Grow & glow

Gardening jobs to boost wellbeing in spring. By HANNAH STEPHENSON

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ONCE a high flying advertising executive, Kathy Slack found herself burnt out, anxious and consumed by depression in her mid-30s.

She and her husband had moved to the Cotswolds from London for a better work/life balance, only to find that she had simply given herself a significantly longer commute.

Kathy gave up work and stayed in bed until her mother intervened.

“My wonderful mum coaxed me outside one day and sat me with a cup of tea among these overgrown veg beds. And I looked at the weeds and the worms and watched the bugs tootling around and it kind of calmed me down.”

Her mother gave her some seeds to scatter and a few weeks later there were radishes, then lettuces appeared.

“Something about that transformation of a seed from nothing into something I could eat just got me hooked.

“When I got into nature, and particularly into growing vegetables. I found it very creative and I found it very calming.”