We were feeling very festive this evening as we got to help decorate Santa’s grotto. Some of the team counted out presents that Santa has had delivered early (well you know what the post is like come Christmas!). Others started off by assembling one of the Christmas trees which took a lot of fluffing! Abby was in charge of making sure we all kept to the aesthetic which was apparently red and gold. In the final moments though someone decided a purple bauble must also adorn the tree! We can’t wait for all the visitors to see the finished grotto soon. It’s Chrissssssssstmasssss!!

This evening we gave the hedge a good trim, sifted soil ready for seedlings and turned one of the compost bays 😊

Back to our friends at Southampton city farm tonight where they had an inside task for us. We were tasked with filling bags of hay to feed the goats ready for their open day this weekend and folding and stapling leaflets. We got to welcome Hannah back on a Monday night after her maternity leave, great to have you back!

Everyone dug into filling bags with hay and Chris and Helen were on crate cleaning duty to store the bags. We soon worked out that hay gets quite dusty and Wilson won the crown for most sneezes of the evening. Special mention to Ellie for most sneezes in a row. Some of us then moved onto leaflets while the rest continued with hay bagging.

After an hour of hay bagging, leaflet folding and stapling and crate cleaning and packing we were all grateful for a break for some maths where Hannah worked out we had packed 240 bags! A massive accomplishment.

On a mild evening we gathered for our first after-dark task session on the farm. We tackled a laurel of jobs—moving logs, cutting back dense laurel growth, clearing a goose enclosure by rolling up the electric fence and raking up the straw. We tore cardboard for compost and trimmed the hedge! It was a productive and satisfying evening, made even more special by welcoming a new member, Suzanne, to the team. We’re delighted she joined us and hope she had a great time getting stuck in with the GG team!