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The New Daily
The New Daily
National
Samantha Dick

Confined apartment-dwellers get creative to survive coronavirus isolation

Diana McGowan has turned her apartment balcony into a mini garden to cope in coronavirus isolation. Photo: Diana McGowan

With limited space to move around and no backyard to stretch your legs, adhering to stay-at-home rules in apartments can be a challenge.

In major cities like Sydney or Melbourne, about one in 10 Australians live in apartments, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal.

If that’s you, we want to know what you’ve been doing to survive home isolation.

Have you come up with a new project indoors?

How are you making the most of your limited space?

Are you tackling jumbo-sized puzzles or learning an instrument?

Send us a photo – and help inspire other readers to find ways to avoid going cuckoo in a small space.

  • Send a photo or video (and contact details so a reporter can follow up) showing what you’ve been up to at home. Email: editorial@thenewdaily.com.au

Diana McGowan, 59, lives in an apartment in Docklands near Melbourne’s Yarra River.

To withstand Victoria’s tough coronavirus restrictions, she has dedicated her extra time indoors to building a mini garden on her balcony.

“Spending more time in the apartment and being confined led to me actually looking at my indoor plants and thinking, ‘I could grow something here’,” Ms McGowan told The New Daily. 

“I thought of roquette and spring onion, and how good it would be to pick my own.”

She has also planted pumpkin and parsley seeds.

Ms McGowan said she has been delighted by how quickly her produce has grown.

Day 11 of growing roquette. Photo: Diana McGowan

“It’s a real sense of achievement, to be at home and have something to do in my apartment, watching it grow and come to fruition,” she said.

“I’ve only been growing veggies for two weeks and it’s very exciting.

“Considering I’m home 24/7, every day, it’s given me an activity to do.”

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