked gardening day, congratulations to all who took part! To co-incide with the week, Age UK Barnet launched their gardening competition and we’re supporting their “most creative recycled flower container category”, I’m expecting great things from domebuilder21. The closing date is 10 August so you’ve got plenty of time to create something and rest assured I’ll be reminding you a lot between now and then to enter. My observation on our supermarket’s plastic free innovations continued this week when I saw that Asda have binned the plastic pots that their growing herbs were sold in. The herbs now just come in brown paper bags and are half the price! On Tuesday I received an email from Hongbin a Chinese Textile Design student who needed recycled flowers to dry, press, hammer and microwave into material for her project on decay. She was delighted to have found us and she left with armfuls of flowers. On May 10 we hear from Barnet Council if there’ve been any objections to our proposed zero waste market for Sunday 23 May. It’s been difficult asking stallholders to be part of a new market provisionally - people don’t really like provisional but I’ve managed to get the commitment from a number of local traders such as Urban alchemy a micro brewery from New Barnet and the refill part of The Wilds cafe on top of local zero waste craft stalls. Please keep (provisionally) Sunday 23 May free. Have a great week. Ursula

This week has been largely about establishing our zero waste credentials following our omission from a definitive guide to zero waste initiatives in Barnet. To say that I was disappointed and the guide definitive would be an understatement - I had hoped to be able to use this guide to locate enterprises for our zero waste market at the end of May (Barnet Council’s Planning Department willing). So if anyone knows of individuals or organisations involved in zero waste please get in touch an example might be someone making chutney or jam from supermarket wasted fruit. Barnet lags so far behind other London boroughs like Southwark, Hackney or Haringey in zero waste. I read recently about 2 women in Hackney who’d bought a 1990 electric milk float to deliver online refill orders to their Hackney customers, now if only my 18 year old could drive!

On Monday we were allowed to open our doors once more and it was wonderful to get back to some sort of normal. On Tuesday I was contacted by the online greeting company Thortful who are expanding into online flower delivery. Lydia, Thortful’s Head of Flower Operations, was kind enough to personally deliver the flowers from their Valentine’s Day 2022 shoot - a beautiful selection of peaches and pinks which I’ve loved using. It was all about colour on Wednesday as Barnet dignitaries marked the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Barnet. It was a victory that day for the House of York and Thortful’s white antirhinums came in very handy (see picture). I’m a proud Lancastrian and talking of proud Lancastrians it was lovely to receive the support of fellow Lancaster exile Dominique, at our craft fair yesterday. Thanks also to the stallholders and visitors who came to support us, Brian a Flower Bank Trustee and his daughter Leila and to Julie and Anna who are the Dream Team of Volunteers. Our artist in residence Heather was also present capturing the event on canvas and I’ll share them with you at a later stage. Have a great week. Ursula

Thank you to Janine & Dassa who spent yesterday afternoon cutting out letters and staging our shop window in anticipation of unrestricted trading tomorrow 12 April - we’re raring to go. Thank you too Julie, seen in the photo who not only freely gives her valuable time and wisdom to the shop but as of last night’s AGM is now one of our Trustees. The fine bone China mug that she’s holding I’d received earlier that day from a potter who after reading about our flower bombing wanted to reach out to me - it was a lovely surprise. So next Saturday 17th April we’re holding a welcome back craft fair with plans in the pipeline for a proper fair including local artisan and craft businesses on Sunday 23 May then hopefully the 3rd Sunday of every month after that - please do pop in next weekend if you’re able. Also present next Saturday will be Heather, our artist in residence and next door but 3 neighbour. She and her family are loyal customers of The Flower Bank and she asked if she could start catching some of our energy artistically I was completely bowled over and can’t wait to see what she produces. Have a great week. Ursula

It’s been interesting this week to watch the supermarkets gear up for a second Easter lockdown. The supermarkets are so in tune with their consumers’ shopping habits it’s scary. Since Monday’s change to the COVID rules which allow us to visit people in their private gardens, flower deliveries shot up to satisfy the increased demand forecast by the supermarkets. By Wednesday the stands were overflowing and the warehouse staff told me that deliveries were at Christmas levels. The Manager at one of the branches I visit was tearing his hair out as his delivery was twice what he’d expected and he had no space to accommodate it. I visited my local Sainsbury’s store yesterday and where their stocks had been bountiful the previous day by last night it was stripped bare. I really do wonder what, if anything, I’ll pick up next week!

So we planted our flower and vegetable seeds this week and Davinder, who kindly volunteered his time, energy and compost was an absolute star, we’re doing more again this week. On Thursday I received notification that we would receive a £4,000 grant from Comic Relief which I’m delighted about. It means that we’re able to continue our partnership with Southover School and their young people. This week’s zoom sessions with Jewish Care residents had us creating flower arrangements in edible matzah covered containers for Passover (see photograph). April 12th is fast approaching which means that The Flower Bank will be able to open normally once more. So on Saturday 17th we’re going to have a mini fair with a few other people who’ve been unable to trade. If you’d like to be involved please drop me a line. Have a great week. Ursula

In previous years after Mother’s Day we’ve always been flabbergasted by the amount of leftover flowers we’ve collected and I’d happily regale anyone with tales of unopened boxes of Gerberas but not this year. The M&S branches I visit told me that their stores were stripped of flowers by Saturday lunch time and it was the same story at Morrison’s. I needed a plan. Firstly to extend my supermarket suppliers so I contacted Fareshare a food waste distributor who are hopeful they’ll be able to help me once their computer system is updated to record flower waste at the end of March. Secondly, Davinder a neighbour and mad keen grower walked into the shop to collect some flowers and found me deep in thought. I explained, (I’m sure I didn’t rant or rave but he did catch me at a vulnerable moment) about the current state of the floristry industry post Mother’s Day, post Brexit and mid COVID and we decided there and then to get growing our own produce with the help of young offenders. You might recall we have a garden in Haringey which Jelena and the Haringey young offenders tend amazingly - unfortunately we haven’t been able to meet for a year and it’s too far to visit on a daily basis. So I think we’re going to grow things in hanging baskets of which we have an endless supply. Conditioning our soil begins on Wednesday. By Friday I was back to being positive when I received 2 trolley loads of daffodils on Friday and had great fun distributing them to volunteers to spread the floral love. In the picture you see Martha sitting on our new seat and trellis at the front of the shop

Once upon a time there were 3 very different little girls who became Julie, Anna and myself (think peri and post menopausal Charlie’s Angels) and thanks to them we managed to create 50+ bouquets for Mother’s Day this weekend and had to turn others away who hadn’t ordered. Thank you for your support not just this weekend but throughout the year. I’m back to the shop again shortly to oversee distribution of the remaining few and help/assist some boys in creating a bouquet for their mum. A special thanks to Chris Bentil one of The Flower Bank Trustees and a thoroughly kind man who will be delivering bouquets for us this morning. Over and out and have a great week. Love Ursula

For the past couple of weeks I’ve had the most amazing support from an 18 year old Barnet Young Offender. He totally gets The Flower Bank is flexible and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. What he enjoys about The Flower Bank is the opportunity to meet Londoners that he’s never come across before. His reparations officer told me that we’ve had a really positive impact on him and they’re all delighted. Tomorrow he and I are decorating the outside of a children’s nursery to make it look Spring-like and welcoming. On Friday a new young man started volunteering at The Flower Bank he’d been referred to me by Turning Point. They work with the Met Police to defer prosecutions for young people who have committed minor offences thus keeping them out of the criminal justice system. He helped me to get our back garden into some sort of shape ready for Mother’s Day next Sunday 14 March and he was only too keen to help. Together we made a bunch of flowers for him to take to his mum which he was delighted with. Yesterday, our front window was transformed for Mother’s Day by Janine who’d been dying to put her skills to some good use - mid transformation a customer asked us if we were taking orders for next Sunday because a local florist had told them they weren’t accepting any orders under £40! So get in touch if you’d like flowers we’re open next Sunday 11 - 3. Have a great week. Ursula

I’ve had visits this week from a number of the over 80’s and 90’s who I haven’t seen since March last year! I’m sure the surge in visits is down to the weather turning Spring-like and the double vaccination but whatever their reason it’s been great to catch up. Peggy, 97, was my first visitor she’s still driving, proudly showing me her personalised number plate before driving off. From early March I’m going to be working with groups from Age UK via zoom - the photo attached is one of the creations from Friday’s zoom class and I continue to be amazed by what can be achieved. Yesterday I took a walk round the area with my ‘walk leader’ Tony. Thank you Brian Beaton for introducing me to this lovely man and to Mary Mac for the reams of words you produced on New Barnet’s local history. We’re planning once it’s permissible to run health walks which will be prescribed through Barnet’s Health & Well-being Hub so if anyone knows of the site of a plague pit or sighting of a ghost in New Barnet then please let me know. It’s my lockdown birthday today and my highlight will be a much needed trip this afternoon to the recycling centre, oh the glamour. Have a great week. Ursula.