Page 5 - Issue 3 Cornwall Hill

Estate News

lIFE In lOckdOWn

I fail to understand the concept of boredom. So, when the prospect of ‘lockdown’
was announced, besides the panic shopping, I kept telling myself what not to
do (but did anyway). I excitedly started planning all the creative DIY projects
I wanted to get done during this time of being restricted to our homes and
gardens. I thought this was going to be an ideal time to get a lot of long overdue
items ticked off my to-do list.

Text and photography by Michele Burger

ithin the first week I very my way over to Plantland to purchase
quickly and begrudgingly some starter seedlings, with no real sense
realised that most of of urgency to the matter. Once I arrived,
those projects were however, I quickly realised, due to the very
Wsimply never going to few plants left in stock, that several other
take priority over the endless cycle of people must have had the same idea! I
feeding, cleaning, washing, grooming, quickly bought one tray of each - some
entertaining, and educating all the various spinach, green beans, beetroot, cauliflower,
members of my household. I have one broccoli, cabbage and onion. The
daughter, her name is Bella, and she is six seedlings, unfortunately, remained in their
years old. Due to the fact that she is an polystyrene containers for at least another
only child, the closing of her school meant week after that, as I realised the ground
a period of isolation not only from her was simply not ready for planting. I first had
teacher, but most importantly from other to adequately prepare the soil but more
children her own age, her friends. It has importantly, I had to mentally prepare
been tough on her and let us just say our myself for a task that I knew was going to
mother-daughter relationship certainly take an enormous amount of energy and
took a few turns for the worse over the time, not to mention the challenge it was
last two months. Miraculously, through it going to be to steal away this time from
all, I am incredibly thrilled to report that I attending to the amplified needs of my
did manage to get one project ticked off family during the lockdown.
my list, one that I have been dreaming
about for probably most of my adult life: The last day before we were due to be
starting a vegetable garden. In addition stuck in our homes, I rushed over to
to that, the project proved to be both a Builder’s Warehouse to ‘panic purchase’
highly educational exercise and bonding some essentials which I realised we were
opportunity for me and my daughter. not going to have access to once the
We both learned a great deal about hard restrictions set it - fertiliser, compost, seeds,
work, patience and enjoying the fruits (or stepping stones and some basic tools. Once
veggies, in this case) of our labour. lockdown set in, unfortunately, several
more days passed before I managed to
I am by no means a gardening expert get into a rhythm with my household that
and I must state my disclaimer that my would allow me to have a minute of free
vegetable garden is far from ‘professional’. time to do something other than keeping
Albeit very challenging physically, I do everyone fed and clean. At that point,
love gardening a great deal, and it makes the novelty of our worlds being turned
sense that I would; both my mother and upside down had worn off completely,
sTaRTIng yOuR OWn create horticultural magic in their gardens, to terms with the vicious cycle I found
and I was desperately attempting to come
my grandmother have always been able to
myself caught up in between cooking and
and never in any professional capacity.
VEgETablE Mother-daughter gardening seems to be a Like most other parents I have spoken to, lunchtime, I just decided “to heck with
They just have incredibly green fingers.
cleaning, washing and home schooling.
pattern in our family.
I was really struggling to connect with my
everyone and everything, I am going to
daughter. Things were crazy, there was a
In an otherwise completely landscaped
escape into this little corner of our stand,
lot of screaming, a lot of tears, both mine
gaRdEn garden, we had an area no larger than and hers, almost every day. I have no doubt put on my gardening gloves and my music,
30 sqm in one of the top corners of our
almost everyone who reads this can relate
and start this veggie garden RIGHT NOW!”
sloped stand, which historically served as
in some way. It was, and still is, as if we are
a rubble and compost site. In an effort to
I knew it was going to be tough, but
stuck in some sort of “Groundhog Day”-
make our property a little more appealing,
challenging than I had anticipated. In
Melia’s Garden Service landscaped the type movie, but the horror version. tilling the soil was much more physically
area earlier this year with some cement I think it was around day seven of order to soften the hard, rocky soil and to
blocks, Mondo grass and Spekboom lockdown, when seeing those seedlings work in the compost and fertiliser, I made
trees, but truth be told, I think I have still sitting in their sad white polystyrene use of a pitchfork to plough and “spit” (as
been earmarking this site as my much- containers almost two weeks after they we say in Afrikaans). There were many
longed-for vegetable garden ever since we were purchased, a bit of “lockdown rocks and weeds that had to be moved
purchased the property two years ago. delirium” must have set it in because it felt and thrown out. This ended up being
like the seedlings started to beckon me an exercise consisting of several hours
In the week leading up to lockdown, I made to plant them. So on that day, a little past of back-breaking physical labour. I kept
Cornwall View • Issue 3 2020 3