Bloom-what a let down.

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.

ppink

Have to say I travelled 2 hours to Bloom and was disapppointed also. All the goods on sale there were very expensive. Bought some just to support local producers but really the prices are too high to sustain.
Had to laugh at one cheese stand we went to. Asked if we could taste before buying ....3 people behind the counter, 2 talking to each other and 1 chatting for 5 mins to a customer......but the guy chatting to the customer was the only one able to cut the cheese apparently so we were told to "come back later" lol!
Birdwatch Ireland very very dissappointing. Only set up to cater for kids....we were told we were not kids so just look a the books lol! Honestly talk about recruiting people into birdwatching!!
Then there was a irish wildlife stand, all set up just for kids too...no info for adults at all!

The gardens were poor apart from the fas/depression one. At least when we went there a lady explained it all to us. chinese one was packed with dancers and cameras so could not really see it.
All in all disappointing for us.

magicbastarder

The Master. wrote: »

there really is nothing to do in Dublin if you dont like spending loads of money or getting pissed.

this is utter nonsense. you didn't even have to leave the phoenix park to have a nice free outing.

Nonmonotonic

magicbastarder wrote: »

you didn't even have to leave the phoenix park to have a nice free outing.

+1 from me.

wildlifeboy

"Then there was a irish wildlife stand, all set up just for kids too...no info for adults at all!"

WRONG - I manned the Stand inside and we mostly dealth with Adults. the stand outside was mostly for children but if you had any sort of querys regarding membership or simply wanted to talk about wildlife then we were all ears.

magicbastarder

was that the one in the retail tent you were on?

it was sweltering in there on saturday. we were running a tag team operation to get out for fresh air every half hour.

prospect

I have visited Bloom every year since it started.

To the person who said it was the 'same old', they couldn't be more wrong. The layout of the site and additions of new stuff year on year have meant that this has evolved very well and shows the willingness of organisers to strive to improve.

I was at a few restaurants/cafes and every one of them had the prices on display. I also saw many people eating a packed lunch. We did this last year, and ate it on the grass in front of a live kids show and it was great.

I thought the new food stalls area was a massive improvement this year, but I agree that the layout of the eating area needs to be adjusted to allow for organised queuing at busy times.

Another idea would be canopies at the front of the stalls to protect against the almost inevitable showers.

I was there early on Sunday and it was reasonably quiet, but I always find the show gardens area to be very crowded, maybe a one way system around this area would be better, or mover it to a larger area?

It is not perfect, but it is certainly very good and getting better. But you know what, if you have an issue with any aspect it, e-mail them or send a letter to them, no point just whining about it.

I am not affiliated with the show or any of its participants in any way.

ppink

wildlifeboy wrote: »

"Then there was a irish wildlife stand, all set up just for kids too...no info for adults at all!"

WRONG - I manned the Stand inside and we mostly dealth with Adults. the stand outside was mostly for children but if you had any sort of querys regarding membership or simply wanted to talk about wildlife then we were all ears.

Did not see it. We stood at the other one for a while trying to figure out if there was anything for adults but we were just ignored.....probably cause it was mobbed with kids.
Next year maybe you could put a sign up "childrens section" "adults section". I met several others looking for the adult part but could not see it as it was so busy.