The roses blooming in the borders of Alexandra Recreation Ground are looking even more impressive after a sunny session of tidying by today’s volunteers. We dead-headed the bushes to encourage them to continue flowering for longer – benefiting pollinating insects – and we removed bindweed threatening to choke the growth of shrubs. As a bonus, we found ripe plums on trees in the community orchard… there’s nothing quite as satisfying as free fresh food eaten outdoors! Everyone enjoyed sampling some of the low-hanging fruit and we picked plenty to take home – helped by the discovery that a litter picker makes a useful tool for grabbing plums too high to reach by hand!