NEWLYGROUNDED
Georgina(left)
andLorraine
turnedlockdown
stressintoa
chanceto
reconnect
withtheir
environmentpeople.deliciousmagazine.co.uk 17ThisyearI’ve
discoveredwhat’s
importanttome
anditmakesme
phenomenally
happyLorraineBridgeshasfound
newsolaceinhersouthLondon
gardenthisyearandnow
harvestsherownfruitand
vegetables.It’sa farcry
from her day job.“Ithinkeveryoneexperienced
somesortofanxietybecauseofthe
pandemic– it wasnaturalwithso
muchuncertainty.I runa busyPR
agency,whichcanbestressful,but
I enjoyit.BylateAprilthough,
whenworkstartedtoslowdown,
I hadbreathingspacetothinkand
contemplate.I wasspendinga lot
moretimeinthegarden– really
lookingatit,ratherthanjust
franticallyweedingorhavinga few
drinksouttherewithfriends.
I foundI couldn’twaittogetup
inthemorningandsitwitha cupof
tea,watchthebeesandlistentothe
soundsofnature.I hadtostay
tunedintothenewsformywork
andit waseasytogetboggeddown
init all,butbeingoutdoorsallowed
metoexplorea sideofmeI hadn’t
knownbefore.It waslikea little
dailydoseofmedicine.
I boughtsometomatoplants
from a woman in our local businesssoI startedexpandingtherange.
Wenowhave 35 products,
includinglocalcheeses,chutneys
andhoney.I’mpleasedtooffer
a fairpricetotheproducers,who
arewonderful.Theyputtheirheart
andsoulintoit andhopefully
customersfeelthat.I alsohope
peoplewillconsiderbuyinglocal
insteadofrelyingonsupermarkets.
Rightnow,we’reabouttomove
toa newworkspace,I’mapplying
forgrantfundingtobuya vanand
I’malsothinkingaboutveggieboxes.
TheplanforChristmasis topost
BestofSussexhampers,andwe
nowsupplyflowersfroma cutting
gardeninSussextoo.
I don’tknowhowthingswould
beif I hadn’tstartedthis.It’shelped
financiallyandevenmoresofrom
a mentalhealthperspective– my
familyareallinGuernseyand
I can’tseethemastheyhavestrict
quarantinerules,sothat’sbeen
reallydifficult.Thenewbusiness
hasbeena greatdistractionfromall
that,andwhata madyearit’sbeen:
fromMarchtoAugustwesoldmore
than30,000eggsandnowhaveover
100 regularcustomers.I loveit – and
I havenointentionsofstopping.”
Formoreinformationandto order,
visit sussexeggspress.co.uk
group,thencourgettes,geraniums,
peppers,lettuce,strawberries,
blueberriesandradishes.I bought
seedstogrowfromscratch,started
a compostheapandbeganmaking
myownbread.I don’tusemy
handsinmyjob,sobakingand
messingaboutinthesoilwasa
goodcounterbalance.It made me
phenomenallyhappy.
Thesedays,I don’t
makeanywherenear
asmanytripstothe
supermarket.I take
a lookatwhat’sinthe
garden– it makesyou
morecreative,givesyou
a make-domentality.
Andtastingthingsas
they’remeanttotaste
hasbeena revelation,
particularlytomatoes.
I eatmorevegetarianmealsnow
andfarlessmeat.Growingyour
owngivesyouanappreciation
ofhowmucheffortandtimehave
goneintoyourfood.I’malsomuch
morefrugal.I feltalmostqueasy
watchingallthecouriersdelivering
upanddownmyroad– it mademe
askwhywehavebecomeobsessed
with consumerism. I don’t wantto→THE NEW GARDENER