Roots Manuva(d)

On this sunny Sunday, three GoodGymmer's joined the volunteers at Stephen's House to help them in the garden.

Stephen's House boasts beautiful landscaped gardens. They now have a full time gardener, but volunteers still regularly meet up to help with bigger tasks. Paul, a GG Barnet regular, is also a regular volunteer here, so it's thanks to him for setting up this mission. Give him a cheer!

MIchael, a GG Ealing regular, ran 7.5 miles to and from this mission (and after a wedding on Saturday). Definitely go give him a cheer!

We met at the edge of the gardens with around 10 other volunteers. Directed by our task leader, the work was split into two main parts: first, we cleared the weeds from around the fence of a small (ish!) conservation area; and second we tackled a (former) seated area that had become overgrown with stinging nettles.

With many hands making light work, we cleared an enormous amount of weeds and stinging plants. Michael and I also quickly realised why everyone else was wearing long sleeves: stings! We were also the only two to run there on what was a surprisingly sunny day. The complications of combining running and gardening!

The head gardener also taught us a good trick: after clearing the majority of weeds and nettles on the surface, we raked the ground to reveal the tough roots showing through. These took quite a bit of work, but with the aid of garden forks, we dragged them out the ground to prevent them growing back. The nettles have particularly tough roots, but are extra satisfying to pull out of the ground.

Two hours graft later, we were handed homemade flapjacks by another volunteer and we were done for the day. Thanks to the Stephen's House volunteers for being so welcoming. Till next time!