Yes, we are lucky enough to have a huge garden though the work involved is back-breaking at times.
But how privileged were we over lockdown to have the space in which to sit outdoors. My heart goes out to those who had to stay inside, perhaps in a tiny flat with children, pets, maybe an abusive partner. No wonder mental health issues have come to the fore during this time.
At the outset of this pandemic, newly-qualified doctors were rushed out to work in the hospitals. Nervous, stressed, and thrown in at the deep end. Whilst no-one was allowed to holiday, obviously our BnB stable was empty, and we let it out for free to a young doctor who had been billeted in a unit for homeless people. Great that these people had a roof over their heads. Not so great that they were partying and the young doctors couldn’t get any sleep. So one newly-qualified young man came to stay with us, and we have stayed friends with him, his girlfriend, and his family (who also subsequently booked in to stay). And along the way I taught him what I know about foraging – mainly around herbs – and he taught me about fungi, his specialist interest. He’s since gone on to train in foraging and now runs foraging courses in Somerset – and guess what garden is sometimes rich pickings for him? #NeverMunchonaHunch
