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.

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 🌧

Another month, another Manchester Post delivery. This time, we were collecting the newspapers from the local library in Fallowfield, at The Place on Platt Lane, to deliver to nearby streets.

Likely due to lots being picked up from the library by locals, we only had around 100 newspapers 📰 this time between the three GoodGymers.

Sanjeev played the supporting role while Julia was on first name terms with any passers-by or locals who were curious about what we were doing. Very thankful for an ice lolly on a warm day too!

A quick jog home in the evening sun rounded off the task for Ben and Sanjeev, while Julia made her way home with a Manchester Post in hand.

Super effort from Victor, Sanjeev, and Ben this evening to help Keep Manchester Tidy 🚮

Despite a late-arriving Sanjeev, we made the short trot towards the Bridgewater Hall and Hulme from the relative quiet of St Peter's Square with no metrolink running. It wasn't long before litter on pavements and next to parked cars started to build up, an apt cue to bring out the gloves, litter pickers, and dashing pink refuse sacks.

Lots of squashed drinks cans, takeaway trash, and plastic bottles slowly filled up the bags, with flyers and coffee cups adding to the load. Near the bridge to Hulme Park, we unearthed a whole host of rubbish including a broken tartan umbrella 🌂 and several laughing gas cannisters.

After crossing the bridge, Hulme Park was relatively tidy, with just a few hotspots identified and rubbish removed.

In total, we collected 7 refuse sacks, 4 cannisters, plus a brolly and some broken poles. A good haul left next to a public bin, and reported to Keep MCR Tidy for collection during council rounds.

While not political, there was something very William Wallace about the task tonight, with FREEDOM being the aim of the game to help with the maintenance of fruit trees in Philips Park 🌳

While Dennis was on his way, we weeded what we could around the fruit trees, with lots of grasses taking up the space within the cages.

Once the tools arrived the real work could begin. With a bespoke allen key 🔑 we unscrewed the attachments holding the cage to the stakes, giving more breathing space to the apple 🍎 and pear 🍐 trees in the park. It also freed up more room to thoroughly weed, give them a lot of water, and reduced the wire from the cages digging in and causing damage to the growing branches.

Fanette and Ben managed to do this for most of the trees, with a few trips back and forth to collect water 💧 and managing to keep the screws and cages for later use. The pile of weeds and grass were disposed off around the park. The cherry 🍒 tree just had a good watering, having not grown too much with some of the dead branches removed. Other pruning tasks will be for another day.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev and Dennis focused on one of the leaning apple trees, in an attempt to support it and straighten it up. With the lack of rain and clay soil, making a hole for a new stake took a bit of trial and error. With a hammer 🔨, manual hand earth auger drill (basically a big screw tool), and a bit of water, they did finally get a couple of holes in to apply stakes, held in place by loose stones. Sustainable engineering certainly at play, using loose stones, a wobble, and manual tools to provide the support with no power tools or concrete in sight 🌱🌳💪

With the fruit trees uncaged, cleared, watered, and grasses disposed, we cleared up, seeing the orchard before their Britain in Bloom judging in August. The walk and run back along the Ashton canal was a pleasant warm down after a productive session 👏 well done all!

Welcome to Lucy for your first GoodGym session!

This evening, we were back at Eden Gardens Orchard in Philips Park to finish where we left off with a greenhouse needing to be built in place. Some of the frame from two weeks ago needed a bit of re-jigging and lots of the screws needed tightening, but bit by bit, we made some progress in the right direction.

While some screws snapped with some over-keen tightening (🙋‍♂️ guilty) we managed to get the back and 2 sides in place to screw together, with Jodie nimbly able to attach the clips connecting the frame to the base. Just in time, the front frame was ready to attach after some swapping of pieces, with a team effort needed to hold parts together while others screwed the bolts in.

As we tightened the screws, added more of the roof, and cross pieces were added for some extra strength, the structure became much more sturdy, shapely, and almost looked like a greenhouse (just without the glass).

Dennis from the gardens seemed very pleased, bringing out a northern staple of vimto, plums freshly plucked from the trees, and Julia supplementing with biscuits to keep us sustained. We had a potter around the orchard, seeing how sweetcorn is fertilised in lines, with a bit of weeding of the rocky path. Thank you to Peter for the Oregano!

Cracking effort from all involved. Next week we'll be helping weed and maintain the fruit trees 🌳 growing in Philips Park, including those grown with magic walnuts.

Jodie, Sanjeev, and Ben made their way up to Heaton Park to help out with a spot of balsam bashing near the tram museum.

A park rich in history coming into public ownership in 1902, Himalayan balsam was brought over during the Victorian era but it's ability to very quickly spread has made it difficult when other plants try to grow. Over the 600+ acres in Heaton park, there is plenty near the boating lake and pond, and we were helping out in an area nearer the eastern side of the park.

Between the three of us plus Ella from the park and her mum, we cleared a large area, initially aiming for the tree, but managing to go above and beyond to clear a decent chunk in 90-100 minutes of bashing. The odd bramble did get in the way, with a few pangs of pain and exclamations of "OUCH!" but all in all, a productive session.

Lots of information about the park, parkrun comparisons, National Football Museum, local bootcamps, corporate volunteering, plus much more.

We are back in the park on Sunday 2nd August to do some path edging. Juno will likely be coming along.