Apologies, my next post will be an update on the plot but I wanted to share what’s going on here with my readers.
Corona Virus CC BY 2.0
We’re Social Distancing
Both of us sadly fall into the group being defined as vulnerable to the virus and consequently will be social distancing – AKA hiding from the bug and praying it misses us! If you’re not sure if you should be, please see the latest from the government here: Guidance on social distancing for everyone in the UK and protecting older people and vulnerable adults
Yes, it’s going to be difficult and very tough for many people but ask yourself if not following the guidance is worth risking your life? That makes the decision simpler. Incidentally, I heard an expert epidemics on the radio say that frequent proper handwashing will halve your risk of catching the virus. That surprised me but we have soap and water.. even a nail brush!
Don’t forget there’s a community of people to chat with on our forums – no politics or religion and child friendly. It’s manually moderated by people, not algorithms, to keep things sane and friendly. Gardeners often disagree but we can do it politely with a smile.
Dig for Victory Book
I’ve been busy finishing off my Dig for Victory book – the first draft is done and I’m two thirds of the way through checking and revising it. I’m really looking forward to seeing it in print although with current disruptions I’m not confident of meeting our original timeline. It’s not helpful that we’re isolating ourselves from the outside world – including physical meetings with our publisher. But we’ll get there in the end.
I’m afraid we’re not seeing the ‘blitz spirit’ the British people generally showed in WW2. Fighting in supermarkets for the last toilet roll and bottle of milk. On the plus side, community and faith groups forming to support those forced to isolate in their home restores my faith that we’ve not all become totally selfish, me-first morons.
We tend to view the war through rose tinted spectacles but in fact many of the problems we have today were around then. By 1942 theft of food crops from allotments had reached epidemic proportions so in 1943 to stop the plot pilferers, the defence regulations were deemed to cover the crime of stealing crops from allotments just as they covered espionage or other acts endangering national safety.
Under Regulation 51(2) the act of trespass on an allotment became punishable by a £50 fine or one month’s imprisonment. Damage causing loss over £5 became subject to a fine of £50. Don’t forget that an average wage was less than £5 a week in those days.
Our Book Sales
Assuming we can continue to get stocks, our plan is to continue selling our books with free seeds as normal.
However, we have suspended sales outside of the UK. The reason is that we have to take the package into the post office and we are minimising our contact with the outside world to avoid the Covid-19 virus.
Books for the UK will be posted in the box so we don’t need to go near anyone. The Royal Mail has published a statement on deliveries and safety during this epidemic. We believe it is safe for us and our readers to continue selling the books online.
its funny you said about allotment theft because if i remember when we went to Guernsey we where told a German soldier was shot for steeling potatoes during the German occupation
From what I can gather, our rationing was fairer and better run than the German systems. But they were pretty tough when it came to disobeying orders by troops.