Super task this evening for a magnificent seven GoodGymers in Withington!

🧱 We joined Ed from Withington Walls to give a couple of spaces a thorough clearing in preparation for some upcoming street art pieces.

Robert and Sanjeev start on a wall in the co-op car park, removing the weeds before slapping on a lot of masonry paint as a base layer, Sanjeev opting for the overalls for added protection.

Meanwhile, Jodie put her climbing skills to the test to cover up some street tags high up, and went along with Peter to cover a wall near the Red Lion. Julia filled in some spots near the opticians in Withington, while a team effort of Fanette, Ben, and Peter cleared a lot of brambles and shrubbery from a larger wall before covering it with masonry paint 🎨

We got a lot more covered than expected, covering two large walls plus some smaller, fill-in side quests too. Thankful for head torches and bike lights 🔦🕯 to provide some light, although may need to invest in some portable floodlights in future.

After applying the finishing touches, we cleared up and look forward to seeing what will become of the walls!

On Monday evening this week, we were back at Eden Gardens Orchard in Philips Park to give the trees inside the orchard a bit of a trim. Ben and Peter completed a couple of laps of the park, while Scott cycled on a scenic route and Sanjeev used public transport, all to converge onto the site for 6pm.

The main focus was a plum tree overhanging some neighbouring plots in the allotment site. We were provided with ladders, various loppers (manual and ratchet varieties) plus a range of bow saws, hand saws, plus pruning saws (one of which could be extended to reach the high up branches). Peter was the main protagonist with the saw, climbing the ladder to saw the target branches and trunks to remove, while Scott and Sanjeev trimmed down any pieces to fit inside the tonne bags. Ben stabilised the ladder and caught any branches coming down from high up, combining this with a lasso-type method to encourage them to fall on the right side of the fence.

After tidying up the cuts and moving the equipment to the orchard side of the fence, we were tasked with pruning (lopping) a larger tree inside the orchard. While more accessible, the trunks were certainly thicker and through a combination of the extended pruning saw, tied ropes, and gravity, we managed to get the desired branches down, with only a few cuts and grazes to show for it.

The remainder of the tasks involved us trying to cut the pieces down to be small enough to fit in the tonne bags, with the larger and thicker trunks left. Three overfull tonne bags later, we were done, with the midges starting to come out and bite.

Tough task, with a loose adherence to health and safety, but we seemed to enjoy it all the same. We will be back at the orchard in the autumn and perhaps in the park to clear some areas for future planting.

The famous five made a fab job of harvesting and maintaining the community plot at Gorse Hill Studios allotment this evening.

After a stop-start run from Deansgate, we convened onto the plot in the overcast sunshine, ready to get a good session in. Scott and Ben harvested a surprising number of potatoes 🥔 of many sizes, with more and more being unearthed as we scoured the plot.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev and Fanette were on bean harvesting duty 🫘 with lots of runner beans picked out, while others continued to grow. There were also lots of tomatoes 🍅 harvested from within the polytunnel, with some not quite ready to pick, so plenty more to come.

Peter was lead waterer, planter, planner, and coordinator, making sure plots were seen to and planning ahead for next year.

There was also a lot of corn 🌽 harvested plus any apples 🍎 that were ready to pick.

Very productive session, and we dropped off all the bounty to Gorse Hill Studios for them to use in their community groups.

Afterwards, we had a well earned Wetherspoons tea and beverage, making full use of the Monday night deals, before making our way home in the Manchester rain 🌧