2020 Covid-19 Memories
Maggie Ferguson, Inverleith Allotments
Lockdown 2020 - like tightrope walking without a safety net...
- over the months - the safety net became the allotment...
Inverleith Allotments have been an oasis. The early mornings are still, quiet, peaceful - a secret garden. Walking through the gates, leaving the outside world, takes me back to when I was young, living in central rural India - just after dawn in the very large garden, alone with the softly waking mornings...
We were in Palolem Beach India in January when we first became really aware of the news from China, sounded unbelievable, scary, and over the next few weeks it spread... Became anxious re our return to UK on 4th March, 4 airports & 3 planes, masked and attempting social distancing in Delhi, crowds, queues, close seating...arriving back in Edinburgh at midnight.
One week later we both felt weird...sudden onset of extreme utter overwhelming fatigue & exhaustion, temperature for a few hours, bit wobbly for a couple of days, then it vanished. We felt like we’d maybe had a mild dose of Covid19. Since then we’ve spoken to several others who have also had these odd unexplained similar symptoms.
Our cupboards were bare after a six week absence...rushed to the stores to stock up! Including the big search for seeds & plants, very difficult, limited, eventually found some random packets...much joy...sprinkled masses of tiny tomato seeds in pots...kept them on my desk swaddled in layers of fleece as it was so cold...and they ALL grew...eventually ending up with 76 wee tomato plants, plus 6 ‘chocolate tomato’ ones...!
As many places were closing, we were unsure if allotments would be able to stay open - then on Radio4, 24th March, we heard Michael Gove say that ‘allotments were Ok for exercise’- awesome! brilliant!
Very very cold in Edinburgh this spring, with much conflicting overwhelming news, stopped listening, best to retreat into my world, keep it safe, keep it very small...home, plot, park, supermarket...a tiny area of Edinburgh...but it felt good, felt manageable...maybe...
Then the weather became truly extraordinary...seemingly weeks of blue sky & endless sunshine...day after day after day... best spring ever! Dazzlingly clear ...pollution free...so quiet...energised many to come to the allotments, to be safely distant within the community, yet to stop & chat, share stories, enjoying the escape from home, be outdoors, plant, seed, water, make plans - look ahead, hope. In our short time here we have never seen the plots looking so good, full, thriving. Plants have grown extraordinarily well - but - the mice ate ALL our peas!!!
The plots are full of birds, birdsongs, butterflies, and frogs both in the ponds & hopping about...foxes cruising around...a small green world where we all could be safe...
Tapestry of Plot 70 (from a large tapestry of my favourite places, which I have been stitching over a few years) + photos of gladioli & peonies from the plot...
- over the months - the safety net became the allotment...
Inverleith Allotments have been an oasis. The early mornings are still, quiet, peaceful - a secret garden. Walking through the gates, leaving the outside world, takes me back to when I was young, living in central rural India - just after dawn in the very large garden, alone with the softly waking mornings...
We were in Palolem Beach India in January when we first became really aware of the news from China, sounded unbelievable, scary, and over the next few weeks it spread... Became anxious re our return to UK on 4th March, 4 airports & 3 planes, masked and attempting social distancing in Delhi, crowds, queues, close seating...arriving back in Edinburgh at midnight.
One week later we both felt weird...sudden onset of extreme utter overwhelming fatigue & exhaustion, temperature for a few hours, bit wobbly for a couple of days, then it vanished. We felt like we’d maybe had a mild dose of Covid19. Since then we’ve spoken to several others who have also had these odd unexplained similar symptoms.
Our cupboards were bare after a six week absence...rushed to the stores to stock up! Including the big search for seeds & plants, very difficult, limited, eventually found some random packets...much joy...sprinkled masses of tiny tomato seeds in pots...kept them on my desk swaddled in layers of fleece as it was so cold...and they ALL grew...eventually ending up with 76 wee tomato plants, plus 6 ‘chocolate tomato’ ones...!
As many places were closing, we were unsure if allotments would be able to stay open - then on Radio4, 24th March, we heard Michael Gove say that ‘allotments were Ok for exercise’- awesome! brilliant!
Very very cold in Edinburgh this spring, with much conflicting overwhelming news, stopped listening, best to retreat into my world, keep it safe, keep it very small...home, plot, park, supermarket...a tiny area of Edinburgh...but it felt good, felt manageable...maybe...
Then the weather became truly extraordinary...seemingly weeks of blue sky & endless sunshine...day after day after day... best spring ever! Dazzlingly clear ...pollution free...so quiet...energised many to come to the allotments, to be safely distant within the community, yet to stop & chat, share stories, enjoying the escape from home, be outdoors, plant, seed, water, make plans - look ahead, hope. In our short time here we have never seen the plots looking so good, full, thriving. Plants have grown extraordinarily well - but - the mice ate ALL our peas!!!
The plots are full of birds, birdsongs, butterflies, and frogs both in the ponds & hopping about...foxes cruising around...a small green world where we all could be safe...
Tapestry of Plot 70 (from a large tapestry of my favourite places, which I have been stitching over a few years) + photos of gladioli & peonies from the plot...