17/08/2026
Week 32 😵💫
This week ended rather unexpectedly with me in resus at Chelsea & Westminster after my heart rate hit 160 and my temperature reached 39.5°C.
After the fifth heatwave of the year, I’d put my exhaustion down to the usual August burnout + heat. I finally stopped being stubborn after about 3 hours of shivering in the van while Russell ran our market stall solo. NHS 111 told me to call 999 and I was blue-lighted to hospital and taken straight into resus. It all felt slightly surreal 🙃
Long story short, the doctor said it was early-stage sepsis from a viral infection, made worse by heat illness and dehydration.
We try not to work during the hottest hours, but farming doesn’t pause for weather. Plants still need watering, harvesting and picking, and this year the window where it’s actually comfortable (or safe) to work outside has been tiny.
Flower farming also makes switching off surprisingly difficult. At its heart, it’s a service business. We grow flowers to give someone else joy, beauty and a memorable experience. We care a LOT. I always have a plan A, B and C, and even in resus I was wondering if I’d be well enough to do our market the next day. AM I MAD?! 😂
Ironically, our flowers have probably never looked better. We mostly grow things that naturally like our sandy, nutrient-poor soil, and many have absolutely loved the heat and dry conditions. The flowers are looooving life, even if the people growing them aren’t quite as enthusiastic about the weather.
Anyway, I’m taking this as a fairly strong reminder that I’m not, in fact, invincible 🫣 I’m going to put a proper heatwave policy in place for the business, so hopefully we can avoid a repeat of this.
Now I’m very much looking forward to some cooler weather and PLEASE a bit of rain!
*I’m very aware flowers are at the bottom of the list when it comes to what’s essential in farming, but it’s what I do, so it’s the part of this conversation I can speak from.
