Twice As Ice

2 Goodgymers helped their local community in Barnsley
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Barnsley

Wednesday 29th November 2023

Report written by James Smith

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Freezing conditions tonight! Frost covered pavements, black ice on the roads and an arctic wind to top it all off too. Perhaps unsurprisingly the YMCA members didn't fancy meeting us on the allotment tonight. It was evident that they had been doing quite a lot of work up there recently though. Even in the pitch black we could see the differences compared to our previous visit. There were some lovely fairly lights twisted around the poles of the old poly-tunnel adding a nice sparkle to proceedings, alongside the twinkling moonlit frost underfoot. The paths were looking spick and span; there were no weeds in sight anywhere! Likely having retreated back into the -by comparison- warm ground beneath the paving slabs.

We decided to head down to GoodGym's bed at the far end of the plot to carry out some simple maintenance. The rainbow and standard chard that we planted ages ago is still going really strong! We always love to see the produce we've planted thriving away, especially in such harsh conditions. As well as the show stealing chard, there are also some really strong support acts. In the middle there is what I think is fennel, but it was too dark and frozen to be sure. The final act is an ensemble of onions at the far side. These seem to be fairing well still. We did a little bit of weeding in the bed and the path beside it to keep it looking in top condition through the winter months.

Our bed is the best looking one in the whole plot (I say in a completely unbiased fashion!).

We finished off our time in the allotment with some hand-numbing push-ups on the wooden benches. Then ran back down to Glasshouse to stretch off and debrief.


Session Leader
Sheffield
Area activator
TaskForce
Run leader
This task supported
Attendees
Daniel Wicks
James Smith

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