Sally has been our host for the last twenty-four hours. Her and Patti were fighting over us so after twenty-four hours with Patti and her son, TC in their home, we all (DM, Patti and I) decamped to Sally’s home in Philly.

Her family are exactly as we imagined, welcoming, charming and beautiful – we’d have expected no less for the wonderful Sally – anyone who radiates love in the way she does could not have raised kids who had come out to be anything less than fabulous. Love and respect certainly do breed love and respect in a real ‘here’s back at you’ way.

Sally herself may just about be a saint – she is an ardent horticulturalist whose passion is not about helping rich folks to manicure their lawn. Oh no! Sally’s love of horticulture and her strong sense of ethics combine in her work. She helps people in the poorest districts of Philly to generate town gardens that rejuvenate deprived areas, bring colour to the lives of people who have little else of beauty in them and more importantly unite the community in something worthwhile.

She tells me that many of her clients have not only never known work for themselves, but three or four generations of their families before them also survived in the poverty trap.

Her work brings hope to those who had no hope. They are empowered to grow their own food and learn the exquisite joy of getting their hands in the soil and nurturing life.

Most of the land that becomes garden land is reclaimed from derelict areas. It is probably deprived of nutrients and Sally and the others who work alongside her teach composting, soil enhancement and other horticultural techniques. They also help to fight legal battles to establish and keep this land available for use by the community and act as lobbyists to protect the land once the gardens are established.

This work is so important in a world where too many children don’t know that carrots are grown in the ground and eggs are laid by chickens. In fact, this is one of her great disappointments in life – as her clients grow too old or too infirm to grow their own food, there is a constant battle to get young people to take over the plots – they simply don’t want to grow food.

That strikes me as a terrible shame, given the joy growing food brings to my life. I know that my own life is hugely enhanced through the satisfaction of digging up something that goes onto our plates within minutes of being dug. I don’t know what the answer is for her and her work. If anyone has any ideas of how to engender the desire to grow food in the young, leave a comment and I’ll make sure she sees it.

Last year, in a reverse of yesterday's fortunes, we beat the Toon Army 1-0 at WHL and the year before Deb had ghost-like hands!