What is the difference between a chard and a beetroot and do beetroots and carrots (loosely) have root in the name as you eat the root? One of many questions we had this evening.

More weeding of the beds this evening as we avoided the punnets(?) of potatoes and the other veg. I wonder if that blackbird found the slug…

We also got to see the totem replacement for the cockerel and marvelled at the carving.

Until next time…

Ohhh, as an added bonus... look out for Shia LeBeouf!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o0u4M6vppCI

“Cinéma vérité is a documentary filmmaking style emphasizing realism and immediacy, aiming to capture everyday life with minimal intervention” - well I guess that sums things up but with a Cinnabar moth. This probably won’t make much sense if you are reading this (there was a guy filming us too though, well Ed, but us too)… anyway. Thanks for the added culture Marianne!

Lots of cutting, weeding and snipping was done on a beautiful evening. A Cinnabar moth (see excellent photo by Frances), bees (ditto) and a mullein (needs a fact check) were spotted. Figs anyone? This has been a bit of wild ride of a report but hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves. Here is a story to complete the weirdness:

The Humble Wheelbarrow

It was a late summer morning and the last of the dew was relinquishing its grasp on the ground. All across the city people were waking from their short but much needed slumber and getting ready for their busy days ahead. One place in the city was going to be very busy this particular day. The community farm had just had a fresh delivery of manure that needed spreading and the tools were eagerly vying for the chance to show what they could do.

The time of the delivery arrived and the tools set to work...

The shovel, full of bravado set to work at great pace carrying the manure the large distance from the pile where it was delivered to the beds. The trowels, forming a chain passed the manure from trowel to trowel and the pitch fork drove into the pile with great gusto taking huge swathes of manure with it. An old lawn edger sat in the corner watching the flurry of activity with his friend the wheelbarrow. "You should have a go" the edger said to the wheelbarrow, "you are perfect for the job". "No no, they look like they know what they are doing I don't want to get in the way" the wheelbarrow replied.

And so the tools continued through the day, each showing how they could do it better than the other but the pile of manure was still there. Late afternoon approached and the tools were starting to flag. The edger, sad at what he was seeing decided to ask again, "you would be great at that, go on". Once again the wheelbarrow said with a sigh, "I'm not as important as those other tools, I'd just make a mess of it".

Late afternoon became early evening and the other tools, exhausted, decided they were never going to get this all done in time. Seeing the wheelbarrow looking sad in the corner they decided to act. The shovel, seen by the group as the leader approached the wheelbarrow. "In our haste to show what we can do we didn't ask if you wanted to help, would you help us finish the task?", the shovel said with great confidence. "You want my help? But you are all working so hard I don't know what I could add", the wheelbarrow said with great surprise. "You are the perfect choice for the task and we would love to have you help", replied the shovel.

And so full of a new found confidence the humble wheelbarrow helped out. The shovel filled the wheelbarrow, the wheelbarrow moved the manure to the beds and tipped it for the trowels and pitch fork to spread the manure. Before the day was done the task was complete. The tools cleaned themselves off and with a sense of pride retired to the shed overnight. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

By Richard Giddings.

We had the perfect weather for our first session of the year at St Werbergs Community Farm Gardens, marking the beginning of spring! And what a fantastic turnout with 10 GoodGymers coming along to lend a hand with everything from weeding the vegetable beds to adding support to a drooping fruit tree. Thanks everyone!

The sun came out for a delightful evening of planting, pruning, weeding and... fork destruction! We'll certainly miss these spring/summer sessions on the farm... But we'll be back next year from April!

A great session planting carrots, spring onions and callaloo. Plus rescuing some other plants and trees from encroaching bind weed!

Things I learnt today with some wonderful people doing some guerilla gardening…

• Bees are better fat
• Lady courgettes have junk
• Cute means different things to different people
• A chard is not a beetroot
• Walnuts are nice pickled
• Custard creams aren’t as good as bourbons
• Exercise can give you dolphins if you are lucky
• Bindweed tug o’ wars are fleeting but beautiful

We did lots of weeding…. wishing the limequat good health.

Until next time...