Ridge Workday 4th June 2005
Another mixed activities day this Saturday. A fallen pine tree
in the Community Garden, around 2m tall, had fallen over and needed
attending to. Despite it's predicament, it was still alive as
was evidenced by new growth shooting skywards. A new stake and
a bit of grunt work soon put this to rights and the first job
of the day was quickly completed.
 We
all moved to the main part of the Ridge in order to clear undergrowth
from around the orchard trees. We had recently purchased two scythes,
so it was a great opportunity to try these out! Two members volunteered
whilst the rest of us ran for cover.
Here's Bob, the Chairman of the group giving the scythe it's
first work-out. He reports it's very efficient at clearing the
growth, but nobody's listening as they've moved too far away.
Nettle growth can be extremely prolific at this  time
of year. It's great having a food source for so many insects and
butterflies but some of it needs clearing so we have access to
prune the trees as well as keep back the invasive bramble.
Mike, Maureen, Paul, Elisabeth and Lee got to work with the other
scythe as well as more conventional tools for clearing and we
made good progress on another of those good-weather days.
We had a very pleasant lunch in the sunshine, an added bonus
for all our hard work so far.
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