The global anxiety about the coronavirus may have caused a huge increase in alcohol sales, but it's also been the reason for a surge in demand for some very different, and more constuctive, coping mechanism items....gardening tools and seeds.
The Burpee Seed company in Pennsylvania has sold more seeds right now than at any other time in its 144 years of business. Fear of food scarcity and more time at home are a couple of reasons why many people have been researching how to make raised vegetable beds, as, preparing for the worst in a time of uncertainty, they grow their own food.
They're possibly not the only reasons though.
Visits to the supermarket can be nerve-wracking and, since the virus is so contagious, we want as few people as possible handling our food.
Gardening is a great way to feel useful when furloughed from work, allowing people to be nurturers with purpose, and it's perfect for staying connected to nature when traveling anywhere is discouraged. Another benefit is that we worry less when we're focused on manual tasks that keep us present and not thinking about the future.
Rose Hayden-Smith, a food historian, says that gardening ' is something that's within our control in a situation that feels entirely out of control ".
Luckily, we have no real food rationing....unlike during the years of the Second World War and its aftermath. Then, people were strongly encouraged to plant Victory Gardens on any patch of soil that they could find. This resulted in 20 million Americans growing over 9 million tons of food...40% of the country's fresh produce at that time.
We have often proved to be amazingly resilient.
I hope that's the case when many of us begin the gradual return to our working lives. Huge numbers of people have no idea what their industry will even look like a few months from now...many of those being wedding and event professionals.
So, I thought it might be encouraging to remember a lovely rehearsal dinner at Dawn Ranch, on the Russian River in Northern California.
Sheltered by towering redwood trees, the cottage accomodations here are surrounded by 15 acres of serenity, and the ranch has orchards and a kitchen garden which supplies its restaurant.
BrownHot Events thought that the garden would be the perfect spot for Geffen and JR's rehearsal dinner.
As the sun started to go down beyond the trees, the gardens imposing rustic wooden gates, which looked as though they might protect a medieval village, were opened... to the delight of the guests, awed by the transformation.
The perfect bar now welcomed them, and a dining table sat between vegetable beds, adorned with fresh herbs picked that day.
With food cooked right there in the open and birdsong accompanying the soft music, twilight was welcomed...with lanterns and stars lighting the scene...as family and friends celebrated this new beginning, this planted seed.
Gardening suggests hope.
That with caring, nurturing and patience we will create something that gives us sustenance.
Such a beautiful symbol for a marriage.
" Marriages, like a garden, take time to grow. But the harvest is rich unto those who patiently and tenderly care for the ground " Darlene Schacht
#rehearsaldinner #farmtofork #alfrescodining #dinnerinthegarden #victorygarden #loveinthetimeofcorona #weddinginspiration #wedding2020 #russianriver #sonoma #sonomawedding #outdoorwedding #savannahweddingphotographer