When shall we four meet again?

Our battle with the weeds at Swanswell Medical Centre's allotment continued this week. We need to get the allotment under control, so that the doctors' surgery can use it for their vulnerable patients. It will be a place for them to exercise, socialise and grow their own food.

Last time we visited, Fiona and Jackie put a lot of work into weeding and securing the membranes to stop the plants coming back. This has really helped and this time Rachel, Fiona and Rob had a much easier job. Getting stuck in straight away, Rachel grabbed one of the gardening forks and dug out the remaining weeds, while Fiona had a go with the rake. We also had a visitor from Birmingham Goodgym! John helped Rob clear away the plantlife and secure the membranes again. Rob used his initiative and used some scissors he found buried in the ground to cut the membranes into useful sizes. Hopefully we have now blocked every possible point of entry and the weeds will stop fighting back.

This has been a long project for us and there is still a way to go. We first visited just before the lockdown in March and when we were finally allowed back, it had gone a little wild! We are going back on Tuesday to make sure everything is prepped in case we aren't allowed back for another month. Clearing away the weeds and making sure the membranes are firmly secured should mean no nasties surprises when we return.