I’m not going to lie, I ummed and ahhed about publishing this piece, a writing about plants. I thought in this time of turmoil, such a topic so seemingly mild as plants might not be the most pressing of issues and so almost didn’t write this. But then I thought again. Plants, whether in the garden or in the wilds soothe the soul and make all the world's ills seem less, if only for the few moments you are immersed in their environment. Sometimes we need to take time away from the front-line, if only to heal, replenish.

…this article is about self defence, which can take on many forms besides physical violence. However, as that is where the mind naturally goes when we think about self defence, that is where we shall start…