Easter morning I awoke thinking about some of the lessons I've learned so far during the Level 4 Covid-19 lockdown here at Struan Farm.
--John and I are indeed able to co-exist 24/7 for weeks on end. This was an unknown heading into lockdown. Until about two years ago he wasn't at the farm full time, commuting back and worth between Piopio and Auckland (or further afield up north) due to work responsibilities. Even after he has been here on a full time basis he's often been out at meetings. I've been left to do my thing(s) and being an independent sort have not been unhappy about that. We're lucky that the farm has space to walk, wander, garden, and be outside working. In lockdown we're not on top of one another.
--It's good to grow your own food. I'd known this previously, but after lockdown I'm even more convinced that everyone should be doing whatever they can to grow fruit and vegetables. Anyone can have a planter at the backdoor or on the deck with spinach, rocket or lettuce and a pot with a dwarf fruit tree.
--It's good to have a stocked pantry and freezer. Marie Kondo, you've lost the argument after COVID-19. I've always had a reasonably stocked pantry due to the need to make muesli and bread for the farmstay and since I love to bake. To save money I buy meats when they're on special and put them in the freezer. Fortunately for us we had a decent supply of protein to get through four weeks, but we also eat vegetarian meals. In future I will buy more chicken and fish for the freezer to have variety on hand. As luck would have it I managed to get in an order for coffee from our supplier before lockdown happened. We normally have a reasonable stash of soap, cleaning products, TP and paper towels due to the farmstay, and that was used.
--John has won his argument that we should get hens, aka "chooks." The only things we needed to get from the local Piopio dairy during lockdown were eggs, butter, milk and random baking supplies. I bought a yogurt maker from Country Trading, who have continued operating during lockdown, along with packets of yogurt culture.
--I learned you can freeze milk.
--It's good, maybe even essential, to create structure to the days. For me it's been about going out to gather apples, walnuts, feijoas, pears and look after the veggie garden and glasshouse. And the baking projects. For John it's been his Mayoral FB page and zoom calls with various local, regional and government people on emergency related issues. For us both, it's stopping to watch the 1 p.m. COVID briefings on TVOne by Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health.
--We're now using Zoom to connect with friends and family overseas. Skype is pretty much history.
--I've learned that at this stage of my life I am basically a reader of non-fiction. One rainy lockdown day I dove eagerly into Barbara Mantel's fictional, award winning triology about Thomas Cromwell, and promptly found myself bogged down by its florid prose. More to the point, it wasn't interesting to me. I then picked up "Hungry," by Jeff Gordinier, about his travels with world famous chef Rene Redzepi, and finished that in one day.
--We now know how to wash our hands, for how long.
Last but not least, we are very fortunate to be living in New Zealand. There will be challenges ahead, particularly economic ones, but we are very lucky to be here rather than in other countries that are reeling from the severe consequences of virus decimating their countries and from the effects of that on their economies. We are thankful for that and certainly don't take things for granted.
We are all in this together moving forward. We know that.
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