Tuesday 27th May
Report written by Kash
On a cloudy, yet no longer rainy Tuesday evening, Sevan took Ealing GoodGymers for a run through Walpole Park to Lammas Enclosure. Surprisingly, we went past the Transition Orchard, not stopping there this time, then past the tennis courts. Did our run leader miss the task location? Today we met Trevor from Ealing Transition at a new woodchip pile. He challenged us to fill our wheelbarrows first before he would take us to the area in need of GoodGym hands.
"You are filling these wheelbarrows six times faster than I would!" - Trevor.
Trevor showed us a patch of tiny trees planted last year. During the late spring, the snips were having a tough time, bullied by the brambles that grew much quicker. Trevor had already started rescuing the saplings to prevent the bullies from completely taking over, and we could see piles of thorny cuttings around. Our job was to free all the remaining tiny trees and cover the ground with woodchip to suppress further growth of weeds.
At first, the whole team focused on taking down the brambles, with A.B. and Freya at the forefront. Gradually, the chopping team started losing its members to the woodchipping job: first Steph Ducat, then Harvey, and finally Kash. Sevan stayed in the small forest area to rake and coordinate the woodchip operations.
As the cuttings heap grew, the woodchip pile shrunk, eventually running out completely. Just 45 minutes of GoodGymming transformed a sad, overgrown thicket into a little forest of happy saplings, thriving surrounded by a thick layer of mulch.
"On behalf of the trees - thank you!" - Trevor.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the trees that had been now set for a fresh start in their long life - but we will be back to check in on them later in the summer and fight back the thorny bullies if needed!
Next week we have a totally different type of task: we'll be teaming up with Ealing Repair Café again to reduce fabric waste and create goods for the community! Sign up now. It's an indoor task, so the weather is not an excuse 😉
In February 2011, local children planted 21 fruit trees to form a Community Orchard in the overgrown tennis courts in the Lammas Enclosure, between Lammas and Walpole Parks. Volunteers from Ealing Transition have taken on the management of the area and preservation of natural habitats. The residents call on our own GoodGym volunteers from time to time when they have specific tasks that need extra pairs of hands.
See moreEaling
Encourage biodiversity and local community engagement along the Grand Union Canal