Yesterday, four Goodgymmers went to continue our work at Thorlands Gardens.

Simon put us to work in the kitchen garden, where a previous group had already visited the previous Sunday. Tilly had a solo task of raking up all the leaves and moving them to the compost. Everyone else (Sophie, Abilio and I), were given forks and a mattock to dig up weeds with. At first, it looks like there wasn't a lot to do, since the previous group had done such a group job of clearing the area. However, we soon realised that the few that were left were part of a network of bindweed that laid just below the surface of the soil. We quickly got to work, slowly getting the hang of unearthing as much bindweed as we could without breaking up the roots so that we could dig as much of it out as possible. The quantity of bindweed combined with the nature of the task meant that we got a thorough and satisfying workout.

The time passed very quickly and it didn't feel long before it was time to pack up. We headed home knowing that we'd done the best could have done in the short time available. To add to that, Simon gifted us each with a goody bag of salad leaves and tulip bulbs! 🙏 Thank you Simon, and well done all! 👏

Yesterday three Goodgymmers went to Thorlands to help out with some gardening. This week, our mission was to tackle some bindweed that had swallowed a fence, and to also do some raking.

This was Abilio's first mission and he got stuck in and raked up all the leaves - we learnt from Simon from Thorlands, that this means that weeds will be open to frost rather than protected by leaves and so raking up the leaves now means less weeding later, smart! Good job Abilio!

Meanwhile, Rebecca and I pulled off bindweed from a fence. Abilio joined us after he was finished with the raking. This was a fiddly job since the bindweed was so tangled up in the fence! But we got there with patience and perseverance.

We had time to tidy up at the end (bindweed goes in the bin, everything else gets composted) and headed home - just in time since my toes were starting to get cold... Well done everyone!