The Avenue Lunch’n’Learn

[AD/Gifted] Today’s post is all about the Lunch’n’Learn session at The Avenue shopping centre in Newton Mearns I attended. This Lunch’n’learn session was all about gardening with key speakers Sallie Sillars (Scotland’s Gardener of the year) and Louise Bustard (From Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens). 

The event took place in the heart of the shopping centre with lovely rows of chairs all placed out and goodie bags to accompany. There were some light refreshments that were supplied by M&S so you know it’s the good stuff! All of which tasted very nice I have to say. I decided to sit near the back row in centre seats so that I would have a very good view of the front plus it would really help with pictures. It was nice just sitting waiting for the event to start, seeing everything being set up and the key speakers getting their stuff ready with Sallie Sillars coming round and talking to everyone individually, it felt really personal, they made sure you felt valued.

First up to speak was Sallie Sillars who won Scotland’s Gardener of The Year. Sallie was talking us through Succulents, you know those little plants all us bloggers seem to love because they make amazing blog props, even if some of them are fake. I decided to invest in one and try my hand at keeping it alive, it was only £2 in Ikea so it would have been rude not to so this talk from Sallie was very welcomed in my life! I need to know more about these beautiful plants, maybe I will venture into buying more now. 

Next up was the talk from Louise Bustard who works at Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens, it’s such a beautiful place and if you haven’t been yet then I suggest you go because you will be wowed! I also learned that they have the biggest bamboo!! How cool is that? Anyway, Louise talked about how plants effect us in life every single day in ways we probably don’t even realise. She had some amazing things with her to show us which was kind of like show and tell… I was INTRIGUED! During the whole talk I was hooked on her every word, learning about different plants and how they are used in life and how they were used many years ago. Louise also brought a huge fungus with her which was used to sharpen blades way back when and the thing felt really cool, it was passed along the audience so we could have a feel at it, I love how interactive this was.

I found the talk by Louise really educational to say the least, learning about all these different uses for plants, how certain things are made and how it impacts us from day to day life was such an eye opener, it was things I’ve never really thought about before if I’m honest. One part that I found both intriguing yet a little disturbing was how the casing from a nut was used to trap monkeys hands so that the hunters could then shoot them for dinner… A little morbid I know but fascinating new information all the same.

I just want to say thank you to The Avenue for having me, I really did have a great time, the whole day was spent there and I genuinely enjoyed myself to say the least.


To keep an eye out on what’s happening around the centre then head to their website which has all their up coming events. 

Avenueshopping.co.uk

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