Grow your own from seed

The popularity of ‘Grow Your Own’ continues to rise, with 38% of British adults saying that they use their garden or outdoor space such as a balcony or window box to grow their own herbs, fruit and vegetables (according to a YouGov survey for the HTA in 2020).

Growing your own fruit and vegetables from seed is sometimes made to sound harder than it is. But all you really need to do is to pop a few seeds into some seed trays or pots filled with compost, place indoors in a propagator, or in a greenhouse if you have one, water well and watch your plants grow! In no time they will be ready to be planted out (usually after the last frost).

There’s no greater reward than growing your own fresh fruit and veg, and now is the time to plan what you are going to grow and choose your seeds.

Chillies and tomatoes – can be started off indoors from March through to mid spring. Plants will be ready to go outside in a sheltered, sunny spot from May or after the last frost.
Potatoes – are a family favourite and are very easy to grow. Buy seed potatoes, which are small potato tubers that are certified disease free (don’t be tempted to use old potatoes from the vegetable rack) and start chitting them in February or March. Chitting involves letting the potatoes grow shoots by placing them in trays or egg cartons and standing them in a cool, light spot until 1-2cm long shoots have formed. Work organic matter and a general fertiliser into the soil of an open sunny site. Potatoes do not like frost so don’t rush to plant out too soon. Water regularly and you should be able to harvest after 10-12 weeks.
Broad Beans and Runner Beans – can be sown indoors or straight in the ground outside as the soil warms up. They are easy to grow and you’ll be able to enjoy delicious freshly picked veg this summer.
Cress – have some fun and create your own crackin’ cress heads with the children! Carefully remove the top of your eggs, wash the shells and dab them dry. Draw faces on your shells with felt tip pens. Dip some cotton wool in water, squeeze out the excess, then place one cotton wool ball inside each shell. Sprinkle a few cress seeds on top. Sit your cress-filled shells in egg cups or an egg box on a sunny windowsill and watch them grow!

If you are new to growing your own then Squire’s Garden Centres has a ‘Grow Your Own Selection’ pack (£45) that contains everything you need to get you gardening. It includes an electric propagator to keep your seeds warm as they get going, seed trays, seed sowing compost, plant labels, a transplanting trowel, and packs of runner bean, tomato and carrot seeds. The pack is available online for local delivery and instore.

www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk

Move more when staying at home

Getting motivated to exercise outdoors during the cold, dark winter months can be challenging. Keeping physically active this winter, while the gyms and sports facilities are closed due to COVID-19, presents us with a unique challenge. Regular physical activity is strongly associated with a reduced risk of chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as improving mental health. Even small increases in physical activity can positively impact on health. Heart Research UK have some tips to help you keep active when staying at home.

Exercises you can do inside your home
Find exercises that you can do at home in short bursts of ten minutes or more, at regular intervals throughout the day. For example, you could try some gentle weight-lifting, using cans of baked beans. The NHS provide tips for exercising without gym equipment: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/gym-free-workouts/

Replace your daily commute with physical activity
If you are working, or studying from home, you may be saving time that would normally be spent on your daily commute. Why not put this time to good use by scheduling in some physical activity. For example, you could go for a brisk walk, jog or cycle outdoors or walk briskly around the house, including going up and down flights of stairs.

Don’t be a couch potato
Rather than spending your evenings sitting on the sofa without moving much, why not try a few gentle exercises, such as leg raises, while watching your favourite TV show. Examples of some exercises you can do from your sofa can be found on the NHS website: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Documents/sofa-workout.jpg

Reduce screen time for kids
It is common for children and young people to spend too much time sitting in front of a screen. Why not talk to your children about the importance of staying active and agree on a set amount of screen time each day/week and schedule in some time for getting active. You can find some fun indoor activities for kids on the Change 4 Life website: Indoor Activities for Kids | Kids’ Activities | Change4Life (www.nhs.uk)

Find hobbies that get you moving
If you tend to engage in hobbies that don’t require you to move very much, look for new hobbies that will get you moving, such as gardening, walking, weight-lifting or dancing.

Avoid long periods of inactivity
Set a timer to go off at specific times throughout the day to prompt you to do ten (or more) minutes of physical activity. Any activity is better than none. You can include a variety of light, moderate and vigorous activities. E.g. a brisk walk, sit-ups, weight-lifting, gardening or housework.

Gap Year for Grown Ups

One side effect of Covid is that many over 50s have found themselves in an unscheduled gap year. Some had already retired, others have been furloughed or made
redundant, but with many ‘confined to barracks’ with time on their hands, they’ve invented their own gap year. It has been aided and abetted by Farnham u3a where newcomers are
welcome.

Through various tiers and lockdowns Farnham u3a has expanded its offerings that entertain and amuse its one thousand plus members. Lockdown has elongated time for
those stuck at home – and home alone – but they now meet on Zoom rather than attend physical meetings at The Maltings.

Almost a year after the first lockdown u3a’s specialist interest groups online range across literature, books, languages, photography, current affairs, finance interest, geopolitics,
songwriting, the Silk Roads as well as the Art and Science of Communications. Without access to their usual hub at The Maltings, Pilates classes are now on YouTube (at whatever time you
want), and even Wine for Fun has gone onto Zoom – without the worry of getting a taxi home.

Large group presentations such as the monthly guest speakers, theme speakers and the AGM have also transferred to Zoom, freed from the constraints of room capacity. Keeping mind, body and spirit healthy is a priority because gone are the theatre trips, golf or tennis, bridge or garden club. Social distancing means no more morning coffee dates or half term child minding which used to fill our retiree’s diaries. This new style ‘gap year’ has seen local baby boomers transformed into Zoomers as they seize the opportunity to maintain social contact whilst broadening their mental horizons or cultural or recreational interests.

“Strangely we can reach out to more people using Zoom sessions than we could previously. Many of our members have found new groups and new interests during lockdown,”
says u3a’s groups co-ordinator Malcolm Ellis.

“Whilst we look forward to meeting together once more at The Maltings, Zoom sessions do come with some advantages. Not only do you not having to venture out in this cold, wet weather but also there are fewer limits to how many we can accommodate at each session. Waiting lists
are a thing of the past,” Mr Ellis added.

Farnham u3a is recruiting members and they say if we haven’t (yet) got a group that reflects your interests then let us know. There is plenty of support to get you started.

For more information about the active groups programme visit www.farnhamu3a.org.uk or email members@farnhamu3a.org.uk. In the spirit of try before you buy, non members are welcome to
have two free ‘taster sessions’ before paying a subscription.

There are u3a’s in many local areas, so please visit www.u3a.org.uk to find your local one.

The Therapy Gardens, Normandy

The Therapy Garden is a horticulture and education charity that uses gardening to generate positive change. We work with adults and teenagers with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and mental health challenges and offer school-age teenagers interventional education opportunities. Based in the village of Normandy, the charity was established in 1998 by a local resident, with the aim of using the healing power of horticulture to connect with vulnerable and marginalised members of our community. The Therapy Garden offers a supportive learning environment and a calm, protective space. Service users are able to reconnect with nature and the outdoors, whilst gaining confidence and improving life skills.

The Therapy Garden had to close our doors to clients in the middle of March 2020 in line with Government regulations in response to the spreading Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of this was immediate as we instantly lost all our client income and a lot of Trusts and Foundations on whom we rely diverted their funds to immediate Covid response, foodbanks, night shelters etc. Two members of staff took early retirement, one member was sadly made redundant and all other staff were put on furlough – for over 5 months we maintained the Garden with one horticulturist and one member of the office team and a couple of our simply wonderful volunteers. In September, at the start of the academic year, we opened our doors once again. We are moving forward again with a much-reduced workforce, but with renewed vigour from all of us left that we will not let this virus beat us!

We have had to invest in a vast amount of PPE and safety equipment to ensure that we can keep our clients safe and to be compliant, but were are so happy to be able to welcome the clients back. We arranged the Garden into ‘work zones’ to enable each client to work in a socially distant manner and bought new garden equipment so each client has their own colour coded wheelbarrow, spade, rake etc. Every tool we use has to be put through a sheep dip like solution at the end of each day to ensure they are sterile for the next client the following day. We have Covid registers, temperature checks and a raft of paperwork each morning to ensure we are compliant, but the bottom line is the clients were back and enjoying the space and fresh air of the Garden once more.

However, the country has had to lock down once more but this time we have managed to put in place all that we need to continue to support our clients since they cannot visit the Garden in person. We produce a daily activity box that we deliver to the client’s home, styled to keep our clients connected to horticulture and outside spaces. Ideas such as planting spring window boxes – we deliver a planter, compost, bulbs and plug plants, garden bird watch information, wildlife feeder kits etc. etc. We also have a daily Zoom connections where our horticulturists can deliver talks and demonstrations.

We hope restrictions will allow us to open our doors to the community for the National Gardens Open Scheme on two dates in May and September, but as with everything in these strange times, we shall have to wait and see!

www.thetherapygarden.org

Cleanfluencers share their favourite housework hacks

The British public has a newfound appreciation for their homes. In the past year, we’ve spent more time in our homes than we may have desired. However, the need to make our homes cleaner, more hygienic, and more comfortable has been rightly recognised.

If you’ve ever looked for some expert tips and tricks on how to best keep your house clean, you may have come across an onslaught of bubbly personalities teaching us the best way to hang our laundry and vacuum our floors on social media. Cleaning influencers, or cleanfluencers as they are also known, share their cleaning hacks online to show us the best way to clean. Their expertise is surely great, with personalities like Mrs Hinch crafting a full-time career around sharing their cleaning experience.

Here, we take a look at our favourite cleanfluencers and the top tips they share for keeping our homes looking their best.

Mrs Hinch

Sophie Hinchcliffe is popularly known as Mrs Hinch by her millions of followers on Instagram. Boasting her home and loving family across social media has helped launch a successful career as a personality and best-selling author. Her simple cleaning hacks have helped many keep their homes gleaming.

Mrs Hinch revealed that she uses scented tumble dryer sheets to wipe the dust away from her blinds. The reason for it is a clever one: “The reason I use tumble dryer sheets is because they’re anti-static, so they pick up all the dust. You don’t need to wet them or do anything.”

Afterwards, Hinch likes to finish her blinds off with a fragrant disinfectant to leaver a fresh scent around her windows.

Lynsey, Queen of Clean

It’s not just our homes that need a deep clean but the tools we use every day that deserve a thorough scrub every once in a while. Taking us to the kitchen, Lynsey (the self-proclaimed Queen of Clean) teaches us how to remove grime and burn stains from kitchen utensils.

Lynsey tells us: “Half a lemon and a dash of bicarb are enough to make your dirty frying pans sparkle and shine.”

While lemon is antibacterial, the bicarbonate of soda is good at drawing out stains and removing odours. The powder will also act as a small grit, scraping away hard-to-remove grime. This is better than using a scourer, which may scratch away at any protective lining your pots and pans have.

Melissa Maker

Melissa is an inspiring cleaner who runs the popular blog ‘Clean My Space’. From cleaning marathons to reviews of mops, there’s no shortage of advice on Melissa’s channels. She also has some great advice about what not to do when you’re vacuuming. It’s important to know the best way to clean, but this advice allows us to understand what bad habits we should avoid when giving the carpet a once over.

Melissa says: “Vacuuming is NOT a race and as much as I would like for my vacuuming to be over and done with as soon as possible, it’s really important to take your time.”

Instead, the Clean My Space influencer says she prefers to “slowly walk up and down my section until the job is done.”

You can use a powerful bagless vacuum cleaner to get the most out of your time, but it is best to take your time with your cleaning. This allows any dirt trapped between the carpet piles to be sucked away and helps to keep the carpet feeling plush.

Ellen O’Keeffe

Ellen is an aspiring cleanfluencer from the South East of Ireland, sharing tidy tips and lifestyle images of her home and family. As a busy mother to two boys, she reminds us that the best cleaning hacks are often the simplest.

Ellen says: “White vinegar has many non-food related uses. It is actually a staple in my cleaning press.”

She reminds us that a bottle costs very little and may be used as a sink and drain cleaner, for cleaning windows, and for wiping down mirrors. Vinegar has antibacterial properties and may be of use in the kitchen, where it can kill some food-borne pathogen bacteria. It’s also not as harsh as some cleaning solutions. Other organic detergents may also be used to combat any stains in your home. Organic detergents are minimally processed and usually derived from agricultural sources. Like vinegar, some of these utilise their natural cleaning abilities and can be used in the kitchen and other parts of your home with minimal risk.

A clean home can help us to relax and enjoy our living space. Cleanfluencers are ambassadors of this lifestyle, understanding that achieving a tidy home shouldn’t take so much effort. Using the right tools correctly is essential for good housekeeping. The tips and tricks that the likes of Mrs Hinch and Melissa Maker share on social media can help us reach those tidy goals.