The winds have arrived. The hedge tips, as yet unclipped, are horizontal, and I have spent much of the morning opening the front door, traditionally reserved for the postman and special occasions, to see if the weather gods have delivered me more mistletoe. The lime trees at the front of the cottage are absolutely full of the stuff, but it hangs tantalisingly out of reach. On calm days at least. Storm Bert brought me the gift of some perfectly berried specimens so I have high hopes for these gales.

This is of course, the only time I am going to set foot outside today. I shall keep a weather eye on the greenhouse from the upstairs study window, but I am very much hunkering down. Here are my key ingredients for a successful hibernation.

Provisions in the pantry

I haven’t made a great job of spreading the sustainable word around my community, and my great intentions for addressing climate change struggle to make it off the ground of Malus Farm. The one thing we (I cannot take credit) have managed is a village bulk buy. Every two months, we club together and order tins and dried goods, sacks of flour and oats, and a van comes from Bristol and delivers it all at once. Almost exclusively organic, but at wholesale prices.

I am very glad the van made it through before the red warning came into force, because now I know I have the pantry shelves absolutely stuffed. With the chard from the kitchen garden and a squash on the windowsill, I could make enough soup to see us through a fortnight of being stranded.

If you would like to do this as part of your community (or you could just do it as a family, but the minimum order is £300), then I highly recommend. We use Essentials. The only caveat I would give is that they intend to sell to health food shops and the like, which means that you can buy multiple packets of things as well as big bulk bags. This is great for storage, but it does feel like the plastic can mount up. For example, I buy 2kilos of organic sunflower seeds in 250g bags. This is easier for me in terms of not having a huge bag open and spoiling, but it does sometimes feel like it defeats the point a bit. Oh, and the website and ordering process is awful.

Candles

The mistletoe that hangs on the branches is a blessing for me, but makes the electricity supply to Malus Farm a little precarious. If the wind catches it wrong and the weight is too great, it brings a branch of the lime crashing down on the wires. If you are receiving this email from me the wifi is still working so we’re ok. However, I am never unprepared when it comes to candles. Having been in a deeply committed relationship with the John Lewis dinner candle, I have made the sustainable shift to beeswax only. Skar organics for emergencies. Wax Atelier for celebrations. Both used sparingly because I live in a thatched cottage and I am a little paranoid about the roof.

Back on the subject of community, my next-door neighbour produces the most festive of candles and oils. I ordered a lot of them at the start of Advent when I was struggling to feel festive, and I am absolutely delighted I did. She is Smiths Scents if you would like to have a look. (We share a roof; I hope she is careful.)

Books

I mean, a bit of me wishes that the wifi would be cut off. My attention span is not the same when my phone is within reach.  I am slowly working through the entire canon of Agatha Christie but at two pages a night, it’s going to be a while. I do also have a copy of The Practice of Psychoanalytic Parent-Infant Psychotherapy on my bedside table but I can’t pretend I’m racing through that either.

The good news is that I also do a great line in beautiful gardening books. I have finally got round to unwrapping my copy of Portraits by Kate Friend. I have a copy of the award winning book What makes a Garden? by Jinny Blom and photographed by my great friend Britt Willoughby.

But the one we have all been waiting for is A World of Sweet Peas. I cannot tell you how much fun I had at the launch, and this book absolutely delivers. Here’s a little tour. 

I got a bit distracted by books when putting together this list so I have created two lists of my favourite ones (one beautiful, one practical) that you might want to consider buying for a fellow gardener, or getting for yourself. As an author, I have a page on bookshop.org which means that if you order any books linked to my site, I may earn a commission. But their fees support independent bookshops, so I am more than happy to promote.

Tea

It is not even lunchtime and I am on my fifth cup of tea and about to put the kettle on again. The absolute bonus of the Everhot is that it keeps its heat for days after a power cut and I can still use it to heat water. If it wasn’t for tea, I would simply take to my bed until civilisation was back online.