We were 3 of 743 finishers at University Parks Christmas Day parkrun! A chilly but lovely start to the day ❤

A small but mighty team returned to Marston Forest Garden this morning, to have a second go at clearing daisies from around the fruit trees.

Things we learnt:

• Rats like apricots.
• Trimmings should be snipped ready for composting.
• What a Hairy Shield Bug looks like.

We also had chats about poetry, books, the importance of names, WILL IT EVER RAIN, and the bakeries of Oxford.

Smaller team means a bigger share of Isobel's delicious blackberry cake!

With a brisk breeze blowing and the omnipresent sun shining, this evening we journeyed to Kennington to tackle a bit more ragwort.

Kennington Memorial Fields is a gorgeous nature space on the edge of Radley and Bagley woods and is used for grazing. Ragwort is great for butterflies and caterpillars but can be deadly if eaten by cattle and horses.

Armed with ragwort forks and shears we got to work hoiking out the, now rather crispy, plants and trying not to spread too many of the seeds. Our other jobs involved removing ivy from the gateways and memorial plaques (thank you Chris) and giving the anthills a bit of a haircut to remove some very prickly thistles. We also cleared up a bit of garden rubbish that seemed to have made its way into the meadow.....

Ragwort pulling is a little like litterpicking in a way - sponsored by the phrase "oh but theres a bit more over there!!".

Splendid work as ever team!!