Bloom-what a let down.

paddy147

What a let down,people have no imagination in this country.

All the show gardens were more or less the same,tree ferns,grasses and woodland themes and no real use of propper flowers.

How the feck that container themed garden won supergarden is beyond me.

Totally bland in my opinion.

Me and the girlfriend left Bloom with out seeing anything that stood out and caught our imagination.


Oh and charging 15 euro 50 cents for 2 sambos and 2 cups of tea is not my idea or value for money,so I told the sandwich bar lady that she could take the sambos and teas back and I would keep my money.

Absolute ripp off for everything in Bloom.:mad:

Let down indeed.:(

bmaxi

Ive always been of the opinion these shows are staged by posers for posers.
I was listening to some guy the other day bemoaning the lack of "contexuality" of a particular exhibit. FFS, what's that got to do with getting your spuds in on time or propagating your fuchsias?
It may appeal to some people but I'm not one of them.

magicbastarder

bmaxi wrote: »

I was listening to some guy the other day bemoaning the lack of "contexuality" of a particular exhibit. FFS, what's that got to do with getting your spuds in on time or propagating your fuchsias?

you can take these shows as you find them, or you can listen to other people's opinions.
i haven't seen the show gardens this year, but a few years ago when i was last there i got some good ideas. regardless of the waffle surrounding it.

emo72

okay, its not that bad. and at least we have a show over here. its no chelsea and its not fair to compare it.

dermot gavin won a gold at chelsea this year, it would never have happened in ireland, we are just too small a nation. so there is imaginative designs from irish people and they are on the biggest stage (where they belong). unfortunately that means the likes of bloom has to be bypassed.

i absolutely agree with the op about the choice of plants, they seem to be secondary to the design. ferns and hostas, thats where its at.

prices? i love plants, and didnt buy one. 8 euro for the few perennials i looked at seemed steep, couldnt stomach that myself. coffee was fine and i stuffed myself on the free samples in the food village.

overall at least we have a show and its probably as good as we could hope for.

touts

This is unfair and harsh. I thought Bloom was excellent. Some of the show gardens might have been poor but in Chelsea they spend MILLIONS on each garden. The money just is not in this country to do that. The Chinese garden The VW garden and one or two others would not have been out of place in chelsea even if they might not win gold there (although these days at Chelsea its easier to win Gold than past years). The rest of the Bloom event is an excellent show case for Irish gardening food craft and fashion. There is a lot of stuff I was not interested in but I found a lot of things I was interested in. But unlike some of the previous posters I dont expect them to design the show around my personal likes and interests so maybe that means i'm easily pleased.

Cost wise i have a local nursery that I find very hard to beat on price but i found some excellent bargains in plants at bloom. There were plants there for €8 at one stand that were €11 at another (and were 9.99 in lidl just this last Thursday). Shopping around and haggling was required but i think most people do that in everyday life now. In terms of food yes it was expensive but again you get that at every show festival and match. They have a captive audience and they charge extra. So do the Gaa IRFU oxygen zoo etc. Bring your own sandwiches or pay the price. I thought admission price at the gates was high at €20 but there were lots of 2 for one vouchers in the papers and shops which made it €10 if you brought a friend or paired up with a stranger on the way in as lots of people seemed to be doing. Also Kids were free which meant a family of 4 could get in for the same as €5 a head. Where would you get that elsewhere. The artisan food was expensive but it was like the mother of all farmers markets and those places are not for the fiscally challenged anywhere in the country.

I enjoyed the event and would recommend it. Others didnt but you cant please everyone especially in this island of misery and begrudgery.

Sonnenblumen

paddy147 wrote: »

Whate a let down,people have no imagination in this country.

All the show gardens were more or less the same,tree ferns,grasses and woodland themes and no real use of propper flowers.

How the feck that container themed garden won supergarden is beyond me.

Totally bland in my opinion.

Me and the girlfriend left Bloom with out seeing anything that stood out and caught our imagination.


Oh and charging 15 euro 50 cents for 2 sambos and 2 cups of tea is not my idea or value for money,so I told the sandwich bar lady that she could take the sambos and teas back and I would keep my money.

Absolute ripp off for everything in Bloom.:mad:

Let down indeed.:(

Still haven't found what you're looking for?:(

doctor evil

HHhhhmmm

Is it worth going? I've only gotten into gardening in the last year or two, mostly growing edibles.

Do they sell seeds/seedlings and garden tools. I've wary of taking in unknown soil so anything grown hydophonically (sp) would be great.

Will definately find a stranger to buddy up with!

unkel

paddy147 wrote: »

Oh and charging 15 euro 50 cents for 2 sambos and 2 cups of tea is not my idea or value for money,so I told the sandwich bar lady that she could take the sambos and teas back and I would keep my money.

Do you not look at the price list before ordering something?

Teyla Emmagan

I had a great time, really enjoyed it. Have been to all of them to date and I thought this was the best year by far in terms of layout and organisation and all the rest of it. The food village was much better than it normally is, the crafty stalls (not into them myself) were really well laid out and the whole thing in terms of the exhibits looked brilliant - they have really upped their game this year. And there is something in it for everyone I think. They even had a small petting farm for the kids with lambs and piggies and a really good play area.

I didn't buy much either, but I really enjoyed it (bought a ladybird house, one plant as a gift and pre-ordered some alium for next year). I already have most of my plants in so I don't really need anything at this stage.

The Walled Garden looked brilliant, as it always does, but I didn't think the show gardens were particularly interesting this year. They were all along the same theme - recycling, ferns, grasses. There was more imagination and variety in previous years I think. But there was a real push on growing your own this year, and I thought some of those exhibits, and all of the paraphanelia and tools and stuff you could buy were brilliant. Got some great ideas from that end of things.

We got in with a 2 for 1 voucher from the Times and had a hot dog for lunch, so it wasn't an expensive day. And there were loads of people there who had their own packed sandwiches OP, your own fault for not engaging your brain on that front!

paddy147

unkel wrote: »

Do you not look at the price list before ordering something?

NO PRICE LISTS on display from the 2 sandwich bar places.:mad:

Had to ask the price 3 times,before some non english speaking lady eventually decided to blurt out the price to me.

paddy147

doctor evil wrote: »

HHhhhmmm


Do they sell seeds/seedlings and garden tools.

Yes,at stupidly INFLATED prices.

Why??

Oh yes,because its Bloom.:rolleyes:

An unbranded 30 meters of garden hose costing 25 euro on its own.
Exact same 30 meter hose is currently 12 euro in Aldi and also BnQ


90 euro for a 200 litre water butt(supposedly on special offer at Bloom:rolleyes:).
Yet it can be bought in any builders providers for 65 euro.

paddy147

Sheep,cows and lambs were baked alive in the heat.

My girlfriend had to go to the organisers and complain about the way in which the animals were penned into such small spaces and no shade from the sun and heat.The lambs were clearly in distress,yet no one gave a fcuk about it.:mad:



The 1 good thing about the few hours that we were at Bloom,is that she met up with her old workmates,when she used to work in the Victorian walled gardens and maintain them.It was nice to meet up with some of her old work mates.

some pics

Im Only 71Kg

yep i agree..it;s a rip..full of pretentious dicks. i wont be going for another 5 years. went the last 2 years and nothing had changed. show gardens were nothing special. everything overpriced which is to be expected. there was one lovely japanese styled garden this year. while viewing it i overheard a woman behind me was telling her friend how much she liked and how different it was..at one stage she said "you could eat your dinner out there!!" typically irish.

paddy147

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

yep i agree..it;s a rip..full of pretentious dicks. i wont be going for another 5 years. went the last 2 years and nothing had changed. show gardens were nothing special. everything overpriced which is to be expected. there was one lovely japanese styled garden this year. while viewing it i overheard a woman behind me was telling her friend how much she liked and how different it was..at one stage she said "you could eat your dinner out there!!" typically irish.

A good few chancers who try to make a fast buck imo.

That sadly takes away from the people who are there to genuinely help and show their stuff.

Im Only 71Kg

thats a lovely garden...you could eat your dinner out there.

paddy147

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

thats a lovely garden...you could eat your dinner out there.

lol.:D

You would like the Japanese Gardens then,down at the National Horse Stud in Killdare.:)

bmaxi

magicbastarder wrote: »

you can take these shows as you find them, or you can listen to other people's opinions.
i haven't seen the show gardens this year, but a few years ago when i was last there i got some good ideas. regardless of the waffle surrounding it.

The waffle is exactly the part that pisses me off. It's like someone trying to convince me that their Picasso is a thing of beauty, it's not, it's ugly, but because a particular section of the "nothing much else to do" brigade have decided it's a thing of beauty then the ladder climbers and posers will migrate to it like bees to honey.
There is very little chance that most of what was on display in Chelsea or Bloom will have any relevance to what goes on in the average garden, of course it's always nice to see the new varieties and the prize winning plants but the show gardens? Can you ever expect to see Gavin's concoction appearing in a semi down the road, just one set of posers indulging another.
You're more likely to get good gardening ideas at a family run nursery or at an allotment.

Sonnenblumen

paddy147 wrote: »

Yes,at stupidly INFLATED prices.

Why??

Oh yes,because its Bloom.:rolleyes:

An unbranded 30 meters of garden hose costing 25 euro on its own.
Exact same 30 meter hose is currently 12 euro in Aldi and also BnQ


90 euro for a 200 litre water butt(supposedly on special offer at Bloom:rolleyes:).
Yet it can be bought in any builders providers for 65 euro.

You haven't a clue what you're talking about, no idea of the cost structures applying to Bloom exhibitors etc etc. Limited firsthand knowledge but plenty of moaning. Why don't you go find your boulder for your feature garden, and allow the many 000's who regularly visit Bloom enjoy their day out.

BTW, not everyone rates value solely on cheapie cheapie cheap cheap!

paddy147

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

You haven't a clue what you're talking about, no idea of the cost structures applying to Bloom exhibitors etc etc. Limited firsthand knowledge but plenty of moaning. Why don't you go find your boulder for your feature garden, and allow the many 000's who regularly visit Bloom enjoy their day out.

BTW, not everyone rates value solely on cheapie cheapie cheap cheap!

Eh,I Do actually know what Im talking about.

Why dont you shut up having a go at me and go and take your "so called" advice to someone else who will listen to you like you are God,when you clearly aint all that,far from it in fact.

Sonnenblumen

bmaxi wrote: »

The waffle is exactly the part that pisses me off. It's like someone trying to convince me that their Picasso is a thing of beauty, it's not, it's ugly, but because a particular section of the "nothing much else to do" brigade have decided it's a thing of beauty then the ladder climbers and posers will migrate to it like bees to honey.
There is very little chance that most of what was on display in Chelsea or Bloom will have any relevance to what goes on in the average garden, of course it's always nice to see the new varieties and the prize winning plants but the show gardens? Can you ever expect to see Gavin's concoction appearing in a semi down the road, just one set of posers indulging another.
You're more likely to get good gardening ideas at a family run nursery or at an allotment.

Small minds make for smaller horizons. Diversity is healthier than convention. BTW to see art merely in terms of beauty is to miss most of the fundamental appeal of art. To dismiss Picasso as ugly is well lets leave it as your opinion.

Are you an authority on what goes on in average semi gardens? Are you not aware of the various categories at Chelsea and Bloom? Clearly not, so if you cannot read, you hardly expect support for your visual ignorance?

Few like posers but we can do without stupid criticism.

Cabaal

paddy147, attack the post not the poster.
Any more of this and I'll be handing out bans

If you have a problem with a post then use report post feature but its not your place to tell another poster to shut up

paddy147

Cabaal wrote: »

paddy147, attack the post not the poster.
Any more of this and I'll be handing out bans

If you have a problem with a post then use report post feature but its not your place to tell another poster to shut up

I said "shut up" in the context of what I actually posted........."Why dont you shut up having a go at me".


So does Sonnenblumen get a warning too then for his posts here so far????????

paddy147

2 more pics

Sonnenblumen

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

yep i agree..it;s a rip..full of pretentious dicks. i wont be going for another 5 years. went the last 2 years and nothing had changed. show gardens were nothing special. everything overpriced which is to be expected. there was one lovely japanese styled garden this year. while viewing it i overheard a woman behind me was telling her friend how much she liked and how different it was..at one stage she said "you could eat your dinner out there!!" typically irish.

That rather unusual but beautifully constructed garden is of Chinese origin. In fact the IRE-SU garden (based on typical Suzhou garden elements) was sponsored by Suzhou Municipal Administrative Bureau of Garden and constructed by the Suzhou Garden Development Co. Ltd.

After Bloom, the Chinese Authorities have very kindly donated the garden which will re-built in a new location, St Anne's park, Raheny.

bmaxi

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Small minds make for smaller horizons. Diversity is healthier than convention. BTW to see art merely in terms of beauty is to miss most of the fundamental appeal of art. To dismiss Picasso as ugly is well lets leave it as your opinion.

Are you an authority on what goes on in average semi gardens? Are you not aware of the various categories at Chelsea and Bloom? Clearly not, so if you cannot read, you hardly expect support for your visual ignorance?

Few like posers but we can do without stupid criticism.

Thankfully, unlike yourself, my mind and my head are in correct proportion.
It is my opinion and the opinion of many others that Picasso is ugly, it falls to a certain breed of pretentious wafflers to see it as anything else.
I selected the show gardens as the category which least appeals to me and I said that I do like to see the various new varieties and the top plants so obviously, of the two of us, I'm not the one who can't read.
I'd be delighted to know of any "Sky Gardens" you have come across in average suburban semis recently, perhaps a few photos and a map of the location so all those interested can go and see.

Sonnenblumen

bmaxi wrote: »

Thankfully, unlike yourself, my mind and my head are in correct proportion.
It is my opinion and the opinion of many others that Picasso is ugly, it falls to a certain breed of pretentious wafflers to see it as anything else.
I selected the show gardens as the category which least appeals to me and I said that I do like to see the various new varieties and the top plants so obviously, of the two of us, I'm not the one who can't read.
I'd be delighted to know of any "Sky Gardens" you have come across in average suburban semis recently, perhaps a few photos and a map of the location so all those interested can go and see.

I'm tired of hearing whingers coming on to a garden forum criticising the efforts of the many people who were involved in the Bloom show gardens as 'posers'? I cannot recall a more diversified group who made valiant efforts to realise and construct their individual show gardens. Yes some (a few) were inspired/sponsored by Corporates, but many relied on self finance to make it happen. Others were inspired by love of a particular theme, others promoted health awareness, some trying to find a new career and perhaps a new and viable future. Others included community/social groups, school children, student groups etc. All in all a very wide range than the usual representation one would expect. All stood up bravely to have their individual efforts displayed and judged and the visiting public were by and large impressed. Of course opinion will differ.

Have you or your ilk ever done something similar? Probably not. You have your opinions, but try some respect.

alastair

bmaxi wrote: »

Thankfully, unlike yourself, my mind and my head are in correct proportion.
It is my opinion and the opinion of many others that Picasso is ugly, it falls to a certain breed of pretentious wafflers to see it as anything else.

That would be narrow minded then?

bmaxi

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

I'm tired of hearing whingers coming on to a garden forum criticising the efforts of the many people who were involved in the Bloom show gardens as 'posers'? I cannot recall a more diversified group who made valiant efforts to realise and construct their individual show gardens. Yes some (a few) were inspired/sponsored by Corporates, but many relied on self finance to make it happen. Others were inspired by love of a particular theme, others promoted health awareness, some trying to find a new career and perhaps a new and viable future. Others included community/social groups, school children, student groups etc. All in all a very wide range than the usual representation one would expect. All stood up bravely to have their individual efforts displayed and judged and the visiting public were by and large impressed. Of course opinion will differ.

Have you or your ilk ever done something similar? Probably not. You have your opinions, but try some respect.

You presume to know what I have or haven't done now, does your arrogance know no bounds? I'm sure a lot of work went into the provision of the show gardens and I'm also sure it was with a goal in mind so don't give me any of the high minded, public spirited spiel.

All very public spirited I'm sure, just like the rip off prices quoted by other posters.

magicbastarder

bmaxi wrote: »

I'd be delighted to know of any "Sky Gardens" you have come across in average suburban semis recently, perhaps a few photos and a map of the location so all those interested can go and see.

but the sky garden wasn't pretending to be a garden you can pick up and place down in a suburban setting.
the show gardens are meant to be a 'what if money and utility was no object' exercise, and as i was saying, i haven't seen them this year. last time i saw them, a few years ago, a lot left me cold but i did see a lot i liked.

casey junior

Percy Thrower was and always will be the One and Only!

bmaxi

magicbastarder wrote: »

but the sky garden wasn't pretending to be a garden you can pick up and place down in a suburban setting.
the show gardens are meant to be a 'what if money and utility was no object' exercise, and as i was saying, i haven't seen them this year. last time i saw them, a few years ago, a lot left me cold but i did see a lot i liked.

I know that and I never said it was but our mutual friend, in his reply, implied that to suggest the likes of it wouldn't be, showed ignorance on my part.
I just failed to be in awe of his notional "superior" intellect.

Dr Galen

Cabaal has already issued a Mod direction on the last page.

This is the last warning. The sniping and bitching stops here. Any more of it on ANY thread and there will be more infractions and bans. No more warnings guys. This is getting out of hand.

Arguing mod decisions on thread also isn't going to be tolerated. Take it to PM or the DRP forum.

Cheers

DrG

ponddigger

hi all, at bloom yeserday,thaught it was very good,picked up a lot of very good ideas.hope to put them into pratice soon:D:Dponddigger

Sgt Pepper 64

Bloom cannot be all things to all people, but is aimed at the widest majority.
If it was elitist then it would only attract a small minority.
The very fact that we have a big showcase Gardening event to rival those in England should be commended.
Anything that gets people more interested in gardening is good thing in my book and anything that helps get kids interested in what we eat and nature and away from tv, computers and video games is double plus good!
Long live Bloom!

fryup

went yesterday for the first time,

parking was fine bit of a delay but got in eventually> 5 min walk from entrance.

no probs getting tickets and no ques getting in

weather itself wasn't great, overcast but you can't pin that on the organisers

taught the show gardens were fine but can't believe yer man won supergarden> nothing special imo

as for the food & trade stands seen them all before (country fairs etc)

my fav was the beer tent had plenty of samples:)

as for over priced food? well half expected it goes with the course, solution >just bring your own

overall i taught it was a good day out and wouldn't mind going again

Sonnenblumen

casey junior wrote: »

Percy Thrower was and always will be the One and Only!

Percy was big in his day and an old favourite? Certainly will also be remembered as the first celebrity gardener whose career was (prematurely) ended by weedkiller.

RIP

fryup

Here's some pics from yesterday,

loved the raised bed in the shape of Ireland, with every county a different plant (pic 5)

Get Cracking

I really enjoyed it ,
great family day out,I was vey impressed with most of the gardens and with all the work people put into it.
Expensive but worth it

I am pie

Went today for with girlfriend. Got some nice outdoor & indoor plants at a reasonable. 20 euro each entrance fee however was excessive. This is not begrudgery or anything remotely similar, it's a cold fact.

The food village in particular was dreadful. Expensive, very poor stall layout. A fairly large area was woefully utilised with convoluted queues, poor space for sitting and a very bland look and feel. If we are attempting to promote Irish food, this was not the way to do it. Paid 7e for a hastily thrown together pork sandwich. A meal 'deal' was on offer. For an extra 3e we could have had one extra salad portion (choice = beetroot or coleslaw!) and a 2/3rds full plastic cup of warm apple juice. A deal indeed.

Inside, a selection of overpriced jam, cheeses and and cakes were available at shop prices plus 20%. Comical. At one stand i saw a rice crispie / mars bar bake masquerading as 'artisan food' - price was 2 euro.

As per opening comments, the flowers on sale seemed good value. Show gardens were extremely underwhelming and the food area layout and value for money was very poor.

I hope this is not how bord bia intend on promoting Irish food to tourists.

Get Cracking

Surley you must of realised the prices before you paid?Enterance fee etc..

Sgt Pepper 64

Bargains, bargains!

I couldnt get over the amount of free stuff!

Free beakfast!
(you just liked them on facebook - laptop supplied, so got a free pack of rashers, sasuages, white pudding - then the wife did the same! Plus they gave out cooked samples of sausgaes, beef, pork)
Free yought
2 x free newspapers, times and mail
Free Irish garden mag
Beer samples
Jam samples
Bread samples
Free cheese
We took our own lunch but could barely eat it

Loads of free stuff for the kids - bird feeders etc

Plants
Very good bargains here, especially on the last day after 4pm
I got 5 mature plants for 20 and in the end people were just taking silly money just to get rid of it (Fiver for a huge fuschia basket)

We were weighed down with stuff.
Been every year, and this was busiest (And driest!)

If you were looking to buy stuff like greenhouses, furniture etc, you could get very good show deals

And it was good to compare how their veg was doing with my own.
Mine arent doing as bad as I thought!

Thumbs up from me, wifey and the kids!

unkel

Wasn't planning on going this year but decided to go anyway at about 2PM today. Printed off the voucher from the link in this forum so the 5 of us got in for €20. Parked just outside the parking area, so parking was free. It was very busy, but the layout was better than previous years (using a bit more total space?) so the flow was a bit better. Not much traffic problems going in or out.

The kids are very young so we never get the good out of the festival, but it was worth going all the same. And the decent playground is always a welcome stopover to keep them pleased

I always like going PM on the last day for the bargains on the plants and got myself 4 fruit trees for €10 and a lovely big trailing fuchsia for €5

And to all the people complaining about the food prices - are you all for real? Have you never been out before to any festival in this country? All the prices I saw were clearly advertised. If you can't afford those prices or are unwilling to pay for them (like me) you can always bring your own food or nibble on the freebies

greenart

touts wrote: »

This is unfair and harsh. I thought Bloom was excellent. Some of the show gardens might have been poor but in Chelsea they spend MILLIONS on each garden. The money just is not in this country to do that. The Chinese garden The VW garden and one or two others would not have been out of place in chelsea even if they might not win gold there (although these days at Chelsea its easier to win Gold than past years). The rest of the Bloom event is an excellent show case for Irish gardening food craft and fashion. There is a lot of stuff I was not interested in but I found a lot of things I was interested in. But unlike some of the previous posters I dont expect them to design the show around my personal likes and interests so maybe that means i'm easily pleased.

Cost wise i have a local nursery that I find very hard to beat on price but i found some excellent bargains in plants at bloom. There were plants there for €8 at one stand that were €11 at another (and were 9.99 in lidl just this last Thursday). Shopping around and haggling was required but i think most people do that in everyday life now. In terms of food yes it was expensive but again you get that at every show festival and match. They have a captive audience and they charge extra. So do the Gaa IRFU oxygen zoo etc. Bring your own sandwiches or pay the price. I thought admission price at the gates was high at €20 but there were lots of 2 for one vouchers in the papers and shops which made it €10 if you brought a friend or paired up with a stranger on the way in as lots of people seemed to be doing. Also Kids were free which meant a family of 4 could get in for the same as €5 a head. Where would you get that elsewhere. The artisan food was expensive but it was like the mother of all farmers markets and those places are not for the fiscally challenged anywhere in the country.

I enjoyed the event and would recommend it. Others didnt but you cant please everyone especially in this island of misery and begrudgery.

Well said!!:)

fryup

as the old saying goes..........

"you can please some of the people some of the time

but you can't please all of the people all of the time"

donalg1

paddy147 wrote: »

Yes,at stupidly INFLATED prices.

An unbranded 30 meters of garden hose costing 25 euro on its own.
Exact same 30 meter hose is currently 12 euro in Aldi and also BnQ
QUOTE]

I bought hose in Aldi because it was so cheap thought great getting a brilliant deal here, the things in the bin now, used it about five times and had about five holes in it, so i went and spent more on a decent hose and thats still perfect after a lot more uses,

You get what you pay for i guess

paddy147

donalg1 wrote: »

paddy147 wrote: »

Yes,at stupidly INFLATED prices.

An unbranded 30 meters of garden hose costing 25 euro on its own.
Exact same 30 meter hose is currently 12 euro in Aldi and also BnQ
QUOTE]

I bought hose in Aldi because it was so cheap thought great getting a brilliant deal here, the things in the bin now, used it about five times and had about five holes in it, so i went and spent more on a decent hose and thats still perfect after a lot more uses,

You get what you pay for i guess

Funny then that my 30 meter hose kit is still going strong 1 year later (Aldi bought) and its been used by myself for washing the cars and cleaning down the house and driveway.
My girlfriend has used it in the gardens and for the aquariams,and the builder and plasterers have used it for building work,mixing cement and plastering.

Its still going strong,even with all the abuse it has been given and the amount of blocks,rubble,cement and plaster that its been burried in,from time to time.

We very recently went and bought another hose and reel kit from Aldi for the allotment this time,as it was that good and very good value for money,when compared to named brands and more expensive brands..:)

noby

I would encourage anyone with negative (or positive) feedback to go to the Bord Bia / Bloom website and drop them a mail. They really do take on board all feedback from exhibitors and punters, and try to improve on things each year. As someone who had a stall there we were delighted with the improvements made from 2010, but will still be pointing out where these could be worked on again for next year.

Sonnenblumen

fryup wrote: »

as the old saying goes..........

"you can please some of the people some of the time

but you can't please all of the people all of the time"

Agree, but guess what there are some people that will never be pleased.

I would give plenty of credit to the visiting general public, most are very reasonable and quite rightly recognise that there's more to value than merely the price.

magicbastarder

paddy147 wrote: »

We very recently went and bought another hose and reel kit from Aldi for the allotment this time,as it was that good and very good value for money,when compared to named brands and more expensive brands..:)

i never buy tools from aldi or lidl anymore. the ease at which screwdriver chucks strip themselves bare, the 'drill bits' (term used advisedly because my little finger would be more durable), the angle grinder my friend bought which lasted three minutes...

doctor evil

I went yesterday with the Irish Times voucher, quickly found a stranger to buddy up with and got in for €10.

I didn't really check out the show gardens but I meandered around the stall and worked my way over to the food tents. Not too sure if I would call them all artisan. Feasted on samples and bought one or two things. I got the free sausages from Rudds. I've had them before and they can take a bit longer to cook as they are bigger.

The weather was great and I finally got to visit the victorian walled garden, towards the end I went back to the stalls and got a large french Lavender plant for a fiver.

Getting there was grand with the 145 and the curtesy bus both ways was prompt and welcoming!

I did hear one seller of tools/stuff say that he knew nothing about gardening which was surprising as you come to these things for the expertise, fortunately this stall weren't selling plants.

The Master.

Very busy the bank holiday monday. three or four deep at every stall in the food village even the ones that had absolute ****e for sale.
I went for the cactus but the guy on the stand had the personality of a housebrick so felt awkward even talking to him.
just wanted to get out of there after a short while.
there really is nothing to do in Dublin if you dont like spending loads of money or getting pissed.
i wont be rushing back.