It was a warm month, April. Warm and damp – very damp even. “With 80 litres of rain per square metre, in fact, it was way above the average of 60 litres,” Antonia tells me with raised forefinger. She's very keen on figures.

I would put it this way: the weather must have been ideal for all kinds of stinging insects, horseflies and slugs because I was able to make their acquaintance when we started on the planting activities in Großziethen.

What planting activities exactly? We have planted 1,041 trees in rows and avenues to “enhance the recreational pathway system” as we put it. Another 1,128 will follow in the autumn.

We have also put in 10 kilometres of hedging to structure the agricultural areas and will be adding another eight kilometres in the autumn. We also took care of the greenery along the ditches.

So you can imagine what a lot of work it's all been. Then again, we were always outside in the fresh air. And never completely alone – thanks to the mosquitoes, horseflies and slugs.

Wersja drukowana berlin-airport.de (Copyright Berliner Flughäfen)