Area Activator Simon, Rain and Anne caught up with Frannie from Octopus Community Network for an evening of gardening and plant watering at Highbury Quadrant Estate Gardens. We were joined by a crew of regular local volunteers who were able to show us the ropes for tending to the meadow, the orchards and the allotments.

First thing, we began by shifting multiple bags of soil across the quadrant, and over to the orchard via wheelbarrow. We then topped up some newly built planting bays with the fresh soil, and started to plant new tomatoes, spinach and chillies in a reinforced "cat proof" bed! Meanwhile, Simon installed a hosepipe by the building, and lead the hose over to the gardens. He then gave all of the fresh beds and bags of soil a rinsing of water to keep the new plants hydrated over a warm weekend. Rain and Anne also helped with unraveling and re-winding the hose (definitely a team effort)!

Finally, we assisted with clearing some overhanging branches and clumps of ivy from the main pathway into the orchard. The clippings were then added to a community compost bin and a green waste box (ivy does not compost efficiently) just by a collection of fox warrens (frequent visitors to these woods!). We closed out the evening by rolling out wheelbarrows full of tools back to the meadow, and jogging into the summer evening. Well done all!