Well, hello. It has been almost 2 years to the day that the world stopped. I left my job at Heale gardens just before Christmas 2019 and in March 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic hit and boy did we not have a CLUE!
The following two years were filled with sitting still indoors (a lot) and home schooling my sons, with occasional gardening here and there, as Covid permitted... They went into the pandemic 14 and 11 and have come out the other side 16 and 13, have changed greatly and will never be the same. Yet we all went through it didn't we? We have all changed.
I joke that the boys wanted me ideally to be sitting in the downstairs cupboard during this time. Always on hand if the printer didn't work, a zoom call was frozen, hunger prevailed or they needed to do their PE outside the back door. And yet I remained still whilst they were learning this new life. My eldest Louis did his GCSE's without actually sitting an exam and my youngest Sammy negotiated endless zooms of 15 subjects as he began his journey at Grammar school. I managed some work, my Tuesday garden remained and I could get to the flower field at times. Mainly though, I didn't earn money, I didn't get outside and I felt like I had lost myself somewhere along the way.
The boys were emotionally intelligent enough to know that I was going to be the one to find this situation the hardest. I'm best outdoors in all weathers these days and this was going to be a long haul.
Of course, this connection isn't a coincidence on its own. My HG, Michael Maltby, left Heale Gardens and began working at Reddish just last Autumn. A big move for him after 20 odd years at Heale but he intended to cut his hours and spend more time working gently, using his great knowledge to consult on the gardens and take them in a new direction.
I was incredibly privileged to be championed by Michael and be invited to commit to 2 days working alongside him. The plan to assist him in the running of the kitchen garden and wider areas. I began in January 2022. We clicked again immediately and set about planning seeds for cut flowers and veg. It was a pure joy to be alongside him again; we don't need many words, we just know each other. In fact we made some plant supports hardly saying a word, with Michael holding out his palm ready for me to give him string, like a surgeon's assistant.
Unexpectedly, Michael became seriously ill just last month in early February and is now being cared for in our local hospice. I haven't worked with him now since the 10th of February and now know he will never return to the garden. It is an unbelievably heart breaking situation for Michael and his family. I am so saddened and am still processing it all. The gardens at Reddish have Michael's touch everywhere, in just 6 short months he worked all over the garden. Every rose he pruned... I can see it was him that tied the string. His writing on labels. His border fork with blue handle that we shared for 5 years. I still use his bar to make holes for the willow supports, and see how worn it is from years of his loving use.
I am spurred on by the fact that Michael wanted me in this garden. Michael brought me here, to this place and time, he nurtured me (as he did so many others). He is my dear friend, he is my Head Gardener, he is my teacher and my mentor. Not many Michael Maltbys come along in a lifetime and I am determined to carry on his skilled work. He will always be with me, every cut I make, it is Michael who taught me.
I have managed to sow seed for veg and cut flower, mulch borders, prune, weed, sweep, water, care and nurture and I am ready to continue with Michael in my heart and in my mind.
