On an amazingly warm and calm morning we met at the Memorial Garden on Kimberlow Hill to plant donated trees. We followed the method of Yacouba Sawadogo who used traditional methods called Zaï, (digging pits and filling them with organic compost to trap water and nutrients) to create forest in the desert. One of us (who shall remain anonymous) was so busy concentrating on the organic matter they forgot to put the tree in! 🤣 The organic matter was a combination of Tiny Forest's own generated compost, biochar, eggshells & euphemistically malteser misshapes? We used some seriously spiky mulch to deter the rabbits. We finished the morning with a well deserved rest sharing flasks of drinks & tubs of goodies. Thankyou all.

The Tiny Forest compost heap had already been emptied into bags. These were taken up to the Memorial Garden along with excess donated trees, where they were planted. The organic matter produced by the Tiny Forest is proving very useful.

With better than expected weather and a change to the planned task, six hardy Goodgymmers enjoyed a morning of barrowing wood chip, digging out saplings and a little bit of heavy lifting and dog petting thrown in for good measure.

Splitting into two groups, Leanne, Jane and Claire took charge of barrowing the wood chip, whilst I joined Jenna and Elle uprooting the unwanted saplings (the type of tree unfortunately forgotten) to be used to bulk out the dead hedges. There was a little bit of heavy lifting as well as we moved some of the large logs into position in the communal areas.

After an hour of hard work and carefully avoiding the dogs who were trying to help, the barrowing team finally cleared the wood chip pile (after two previous tasks) and the dead hedges were looking good by the time we stopped for hot drinks and cakes.

Thirteen GoodGymers made it out despite the rain and cold to distribute over 12 boxes of brochures and leaflets for York International Women's Week.