Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio, Roger and Sally  On Saturday, 4 July, we (that is 14 Green Gymmers) returned to Manor Farm in Marcham for the first of two Himalayan Balsam pulling sessions in July.  Permission had been given for us to park in the farmyard car park and, after gathering up the few tools we needed, we made our way along the lane.  Having done a recce of the area the previous weekend, the Green Gymmers had been advised to wear long sleeved tops as the nettles, thistles and brambles had grown very tall. Although we could see some Himalayan Balsam growing along and in the ditch by the side of the road, we continued onto the farm itself as access is restricted in this area.  We set up our base in the usual spot, taking advantage of a bench situated near the stream overlooking a field of hazy blue.  The field had been planted with a legume mix, which included flax (the blue flowers), buckwheat (white flowers), vetch and red clover.  The roots...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Michele and Sally We returned to BBOWT's Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve on a sunny morning for our last session of June and we assembled in the car park where Adrian explained what we would be doing as Beth Hall from BBOWT had given him a list of tasks earlier in the week.  Those wishing to pull Himalayan Balsam, an invasive non-native plant, were asked to put on wellington boots and those working on clearing one of the paths from overgrown vegetation were asked to wear sturdy boots.  After gathering our bags and tools, Adrian led the way and we soon came to a gate where the path was barely discernible in places as the nettles, thistles and brambles were so tall!  We weren't surprised when Adrian told the three scythers among us that this was what we would be scything. We soon came to a little dell in the wood where we made our base near a patch of Dog's Mercury.  The three scythers set up their scythes, whilst Adrian led the rest of t...

We met , as usual, in the Greenkeepers' compound at Frilford Golf Club, while Barbara and Dieuwke, who were joint leaders, waited by the gate with the tools for us to collect.  We made our way down to the fen, where Rod d'Ayala was waiting for us.  There was a lot of scything of the reeds to be done, as well as the bracken on the bank at the edge of the fen, but fortunately there were several scythers among us. We set to work on the areas indicated by Rod, while some people went to rake up the material which had already been cut. Rosie, Barbara, Michele and Carol setting off   Working on the fen Jim's expert scything Rod trampling down the cut vegetation on the bund For the rest of us, there were creeping thistles to be pulled up, a seemingly never ending task, and a very small patch of hemlock to be cut back before it could seed and spread. The weather was warm and there were a number of butterflies around, mostly ringlets. We also found cinnabar moth caterpillars on rag...