This is me at my allotment in 2018 after the raised beds were put in.  Prior to this, I had, and still do, a tiny little mid-terraced, courtyard garden.

My other half (Richard) kept asking me how I was going to manage an allotment on top of running my hospitality business but then the pandemic hit and it was a blessing to have something to distract me from the worry of not having a business left at all.

I wasn’t to know that not only was this my happy place but the catalyst for a whole new career!

With my hospitality business mothballed I decided to offer help in peoples’ gardens, on Facebook, with the before and after pictures of my allotment. I was honest about my abilities, or lack thereof, and was blown away by how many people were just happy for me to help them keep the weeds down and so WeWeed was born or rather ‘sown’.

I was joined by Justine and then other ladies joined us. We were all approaching our 50’s or there and beyond.

We all had different reasons for coming together: Career switchers for various reasons, recovery from ill health, therapy after escaping domestic abuse, entry back into the world of working after having children….

What have I learned? Well I know lot more about plants now. I’m dyslexic so classroom learning is not for me. I learned from my customers who knew their plants but simply couldn’t manage the garden on their own anymore. I learned from plant apps, YouTube, Facebook groups and our local trade nurseries who have the patience of saints and fortunately a sense of humour.

I also learned that (generally) women and male gardeners love working in different aspects of gardening. The latter being happier to do the lawn mowing, fencing and hedge cutting and the former the beds, borders and weeding.  It seemed to me to be a great opportunity to bring these skills together in a collaborative way and to dispel the myth that only butch males can be gardeners.

WeWeed the website was … grafted!

The challenge: That so many women, who I speak to, say they would like to become gardeners but lack the self-belief that they can do so.

My mission: To support more women into self employed gardening knowing that they are making a difference to peoples’ lives in return.

And yes, I still have my allotment.