Weed Don't Need Another Hero

2 GoodGymers made their way to help an isolated older person in Haringey.

: Thursday, 16th of February 2017

Two GoodGymmers took an extended lunch break and found no better place to enjoy the sun than by weeding at the allotments for Living Under One Sun

Living Under One Sun (LUOS) have weekly sessions for volunteers to join in at the allotment, get a workout and learn things about nature. GoodGymmers are friends of LUOS and always welcome.

What a difference a week makes!

Today LUOS had sun! Much warmer than last week.

David and I were greeted by Sarah and Natalie in the glorious (relative to recent form) sunshine. David had run all the way from Wandsworth as he is training for his first marathon: good luck!

Musical roots: Talking bout re-generation

I was happy to share my music as usual and the first time I used a speaker was actually a visit to LUOS in December 2015! Our hosts were chuffed to be part of musical GG history.

Today we were asked to search and destroy perennial grass and its roots and any other weeds that were suffocating the stuff that we wanted to keep.

By perennial we were told that if the roots are broken; the grass will simply grow back and fragments will grow at both ends. The grass looked simple on the surface but that hid deed-rooted problems.

This regenerative property reminded me of a hydra in Greek mythology, or perhaps in contemporary times, a common worm.

Wheelbarrow race

The roots were deep but we persisted. We filled buckets and wheelbarrows with weeds and green waste to then be composted and, in the background, other volunteers were fixing and loading wheelbarrows and then moving compost and manure on to our preened beds.

After a couple of hours of hard work, I called it a day to run back home and David was happy to help rake the brown stuff over the plots. Our hosts were delighted with our work and kept us talking throughout our time.

Next time on LUOS...

The next step will be to add comfrey leaves which I've learned, from previous visits to LUOS, have many uses to include fertiliser and are even believed to help regenerate bones!

Tune in next week for more green adventures.