Finally, a return to community missions! Five of us met at Global Gardens greeted by the lovely Poppy, who explained that our task for today was centred around an area being developed as a community orchard. An area had been cleared of brambles on the surface and our task was to dig up some of the stubborn roots and flatten off the soil.

We got to work! The roots were indeed stubborn but no match for the GoodGym Cardiff and Vale runners who had been storing up energy throughout lockdown! We chatted away about all the goings on, the vaccination roll out and our hopes for a return to normality some time soon. The Emmas were on the case with digging the roots, gleefully finding some that stretched a considerable distance. Aimee and Ellen were clearing and flattening another patch and Fiona was collecting the discarded roots and tipping them in another area for waste. After an hour, our time was up and we surveyed the area happy with the progress made.

Before we left, we had some time to admire the surrounding allotments. Poppy also let us know that Global Gardens was about to feature on an ITV programme called Coast and Country. The programme had highlighted how the allotment produce is circulated to families in need of food, filming one of the volunteers collecting the produce and cycling to the recipients. This was a fun return to community missions and we'll look forward to harvest time, including the wassail planned!