The trio Madhan, Sevan and Kash stuck together in Ealing for the most of the day, smashing one task after another. Good things come in threes, so the community mission at Bixley Field Allotments was their third and final one this Sunday.

In contrast to their first task at Bixley, today the GoodGym team was supposed to join a newly established group of regular volunteers. The trio was surprised that this time the gate was unlocked. They let themselves in and found Mani from Southall Transition at the familiar community plots. The regular volunteers who had recently joined Mani were not around yet, so it was up to the GoodGym team to kick off the session.

Knives out

When Mani was briefing the team by the shed, Madhan spotted a wooden, disposable knife under his foot. Thinking it was litter, he tried to collect it and then discovered a whole row of wooden knives sticking out of the soil at a vegetable plot.

We're not growing knives here. - Mani

The disposable cutlery was positioned in rows to mark the beetroot saplings, so that a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers wouldn't trample the plants. With the GoodGymers' excitement about the tasks, it would probably take a row of real knives to stop them from putting new plants in danger. Ouch!

Steady as he goes

Mani gave the GoodGymers a lot of flexibility on which tasks to choose. Sevan, as the most careful of the party, picked the detailed job of weeding alongside Mani. When asked later about his experience, he replied: slow and steady, bindweed, grass, clusters of bulbs, fake decorative leaves found in the soil. Madhan and Kash were impressed by Sevan's ability to squat for over an hour and weed non-stop. It takes some serious patience and ankle flexibility to do that!

Heart of Grass

Madhan and Kash chose the demanding job of digging out the grass of the plots not yet used. Mattocks were swung brutally into the dried soil and bunches of grass were flying in the air and landing in a wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow had a flat tyre, so it was replaced by another one - that one had a broken handle. Mani used his DIY skills and gardening tools (in the absence of a repair kit) to screw the loose part back into its place.

Fratelli e sor(r)elle

At some point, we had a chance to meet fellow regular Bixley Field volunteers. Julia, Shaz and Mala arrived a bit later but were a great company to chat and work together with. Mani collected orders for his usual trip to get us refreshments. This time we restrained ourselves from having samosas and asked for cold water instead. Mani brought back not only the drinks but ice cream too. It was a treat for some of us on a hot day.

There was not much yet growing at the community allotment patch but we spotted a tall sorrel plant in the middle of the plot. Mani let us try it and take as much home as we wanted to. Sevan didn't remember ever trying sorrel.

It probably tastes like ice cream. - Sevan

Some of us ate fresh sorrel on the spot, and others cooked it for dinner tonight. Did any of the options taste like ice cream? Come to Bixley Field next time to find out!