That’s Allot of brambles

We've been enjoying a close partnership with Oxford Mutual Aid since last autumn, and tonight's task was all part of that. As some will know, there's recently been a shortage of HGV drivers, which has severely impacted the reliability of the fruit and vegetable supply at the OMA food bank. In an attempt to be a little more local and self-sufficient in the supply chain OMA have been on the hunt for allotments to grow their own fresh food, and the plot we were working on at East Ward Allotments is hopefully the first of many.

Loading up with surplus cardboard (for weed suppression) from the food distribution hall, we set off on foot to the allotment site, with Bethan and Vicky leading the running pack the long way round, and Anwen and Sarah loading up with cardboard and walking. We've run with plants, we've run with cake, but large cardboard boxes is where we draw the line!

A little game of Olympics Heaven and Hell formed the fun part of introductions - what would be the sport you'd go for Gold in? What would be the one you'd embarrass the nation at? We clearly have some excellent partnerships forming, as Gold medalists in the skiing can teach those of us who would career down hill demonstrating an uncontrollable wobble. Also plenty of ideas for the next GoodGym Olympics - hula hooping, punning, and a petition to add bramble root digging in place of the tug'o'war.

Lulu let us into the allotment site, and we scooted over to our friends at the Children's Allotment to pick up some tools (THANK YOU for the loan!), then no muss no fuss, got stuck in. Lulu has only recently taken on the allotment, and so there was plenty to do to get it ready for growing produce: weeding, removing bind weed, and chopping down the MASSIVE bramble tangle at the back of the plot. We're sure some of those brambles were decades old judging by the thickness of the stems. We almost felt bad to be getting rid of heritage brambles (not THAT bad though, particularly after a few scratches!). An hour or so of diligent weeding and lopping from 19 pairs of hands made a massive difference to the plot. The front bed was fully weeded, the brambles all chopped down, and some determined bramble root removal too. We even found frogs, which didn't seem too impressed by having company for the evening after months of solitude.

Welcome Rachael and Abbie. Great to meet you! We hope you enjoyed your first GoodGym evening.