Begin your day the green way

Set aside a few minutes every morning and evening to tend to your green space. I will never cease to be amazed by the enormous effect this small act has on my mood. I love a quick check and a water of the tomatoes in my pyjamas before the noise of the day begins, and then again in the evening – my mind turning to important issues like how the strawberries are getting on. It is such a simple act, but during the most stressful of weeks, those quiet moments bring both calm and clarity. Who needs mindfulness when you have courgettes to look after?

In fact, what’s been dubbed ‘nature therapy’ has become increasingly popular in recent years, with research suggesting that direct contact with the natural world could be a powerful tool in the treatment of depression, anxiety and mental health disorders.

Learn to grow Tackle the easy stuff first!

If, like me, you’re an insatiable foodie, once you’ve mastered a trailing tomato, you’ll get an overwhelming urge to run to the nearest garden centre and buy some purple-sprouting broccoli plants.

Control yourself! Let me bestow upon you these few words of hard-learned wisdom: start with the easy stuff. That means courgettes, beetroot and little seed potatoes. Grow from seedlings and tiny pre-grown plants, rather than tackling seeds. And look for disease-resistant varieties. There’s more than enough to learn without adding extra complexity. In fact, as happens so often with gardening, what is true of the soil is also true of life itself: give yourself a break, and happiness will follow.