I grew up in Otautahi, running around the incredible gardens my family had created. In particular, my Great Aunt and Uncle (Phoebe & Ernie) were avid gardeners. They didn't give birth to their own children, so their garden became one of their main focuses. Having survived the war and the depression, they barely bought groceries and lived mainly off their produce. It was a beautiful garden, one I used to imagine was my own 'Secret Garden'. But apart from Phoebe's prize-winning dahlias and rose garden, it was primarily a productive one. They had a mini orchard, grapevines, berry bushes, huge vegetable patches and a big glasshouse. Ernie was particularly proud of his huge beefsteak tomatoes and even featured on 'Maggie's Garden Show' back in the day. They also had chickens and grew everything from seed in the glasshouse before repotting it into the outside beds.

Despite growing up around such role models, I never really developed a green thumb of my own. I was too busy gorging on the berries and annoying the fish in the pond to pay much attention. Or understand how their oasis was being built and cared for. I feel sad about that now; I didn't really connect the dots and learn from their decades of knowledge when I could have.

Since the pandemic began, I've had to be more careful than most people as I was diagnosed as immunocompromised not long after. Mine and other more vulnerable peoples' lockdown started much earlier (and continues). During that time, I began to dip my toes into caring for some indoor plants tentatively. I'd always written myself off as just not having a green thumb, but in reality, I didn't have any confidence to learn what I needed to. But as I kept more plants alive, I felt like I could challenge myself more.

I've only just started (due to health issues that interrupted my best-laid plans), but I'm pretty excited to learn more and develop new skills. Right now, I'm concentrating on the garden I have that already exists. I'm researching how to grow vegetables from seed and am excited about my future adventures.

I quickly noticed that weeding and working with my hands began to make my hands a bit drier than usual. Lucky for me, I was finally able to give our Healing Hand & Body Lotion a good go. I usually hate hand creams because they make my skin feel tacky and uncomfortable. Like so many of our customers who send us reviews, I was happily surprised to find that my sensitive skin loved the no added fragrance and thick moisturising of the formulation. Plus, it lasts for ages. I've barely made a dent in it after a few months of use!

So, all in all, I'm slowly learning but am pleased with my progress. I never thought I had a green thumb, but it turned out that it was something I had to develop myself.