Lily Champ is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

writer on

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

, who has grown her own fruits and vegetables for over 50 years. She writes a weekly column on her

kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

for the ''

Irish Farmers Journal The ''Irish Farmers Journal'' is a weekly newspaper (published Thursdays) which provides farming news, specialist advice, market data and country living features to the Irish agricultural industry. As of October 2019, it reportedly had a weekly ...

'', and has a long-standing gardening column in ''Irish Country Magazine''. She has lived near Portarlington in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

for her entire life, and has been called a "legend" of Laois gardening by ''Laois Today''. Champ grew up on a farm which was nearly self-sufficient for vegetables and poultry. Her own garden has been noted for its diverse flora and fauna, including a lily-of-the-valley tree which is the only one of its kind in Ireland. She and her garden have been featured on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

programmes including ''

Ear to the Ground ''Ear to the Ground'' is a weekly television programme broadcast on Ireland's RTÉ One on Thursday evenings at 19:00pm. Repeated on Sundays at 13.10pm. It consists of reports about rural, countryside and environmental issues. As of October 2021, ...

'' in 2010, and '' Nationwide'' in 2021. Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Champ regularly appeared at the annual Bloom Festival in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and gave demonstrations at the

National Ploughing Championships The National Ploughing Championships ( ga, Comórtas Náisiúnta Treabhdóireachta) or NPC, previously known as The National Ploughing Championships Machinery & Livestock Exhibition, is an outdoor agricultural show in Ireland incorporating a p ...

. She was a featured speaker on growing your own food at the opening of the Stradbally Community Allotment in 2012, and provides free gardening tips to local allotment owners. In 2021, she was interviewed on

Midlands 103 Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local independent radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath. The station's offices and main broadcast studios are in Tullamore, County Offaly. It also ...

for ''The Open Door'' with Ann-Marie Kelly. Champ was a contributor to the ''Irish Countrywomen's Association (ICA) Book of Home and Family'' (2013), which was nominated for best Irish published book at the National Irish Book Awards.

References

External links

Lily Champ – Stories of Bloom (YouTube)

The Open Door – Lily Champ (SoundCloud)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champ, Lily Irish writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people