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Hello, and welcome to Gardeners Off World! I am writing this from lockdown, and you’re probably reading it from lockdown, too. The good news for UK gardeners is that it’s still OK for most people to do some gardening – and that includes people who grow their food on an allotment.

Humans aren’t the only living things that will be exploring the solar system: where we go, so do fresh edibles. They are crucial for life, and will certainly be part of our future space explorations. #spacegarden #chickensinspace #gardenofthefuture

A post shared by Joe Wirtheim (@victorygardenoftomorrow) on

Tending to an allotment counts as a form of exercise as long as social distancing is maintained, according to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove. “I think it is perfectly sensible for people to go to an allotment. It is in the very nature of an allotment that there is a safe distance between people working on individual allotments.”  As the Government has banned gatherings of more than two people, this must also be observed on allotments.

It looks like it’s going to be a bit longer before anyone is gardening on the Moon, however, as the global pandemic has forced NASA to stop work on its Orion rocket. But it does mean that the NASA supercomputers can join the fight against the coronavirus. The lockdown in Europe also means that eight spacecraft have been put into hibernation mode, including the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Mars Express and the Solar Orbiter mission launched last month.

In more positive news, Egypt is recruiting its first astronaut candidates, with the ultimate goal of sending an astronaut to the ISS. 

Space gardening provided me with a moment of light relief this week when I used Google Translate on a Dutch article about Dr