Fanette and Ben went along to help out the community orchard team at Heaton Park. The area has only recently been tended to after being left fallow since covid. As a result, brambles, nettles, and balsam had taken over while the apple 🍎 and other fruit trees continued to grow.

With sturdy gloves and a collection of tools, we put in a good 1.5 hours of hard graft, removing sizeable areas of balsam, nettles, and other weeds from around the fruit trees and pathways, every now and again jumping up and down on the balsam to give it a good bashing.

While difficult to find (both of us stumbled upon the apiary or bee 🐝 houses nearby on the way in), the spot is looking to get back to full use, with Rebecca (the task leader) aiming to have Heaton Park cider available in the coming years.

Tough but satisfying task. We'll be back balsam bashing in other parts of Heaton Park later this month.