Sam recording a garlic-planting tutorial at Flower Pod

When we had to close the centres in March, the only way we could interact with the clients was online. At first it was just a way to keep in touch. But we quickly found that using Zoom and YouTube videos, we were able to run workshops and virtual tours of the garden while we were closed.

Clients have loved watching us, say, planting potatoes or making hanging baskets, then doing it themselves at home with materials we’ve delivered to their doorstep. Then they’ve been able to show their plants and their harvests to each other on our weekly Zoom chats.

This long-term and peer-to-peer engagement is so valuable and yet so difficult under the current conditions. It would be brilliant to build on this with more resources and time to develop more structured projects using a mix of digital and face-to-face activities.

Sam