On a cold but sunny Saturday, Frances, Graham and Niamh met at London Grown to help them get the beds ready for winter.

London Grown is a not-for-profit workers co-op, growing food and running public volunteer programmes and education sessions with schools and young people.

Our first task was simple: shovel the compost into wheelbarrows and move it over to the beds. We did that fairly quickly, and moved onto some weeding – separating out the brambles from the less stubborn weeds. The brambles certainly provided us with a challenge – the combination of long roots and spikey plants meant that it wasn’t a quick or simple job to get rid of them.

However, we preserved and rewarded with a squash each to take home. Soup anyone?