Bank Holiday and Pride 🏳️‍🌈 weekend in Manchester, so just the solo litterpick this evening for Ben 🚮

At the meeting point in St Peter's Square, there was already a collection of coffee cups and beer cans to dispose of, perhaps setting the scene for what was to come. It was a short 1 km jog to Greek St near Grosvenor St before gloves and litterpicker were unsheathed.

There was a burst on the green space, taking some pics 📸 of the new planters from Ardwick Climate Action before skirting around the encampment that had sprouted up. Afterwards, I went down Kincardine Road to litterpick around the edge of Gartside Gardens, collecting a few more bags of litter.

The biggest surprise was the 29 laughing gas cannisters collected from within a 50 yard stretch of road and in the park. Big haul, all reported to Keep MCR Tidy and the council for collection.

Welcome to Gloria for completing your first GoodGym task and getting your first parkrun volunteering credit marshalling out on the course 👏

Well done to the 553 finishers including 123 visiting us for the 1st time with 16 people completing their first ever parkrun 💪

Big thank you to the 24 volunteers who made sure we got a full set of results and marshalled out on the course 🦺

On Monday evening this week, we were back at Eden Gardens Orchard in Philips Park to give the trees inside the orchard a bit of a trim. Ben and Peter completed a couple of laps of the park, while Scott cycled on a scenic route and Sanjeev used public transport, all to converge onto the site for 6pm.

The main focus was a plum tree overhanging some neighbouring plots in the allotment site. We were provided with ladders, various loppers (manual and ratchet varieties) plus a range of bow saws, hand saws, plus pruning saws (one of which could be extended to reach the high up branches). Peter was the main protagonist with the saw, climbing the ladder to saw the target branches and trunks to remove, while Scott and Sanjeev trimmed down any pieces to fit inside the tonne bags. Ben stabilised the ladder and caught any branches coming down from high up, combining this with a lasso-type method to encourage them to fall on the right side of the fence.

After tidying up the cuts and moving the equipment to the orchard side of the fence, we were tasked with pruning (lopping) a larger tree inside the orchard. While more accessible, the trunks were certainly thicker and through a combination of the extended pruning saw, tied ropes, and gravity, we managed to get the desired branches down, with only a few cuts and grazes to show for it.

The remainder of the tasks involved us trying to cut the pieces down to be small enough to fit in the tonne bags, with the larger and thicker trunks left. Three overfull tonne bags later, we were done, with the midges starting to come out and bite.

Tough task, with a loose adherence to health and safety, but we seemed to enjoy it all the same. We will be back at the orchard in the autumn and perhaps in the park to clear some areas for future planting.

Welcome to Amrinda and Antonio for your first GoodGym volunteer credit with a big litterpick in Hatchett's Wood in Wythenshawe 🚮

Hannah and Ash from City of Trees 🌳 were leading the group, with volunteers of all ages joining in to help. With tea, coffee, and biscuits on hand to fuel the litterpick, plus good litterpickers, bags, and hi-vis, we dived straight in.

Alongside normal litter of bottles, cans, and lots of plastic containers (some apparently to feed the local foxes), there was also a lot of fly tipping that took the headlines. Antonio and Amrinda did a sterling job unearthing lots of carpet plus some other glass items to be safely disposed of. Ben managed to find a battery, a black bin, and a kids red car 🚘 Some sharps (needles) and a trolley were also found along with a few cones.

A busy 3 hours of litterpicking culminated in 34+ bags of litter and a sizeable pile of fly tipping that was all reported for collection.

First mission for Mrs M to give the garden a thorough weeding and digging over in some places.

Good hand tools with a hoe, spade, and rake meant removing the weeds and grass from the top beds was relatively straightforward with some GoodGym energy. Lots of brambles around the garden with roots renoved where possible and a thorough mowing of any grassy areas to leave it ship shape.

Thankful for the cup of tea and the cooler weather without much rain. Garden waste bin was filled to the brim.

The famous five made a fab job of harvesting and maintaining the community plot at Gorse Hill Studios allotment this evening.

After a stop-start run from Deansgate, we convened onto the plot in the overcast sunshine, ready to get a good session in. Scott and Ben harvested a surprising number of potatoes 🥔 of many sizes, with more and more being unearthed as we scoured the plot.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev and Fanette were on bean harvesting duty 🫘 with lots of runner beans picked out, while others continued to grow. There were also lots of tomatoes 🍅 harvested from within the polytunnel, with some not quite ready to pick, so plenty more to come.

Peter was lead waterer, planter, planner, and coordinator, making sure plots were seen to and planning ahead for next year.

There was also a lot of corn 🌽 harvested plus any apples 🍎 that were ready to pick.

Very productive session, and we dropped off all the bounty to Gorse Hill Studios for them to use in their community groups.

Afterwards, we had a well earned Wetherspoons tea and beverage, making full use of the Monday night deals, before making our way home in the Manchester rain 🌧