It was a glorious and surprisingly warm morning in Hanwell when team GoodGym and team HANGOT met on Saturday. They made the most of it with a long walk along the sunny side of the canal to one of the furthest orchards from HANGOT's base, Blackberry Corner.

HANGOT's plan for the day was to prepare the orchard for winter and also be good neighbours to the nearby canal users. There were a few jobs to complete:

1. Cutting vegetation along the fence line to give more light to canal users
2. Clearing weeds from around the trees
3. Stopping animals from eating their bark
4. Checking for any damage or disease

Clive from HANGOT explained that there were small muntjac deer in the area who loved to eat the bark of apple trees. There were also rumours of giant rabbits around too who did the same. That wasn't the only rumour at today's session as there were stories of an animal paw being found in the cuttings pile 🐾😮!

The first 2 jobs would allow the team to tick off 3 and 4 as well. Kash and Steph grabbed shears and worked along the orchard's east fence, cutting away weeds and tree suckers. They also found dead branches that the boaters had cut from high up in the trees, so they were scooped up and added to the new cuttings pile.

Giles and Sevan trimmed circles around the fruit trees as HANGOT often do to give the trees' roots more water and less competition for nutrients from the soil. They also spot checked the tree guards gaps to be patched. Giles went on to rake up cuttings from HANGOT's scythers which all headed onto the new cuttings pile too. As the session came to an end, Sevan dipped into the old cuttings to use as mulch around the tree trunks.

This was the last task of 2026 with HANGOT as work winds down for the year. After a tough summer for all of HANGOT's orchards, Blackberry Corner was left in a good state to welcome winter and hungry animals 🦌🐇. We'll be back in January for HANGOT's next Orchard Love Day, preparing for the coming spring and new growth 🌱.