A later start than usual as Sam came running from a starter session in Peckham, but everyone: Andrada, her boyfriend Adrian, Laura and Sam were present outside Thorlands' Walled Garden as they waited for Simon to appear to open the garden up.

Waiting for Simon, Sam showed the newbies to Thorlands Gardens the space and the vision behind it. Once Ruth appeared, she opened up the Walled Garden for us to collect the tools we needed for the various jobs.

Inside the Forest Garden, Sam split the teams. He showed Laura and Sam the way to the woodchip depo as they moved the woodchip mulch back to the Forest Garden. They did about five to six trips within the hour. Meanwhile, Andrada and Adrian started to chop back the last remaining pyracantha in the growing bed we created last summer. Using loppers and secateurs, they chopped back this thorny bush and put its remains in a tonne bag. With just the stump and roots left, Adrian and Sam took it in turns to use the mattock and dutch hoe to dig up the last of the pyracantha.

Finally, as a group, they removed the pile of sticks near the first gate to the pile of sticks near the fence to the Kitchen garden. The session finished slightly over time, but everyone had fun and stayed longer for a feedback session with Simon.