Gardening is the perfect activity and educational opportunity for kids and adults alike during lockdown. Photo / Supplied
Gardening is the perfect activity and educational opportunity for kids and adults alike during lockdown. Photo / Supplied
EDITORIAL:
The widespread panic-buying that preceded the nation's Covid-19 lockdown was not just contained to supermarkets and toilet paper. There was also a major run on garden centres and the gardening sections of hardware stores.
It seems the combination of the fear of running out of food,and having nothing to do, had people reaching for the seedling punnets, with intentions of growing their own at home.
It is likely a proportion of those buyers are gardening novices, indicating a radical turnaround after largely losing the traditional vege plot over past years, and could be a positive element to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
As seasoned gardeners will tell you, there are few things more satisfying than getting your fingers dirty, planting, nurturing, harvesting and then consuming your own produce. It is an enriching and therapeutic pastime, great for mental and physical health alike.
It's also a perfect activity for the kids - and a great home-schooling opportunity at the same time. In fact, given the numbers of children already in the Enviroschools programme, it may be them teaching us new tricks.
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For those who snapped up the salad green seedlings, they could be picking the first leaves within this month's lockdown. Those planting brassica seedlings will have to wait longer, but time is the one thing we have in bountiful supply now, so what's the hurry?
In the meantime, there's any number of other garden chores that can be done. Rubbish and recycling piling up? Start a compost heap in a corner of the garden and put all your fruit and vege scraps there, plus torn up paper and cardboard, and your grass and hedge clippings you can no longer take offsite. Sit back and let the good bugs work their magic.
Parsley and coriander gone to seed? Collect it and sow some in a pot on your windowsill and enjoy partaking in the whole process from start to finish.
Didn't make it to the garden centre at all - or found empty shelves when you did? Scrape the seeds out of your online-delivered supermarket tomatoes and capsicums, pot up in whatever garden dirt you do have, place on aforementioned windowsill, keep moist and enjoy watching those green shoots appear.
And if your first attempts don't bear fruit, you'll still be learning skills, passing the time, and focusing your energy on something relaxing, down to earth, meaningful - and within your control for the next months.
