Anemone at the Fete

It's been a year since GoodGym's first at Grove Farm. Was it a déjà vu? Three GoodGymers (again!) joined Friends of Grove Farm: Mike, Anna, Livio and Olena in a bramble-bashing endeavour for the freedom of wood anemones (again!).

Today's GoodGym trio included:

• Cherian, who was a guest from GoodGym Barnet that came today to do a whopping four community missions in Ealing!
• Sevan, who ran 8km very fast to the task and felt very warm despite it being -1 degrees in the morning
• Kash, who walked 8km today and had been at Grove Farm a year ago but still couldn't pronounce wood anemones differently than wooden enemies

Do wood anemones have enemies? Oh yes, they do. If brambles grow tall and extensive, they block the sunlight for the wood anemones, which then cannot flower in the spring. Our job was to cut down the brambles while they were still young to prevent them from spreading, then rake them to the side to create a dead hedge.

The 90-minute session ended with tea and biscuits. There was plenty of refreshments for everyone - a real forest fete! Maybe Friends of Grove Farm were hoping for a larger group of volunteers?

Livio was going to visit Horsenden Farm in the afternoon where an ancient Anglo-Saxon ritual of wassailing was taking place. Livio told us about the tradition of blessing the fruit trees in hopes of good harvest later in the year. The ceremony involved singing and making noises like banging pots and pans. Maybe GoodGym can witness that next year!

Next Saturday we are going to visit Horsenden Farm for a volunteering day, and the week after GoodGymers can join Grove Farm at a monthly litter picking session.