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Keith
Pierce thanked every one who put in entries for the Summer
Show which was a great success with over 150 entries. He also
thanked the effort of the Show Secretary Katherine Deaville
The speaker, Mrs A Winder, gave us a talk on Pot Pourri from
start to finish. She brought lots of samples some of
which were passed around for members to smell. Mrs Winder
who grows much of her material on two allotments, said that
it is very easy to make Pot Pourri and much superior to the
sachets that you can buy in shops.
Material should be gathered before it is fully opened to capture
the scent and then dried in paper this can be newspaper or
paper bags but never plastic. Pick material for form, scent,
texture and colour. Suitable material includes Lavender,
herbs including Lemon Balm for a citrus Pot Pourri, Roses
(just in flower), cornflowers, delphiniums and Poppy heads,
and Love in the Mist seed heads for form; other seed heads
can also be used.
The material is put into a warm dry place. It takes about
six weeks to dry the flowers or herbs. When dry pull off the
flower heads and cut up any stems that are to be used. Put
these into a large container (not tin) for other ingredients
to be added.
Add Sea salt (not table salt) and spices eg. cardamom, black
peppers, grated ginger, lemon rind etc. and then add
a handful of Orris root powder. Leave to stand for several
weeks to mature, turning occasionally, you can at this stage
add more dried material. Lastly add essential oils such
as lavender or rose water, just a few drops will do.
Display in wooden bowls or put into cotton bags.
Make Pomanders in July or August for delightfully fragrant
Christmas decorations. Simply push cloves into the orange
and leave in a warm place to dry. Attach a hanger.
Slices of oranges or lemons can be put into a low oven to
dry. When dry thread onto ribbon to hang up.
The speaker was thanked for her informative talk by Keith
Pierce.
The next meeting on 14th August will be at the
URC Hall at 7.45 pm when Mr M Sellwood will be talking about
trees and shrubs in a small garden. Visitors will be
welcome.
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