Balsam To This

What a satisfying task (especially for someone who loves graveyards) as I met up with Ben in Handsworth Cemetery on my walk home from work to help clear some Himalayan Balsam that had overgrown. Not quite as problematic as Japanese Knotweed but about as invasive, a large patch of the plant had sprung up in a section of the Cemetery, threatening to spread further and cover grave stones. A quick bit of training from Josie revealed how satisfying this task was going to be. The Balsam pulled easily from the ground no matter how big it had grown, and resembled a very weak kind of Bamboo. Then we had to snap the root at the end in order to make sure it wouldn't grow again. After a hard day at work, being able to do something that resembled throttling but without actual animal/people cruelty was just the tonic! It was also a great chance to catch up after an indistinctly long time since I had done a task with Ben. I'll be there again at the same task next week if you want to help us finish clearing up the Balsam.