2020 Covid-19 Memories
Kate and Kids, Inverleith
I’ve been helping a friend with their plot through summer and now into autumn and it’s hard to put into words how
meaningful and important it has been for me and my children, especially during lockdown.
It’s been our safe place to go. My kids (8,5 and 2) have benefitted enormously - from the fresh air, to the ability to speak to the other allotment holders. It’s been our botanic garden, our messy play, our zoo (frogs! worms! butterflies!), our museum, our connection with the world. Not to mention how they’ve enjoyed pulling their own carrots and picking berries and now apples. My husband had emergency surgery at the end of the summer and it was the one place I could take them out of the house all day if necessary to allow him to rest. It’s hard to overstate how significant the space has been to us! So, we’ve been taking care of the garden, but the garden has really taken care of us.
We’re very thankful.
meaningful and important it has been for me and my children, especially during lockdown.
It’s been our safe place to go. My kids (8,5 and 2) have benefitted enormously - from the fresh air, to the ability to speak to the other allotment holders. It’s been our botanic garden, our messy play, our zoo (frogs! worms! butterflies!), our museum, our connection with the world. Not to mention how they’ve enjoyed pulling their own carrots and picking berries and now apples. My husband had emergency surgery at the end of the summer and it was the one place I could take them out of the house all day if necessary to allow him to rest. It’s hard to overstate how significant the space has been to us! So, we’ve been taking care of the garden, but the garden has really taken care of us.
We’re very thankful.
My daughter loves the frogs. She looked up the name ‘Rana temporaria’ and found out about their life cycle, hibernation habits, and habitat. She would listen and notice to the different sounds they made and name them after their characteristics. She always put them back where she found them- many tearful goodbyes. She found out the males are smaller than the females - so this must be a mum, if not a grandma frog!
She made many friends by introducing people to the frogs. We have started digging our own frog pond on our plot and hope we might see the whole life cycle next spring.
She made many friends by introducing people to the frogs. We have started digging our own frog pond on our plot and hope we might see the whole life cycle next spring.
Happiness is wearing your California poppies and lavender.
A bit of our process - notice the Bay tree and shed in the background.
16th of July. ‘Before’
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25th July - same tree and shed. Raspberries weeded and reorganised. A flurry of raised
beds erected from scrap wood other people were giving away. My cheeky mum-in-law
asked if I was growing cardboard!
Thank you Gardener’s World for the idea of the ‘no-dig’
method.
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16th September - a central path leads down to a 7-sided bed framing the bay tree. Reclaimed trellises make a framework around a wee sitting area (once I find a free table!) Late beans and peas. And cut comfrey to mulch the
raspberries.
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Made possible by many wheelbarrow trips!
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