For "Apple Picking" read "Allotment clearing and chicken coup preparing"

The weekend long apple picking taking place at St Frideswide Farm turned into a Saturday, day-long pick with volunteers from the community garden and many others picking over 900 kg of apples, meaning there was not much left for the keen and eager Goodgymers on Sunday morning. However, at the 11th hour, we were asked instead to help out at the Marston Community Gardening allotment just off Boults Lane in Old Marston.

As a warm-up (although with the September sun baking down, we were quite warm anyway), we were asked to clear an area of debris for a community chicken coup that will be housing nearly 30 rescued chickens in the non-to-distant future. The community garden has also been given several unused and neglected raised beds to give to young families or locals who may not be ready to commit to a full allotment plot. So after we cleared the coup area, we all got to work removing weeds, brambles, pesky dock leaf roots (Aoife can tell you all about that) and other debris so that they look welcoming to any keen local gardening enthusiasts. They all looked ship-shape by the end and we even managed to harvest a few loose potatoes to take home. Thanks to Rob for coming along who has recently moved from Bath for his first Goodgym Oxford outing, even with countless bike problems on the way to the task.

Despite the sometimes back-breaking work, everyone was pleased with the effort and the opportunity to get out and do good. Indeed, the motto at Marston Community Gardening of "It's All Good" seemed apt on a productive and sunny Sunday morning.