We had a great evening this evening removing a large amount of himalayan balsam from along the local riverways. Having completed a couple of similar tasks with SCC last year we were confident with identification and how to handle the balsam and those new to it were fascinated by the alien like roots and how simple it is to remove.

Balsam is a very invasive plant that erodes local riverbed and banks unless it is kept on top of. We all did a stellar job clearing the site but particular kudos goes to Robert who cleared an extremely large clearing within the hour!!

This task was led by Final Straw, a fantastic charity organization fighting plastic pollution. We joined them along the Itchen River at a spot where thousands upon thousands of nurdles wash up. It required nimble fingers to collect as many nurdles as possible for Final Straw to use in their school visits. These tiny pieces of plastic are tough to pick up, making beach cleaning seem daunting, but every effort counts.

Wilson had the best find of the morning—a plastic AEP training bullet!

We helped Thomas from Southampton City Farm move a bunch of materials from B&Q out of the parking lot - they'll be soon used to build a chicken coop on the farm grounds. We did this in a totally not competitive way.

We were also by no means influenced by the promise of feeding the animals and running with ponies if we finished early.

Having finished the task in about 30 minutes, we spent the rest of the time playing with the animals and helping the farm put them to sleep. We got to run through the school's fields with Salt & Pepper, the ponies, which were surprisingly quick.