Drop-in picking on 17 Sharp Road, Matakana. If the shed is not staffed, we work on an honesty system where you help yourself to flowers, or to the ready-made bunches and other seasonal products from our shed, and pay for them by bank transfer to 06-0483-0164754-00 or by cash into our honesty box. You can also pay by card inside Charlies Gelato. Gift cards can be purchased at any time from us or Ch
arlies Gelato. Come for a stroll through the rows of blooms, borrow snips and a bucket or basket, stop to smell the flowers, and cut your own bouquet! Snips are sharp and children are soft, so parents help cut for their kids. Flowers are charged by weight. A mixed bouquet is priced at $10 per 100 grams, which is a little bit more than at the supermarket, and a little bit less than at the florist. Herbs and flower tips (for pressing, cake decorating etc) are priced at $30 per 100 grams. Gift cards are available too, for the perfect zero-waste present. Entry is free with Slow Blooms purchase, i.e. picking or buying a ready made bunch from our honesty stall or dried range. Entry is $5 for adults and $2 for children. What's in a name? Slow Blooms is a play on the Slow Foods and Slow Flowers movement, which values produce grown locally, in their natural season, using sustainable practices - as opposed to flowers grown with the use of harsh chemicals and pesticides, and often flown in from greenhouses in faraway countries, spending days or even weeks in transit before they reach their destination. Slow Blooms to us also means letting good things take time... Going for a mindful stroll and enjoying picking the blooms you love, as opposed to grabbing a plastic-wrapped bunch on the go. How did we get here? In September 2020, we started transforming parts of the grapevines behind Charlies into a flower garden, with the vision to create a special experience for visitors, to pick their own beautiful bouquets and healing herbs for teas, tinctures, and culinary use. How do we grow? Rebecka holds an NZ Certificate in Horticulture, a Permaculture Design Certificate, and is co-founder of the Permaculture Mahurangi group. Our blooms are grown according to earth-friendly permaculture principles - with care for the earth and for our visitors and staff. Volunteers? We are welcoming volunteers who are keen to help and learn in the garden. Send us a message! Any tips?
- On hot summers days, flowers keep longer if they are picked in the mornings and into a bucket of water.
- Pick flowers above a set of leaves.
- Keep feet on the grass, including little feet and paws, and out of the flower beds.
- To make sure your flowers stay fresh for the trip home, you can buy a jar in our shed and fill with water from our buckets. See you in the blooms!
