Countryside Pursuits For When You Stay At Home

At Muddy Matches we have 1000s of countryside singles and rural daters, many of whom will currently be staying at home and self-isolating. However, we know that many of your farmers and countryside workers are out in the fields, tending livestock and working hard to maintain our food supply chain. And to you, we say thank you.

For everyone else wanting to channel their rural tendencies whilst we’re on lockdown, we thought you might appreciate a blog post celebrating all that we CAN do whilst we’re at home. Here are our favourite activities to inject some rural living into your lockdown life.

1. Get in the garden

Whether your garden is the size of a postage stamp or more of a field, this is the ultimate time to don your wellies and get outside. The warm spring sunshine and the fresh air make being outside a pleasure, and with spare time on your hands, you can dig, weed, plant and sow to your heart’s content.

2. Grow your own

What can be more satisfying than sowing and growing your own fruit and vegetables? With a lockdown predicted to last for weeks, you really will be able to see your seedlings thrive, and when we’re being discouraged from visiting shops, you may well need your own harvest of salads, herbs and vegetables. This week we’re getting green-fingered and planting tomatoes, radish, salad leaves, beetroot, beans, peas and carrots. What will you sow?

3. Feed the birds

Food shortages for our feathered friends can occur at any time of year, so don’t forget to feed them too. We’re still seeing a lot of sharp, ground frosts which have a knock-on effect on the availability of insect food. Attract birds to your garden with sunflower seeds, pinhead oatmeal, soaked sultanas, raisins and currants, and special seed mixtures.

4.Star gaze

Have you noticed that the air is smelling sweeter and the sky looks clearer, thanks to a reduced number of planes, cars and trains? This makes for excellent star-gazing. We love the Skyview app which will help you to identify stars and constellations in the night sky.

6. Exercise outdoors

We’ve been advised that going out for a walk, run or cycle, either alone of with members of your household, is allowed, but if you want to stay home, your garden or yard is a perfect place to exercise. There are some fantastic, free videos to follow on Youtube, including Joe Wicks’ special PE sessions for kids, every day at 9am, and the heady dose of fresh air you get from exercising outside will give you a burst of energy and Vitamin D.

7. Butterfly bingo

It’s that time of year when butterflies are appearing in our outdoor spaces, so good news if your garden is full of buds and foliage. Play a spot of butterfly bingo; download and print out a butterfly bingo sheet and see how many you can spot.

8. Enjoy a quiet cup of tea

Self isolation doesn’t mean that you have to be ‘doing, doing, doing’ all the time. Give yourself permission to slow down, reflect, consider and live slowly. We’re taking our morning cuppa out in to the garden and finding a sheltered, sunny spot to sip, distraction free, and just enjoy ‘being’ in the garden.

9. Build a bug house

Using materials you can find around your house and your garden, it’s easy to build a bug house and look after your local eco-system. The RSPB have an easy to follow guide to building your own bug house here.

10. Cultivate your own wild flower meadow

We all have that little area in our garden which we do not know what to do with, so why not create your own wild flower meadow? Beautiful, evocative and fantastic for attracting wildlife, insects and birds, investing some time now will pay off later in the year as your garden is filled with the delicate sight and smell of multi-coloured flora.