{{Short description|Irish writer on gardening and kitchen gardens}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Lily Champ''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|91|2023|4|20|noage=1}})<ref>{{cite web|url = https://irishcountrymagazine.ie/editors-letter-meeting-sharon-shannon/ | website = irishcountrymagazine.ie | title = Editor's letter: Meeting Sharon Shannon | date = 20 April 2023 | accessdate = 28 April 2026 | quote = Now aged 91, Lily [Champ] is hanging up her boots after 11 years' writing for us }}</ref> is an Irish writer on gardening, who has grown her own fruits and vegetables for over 50 years.<ref name=":1" /> She writes a weekly column on her kitchen garden for the ''Irish Farmers Journal'',<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Sargent |first=Trevor |url=https://archive.org/details/trevorskitchenga0000sarg/page/92/mode/2up |title=Trevor's Kitchen Garden: A week-by-week guide to growing your own food |publisher=Orpen |year=2012 |isbn=9781871305395 |location=Dublin |pages=93–94}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.farmersjournal.ie/lily-champ-talks-gardening-ahead-of-bloom-281673 | publisher = Irish Farmers Journal | website = farmersjournal.ie | title = Lily Champ talks gardening ahead of Bloom | first = Aisling | last = Hussey | date = 31 May 2017 |accessdate = 20 November 2022 }}</ref> and has a long-standing gardening column in ''Irish Country Magazine''.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Heron |first=Klara |date=26 May 2020 |title=Lily Champ reflects on her lifelong love of gardening |url=https://irishcountrymagazine.ie/lily-champ-reflects-on-her-lifelong-love-of-gardening/ |accessdate=20 November 2022 |website=irishcountrymagazine.ie |publisher=The Agricultural Trust}}</ref> She has lived near Portarlington in County Laois for her entire life,<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Miller">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Steven |date=24 May 2017 |title=Laois gardening legend Lilly Champ features in Bloom video |website=laoistoday.ie |publisher=Laois Today |url=https://www.laoistoday.ie/2017/05/24/laois-gardening-legend-lilly-champ-features-bloom-video/ |accessdate=20 March 2019}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and has been called a "legend" of Laois gardening by ''Laois Today''.<ref name="Miller" />
Champ grew up on a farm which was nearly self-sufficient for vegetables and poultry.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref name=":1" />
She and her garden have been featured on RTÉ One programmes including ''Ear to the Ground'' in 2010,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=5 December 2010 |title=RTÉ One Highlights Week 49 (04 December – 10 December 2010) |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2010/12/05/rte-one-highlights-week-49-04-december-10-december-2010/ |accessdate=5 September 2020 |website=RTÉ Press Centre |publisher=RTÉ}}</ref> and ''Nationwide'' in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 August 2021 |title=NATIONWIDE WEEK 35 |work=RTÉ Press Centre |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2021/08/30/nationwide-week-35-3/ |access-date=2022-11-20}}</ref> Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Champ regularly appeared at the annual Bloom Festival in Dublin,<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Miller" /> and gave demonstrations at the National Ploughing Championships.<ref name=":2" /> She was a featured speaker on growing your own food at the opening of the Stradbally Community Allotment in 2012,<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 June 2012 |title=Green shoots at Stradbally allotments |work=Leinster Express |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A294654712/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=aa8661e5 |access-date=2022-11-20 |via=Gale OneFile}}</ref> and provides free gardening tips to local allotment owners.<ref name=":1" /> In 2021, she was interviewed on Midlands 103 for ''The Open Door'' with Ann-Marie Kelly.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2021 |title=The Open Door – Lily Champ |work=Midlands 103 |url=https://soundcloud.com/midlands103official/the-open-door-lily-champ |access-date=2022-11-20 |via=SoundCloud}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tracey |first=Michael |date=18 February 2014 |title=Laois ICA Ladies Contribute to ICA Household 'Bible' |work=Laois Nationalist |url=https://laois-nationalist.ie/2014/02/18/laois-ica-ladies-contribute-household-bible/ |access-date=2022-11-20}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DPSid7-Uzg Lily Champ – Stories of Bloom (YouTube)] * [https://soundcloud.com/midlands103official/the-open-door-lily-champ The Open Door – Lily Champ (SoundCloud)]{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champ, Lily}} Category:Irish writers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people