Land of Applenty

Mrs Z lost her husband in 2021 and as a shared hobby, her passion for gardening went with it. Now, after a 2 month stay in hospital, she'd come back to find that the garden that had flourished while she'd been away. As she is still waiting for a knee replacement, gardening is difficult for her.

Mrs Z wanted for the grass to be cut, which couldn't happen as it was raining. Despite this, there was still plenty for Sevan to be getting on with, firstly by seriously cutting back all of the shrubs in the flowerbed and weeding. The second task was more novel. Mrs Z's apple tree had dropped leaves and fruit into a 3 metre wide trampoline which needed to be cleaned. In fact, there were apples everywhere at the back of the garden.

Sevan tackled the easier task first. He double checked with Mrs Z that she really wanted everything cut back. Yes, she said, I don't care if it doesn't grow back. OK... time to get chopping. After an hour, some stumps were left and many roots were pulled up ✅

Mrs Z then asked Sevan how he was going to deal with the trampoline, which was surrounded by netting to stop small children and GoodGymers from bouncing off it and onto the neighbouring path. Well, there was a brush nearby, so that would probably come into play.

If that doesn't work, I'll jump on the trampoline until the apples bounce onto the ground

In truth, Sevan hadn't been asked to clean a trampoline before. This was a GoodGym first for him, so he had to figure it out as he went along. The brush was key, first to drag anything that Sevan could reach out of a gap in the netting.

After that, there was no option other than clambering into the trampoline arena to brush the remaining leaves, fruit and compost (yep, some of it had composted) out of the aforementioned gap in the netting. As he swept the apples which were in various states of decay, there was at times a sweetness in the air. At other times, a whiff of cider perhaps. Thankfully the alcohol fumes didn't impair Sevan from gracefully dismounting from the trampoline, which could've been a potentially dangerous manoeuvre 🤕

Everything managed to be packed away into a single green recycling sack. While compact, it was super heavy and Sevan could only just lift it through the house and onto the street. It was a big difference compared to the 12 bag haul from yesterday. It was no less rewarding though.