Another week at Berryland's Nature Reserve helping Andrew and his volunteers get rid of Himalayan Balsam. It's an invasive plant that can decimate local wildlife areas with its shallow roots and prolific ability to reseed. Each plant can produce about 100 new plants every year so it has enormous destructive potential. We love Berryland's Nature Reserve - it's such a hidden gem for wildlife and plant species so we really want to support their initiative to help keep on top of it.

Rachel, Emma, Tom and Julie met at the Quaker Centre and ran 3km to the meeting point where we met with Tara - we haven't seen her for ages so it was great to have a catch up. We got straight into it and carried on with the area we worked on last week. We found a massive area that contained lots of Balsam. It was a bit tricky to get to as there were brambles and nettles - thankfully we wore leggings and long sleeves to help protect ourselves but even still Rachel did get a bramble in her face. Thankfully Tara's medical training came to the rescue and she declared her fit to carry on working - no sick note here!

After an hour we had cleared a good area and it was time to leave. We had quite the journey to get back to the road as the pathways were quite overgrown and a willow tree branch had fallen over the path. We took out turns limbo-ing under to get out. On the run back we bumped into a group of Morris Dancers practising their moves outside the Albion pub! Unexpected but fun to watch nevertheless.

Well done to Julie on her 10th mission! Great achievement.

The longer summer goes on, the more of the dastardly Himalayan Balsam appears on the riverbanks. This pretty pink but invasive plant can spread its seeds far and wide and grows so fast and tall that it crowds out other native species.

Luckily a top team made it down on a muggy evening at Elmbridge Meadows to help the Friends of Berrylands Nature Reserve. Mountains of uprooted plants quickly built up over our hour as Rachel, Sabir, Emma, Jade, Tom, Emily, Claire, and Dave pulled them up.

A few bramble scratches and nettle stings, but we made it out alive.

It’s a strange but quite satisfying task and one of the most interesting and rewarding things that Andrew, representing the group, explained, was that the patches that many of us worked on last year have had notably fewer balsam plants returning this time around, so what we are doing is definitely making a difference.

Our Tuesday group run took us back to Berrylands Nature Reserve to help Andrew and his volunteers tackle the Himalyan Balsam. A steady pace got us there with lots of chat and we were immediately put to task once we arrived. Andrew explained that the Himalyan Balsam is an invasive weed as it grows up to 8 foot but the root system is shallow so it causes soil erosion. We couldn't quite believe the spindly looking plant could get so big as it's stem is so hollow - it even gives a reassuring snap sound when it's broken.

We split up into small groups so we could tackle different areas going round the brambles and nettles (shorts were not such a great idea, Dave!) Jassy and our newest member, Samantha, (welcome to the group!) veered round the back whilst Caroline, Dave and Sevan tackled the bit by the path. It didn't take long to create huge piles of broken stems - there was a lot to do. The hour soon passed but ten minutes before packing up, Sevan came to show us the huge plants he had found! Triffid-sized. We rushed over to take a better look and the Himalyan Balsam was towering over us like bamboo shoots. It was very satisfying to pull the thick stems out and the only shame was that we ran out of time to do that whole area. At least we made a good impact and hopefully we've prevented the plant from destroying some native flora in the area.

Congratulations to Jassy who achieved 50 tasks on this task - amazing, well done! And a big hello and welcome to Samantha who joined us on her first task - hope to see you again soon.

A sticky summer's evening didn't deter our hardy group of GoodGymers from running to the task tonight to help Andrew and his team of volunteers to bash the balsam. The Himalayan Balsam is an ongoing problem for Berrylands Nature Reserve and they try hard to keep it under control as it can take over. Its shallow root structure means it's terrible for soil erosion and like any weed, its ability to dominate an area is immense. Every plant can produce hundreds of seeds so once it gets into an area it can be difficult to get it under control.

Our group weren't put of by this mountainous task and, in fact, found it very satisfying to pop out the stems (of which there were hundreds) as the shallow root system made it easy to do so. Soon, small piles began to form around the forest, showing our route around the area. An hour of easy chat made the task go by even quicker and soon it was time to pack away our gardening gloves and hit the road.

We'll be back in a few weeks to help out again and hopefully it will be cooler so we can wear sleeves and trousers to protect ourselves from the brambles and nettles.

Tonight was all about who could pull the biggest Balsam. The giant stuff could be seen from the path sticking out of the tops of the rest of the undergrowth, just laughing at us thinking it was safe. It seems it grows from everywhere, dark woods, nettle beds, thistle bushes, even rotting logs, but where ever it grows Good Gym goes.

Missed tonights Balsam adventure? And last week and the weeks before then? Well don't fret, the final episode is on for next week but then that really is it for the season.

We returned again for our penultimate bash with our Friends of Berrylands Nature Reserve. Although lower in number, we still managed to clear large areas of Balsam. This time we were joined by Jane as well as Caroline and Rob. Nettles did not deter us once again as we endured the pricks and stings to reach the balsam that needed to be pulled and popped. Once we found our patch we quickly got stuck in and began pulling, popping and snapping the stems and threw them onto their mounds. Our tea, coffee and biscuits break was well earned! We’re looking forward to clearing another section next week for our final session before the seeds begin to disperse. See you there – same time, same place!