Rotten but not forgotten

The Lambeth GP Food Co-op have some big, very old planters round the back of the Lambeth Walk GP Surgery where some of the patients grow vegetables as a community group. One of them was so old (apparently 9 years old!) that the wood had rotted and the whole thing was collapsing in on itself, so our main task was to remove soil from this planter so that it can be replaced.

Before we could move any soil, we had to take the layer of strawberry plants and other weeds off the top of it. Once that was done and the strawberry plants saved, Effie and I got to work shovelling soil out from the planter into bags. An hour and two huge bags of soil later the planter was empty but had collapsed almost totally!

Hopefully the replacement planter will last another 9 years to come🤞