Julie and Anne ran to Mayford Meadows to help a group of people from WEAct to pull balsam from the path along the Hoe.

The Hymalian Balsam have really pretty flowers and grow next to water. Unfortunately, they are very invasive as their seeds can be projected up to ten meters from their stem. Already, people living along the Hoe Valley have noticed how much they have expanded and know something must be done about it. Hence the involvement of WEAct with whom we have already done different missions.

Julie and Anne worked together and managed to clear quite a large area making two enormous piles of the balsam. We had to stomp on them and leaving them in a pile will help with them not making roots for next year.

Anne, who had forgotten to pack her gloves, was saved by Julie who always has some spare in her magic bag. Another issue was the stinging nettles, thank goodness we did not run in shorts, but our arms are still tingling! The bindweeds (le liseron in French!) did not help either as they gathered the nettles to the balsam…

But hey-“Hoe” after one and a half hour, we had cleared up a large area and were rather pleased with the result! So much so, that we will invite the whole team to pull some more balsam before the flowers produce their seeds! Hopefully most of you will be able to join us for a pleasant run and a rewarding task!

In the meantime, happy running to all of you!