Twas a green, grassy and glorious Richmond Group Run, with runners, walkers and cyclists gracing our sponsored plots in Buccleuch Gardens, Richmond for a spot of evening weeding.

It was a task of two grassy halves. Starting at the Arcade everyone dropped to ground level and used cutlery knives to lever out plantains from the Arcade lawn. Hunter was definitely not the only one assuming a downwood dog position.

At the Three Pigeons Plot , the weeding was reversed with the main aim removing unwanted grass. Thankfully, this was somewhat easier and more dignified.

Welcome newcomers Georgie and Naomi who proved to be naturals at plantain pulling and grass busting . A shout out for Teresa who achieved a perfect 10 for her work clearing around the bollard at The Three pigeons. And we were all in awe and wish the very best of luck to our run leader and area activator Liz who revealed she has qualified for the Hyrox World Championships in Nice in June.

Gorgeous flowers spotted but not identified during the task included Veronica (spike speedwell), a compact perennial with a spike of pink flowers and purple Centaurea, a perennial cornflower with vivid, heliotrope purple, thistle-like petals.

Muchas Gracias to The Tap Tavern for allowing us to stow bags and for hosting our monthly social after the Group Run.

Suns out, spades out!

It was the loveliest day of the year so far, which always fills us with Vitamin D fueled energy. Which was good news as we had a big task to reclaim some overground areas in Chiswick.

After a very short run we arrived to meet Karen from Abundance London, who had brought with her a barrow full of tools. There is a set of beds right by the busy A4 that have become really neglected. Abundance have cleared one and planted it with lots of pollinators, o there was a stark difference between the cared for space, and the overgrown, litter strewn area we were there to tackle.

We wasted no time (and I even managed to remember to take a 'before' shot, so you can really see how much we got done) getting stuck in. Out came bindweed, cans, bricks, some wrangled metal, a broom head and more weeds than you can shake a fork at.

We were doing so well that a splinter group featuring Chris, Alan and Gus even moved over the road to work on pulling up grass and clearing another area. While we worked we remarked how just a little care makes a big difference. If passers by see well-loved, neat and flourishing beds they are much less likely to chuck their litter there and much more likely to want to take some ownership for its upkeep. So well done everybody, it really is time well spent.

After finishing up we made our way back to the green. Thanks to the rain it had been a while since we'd had an opportunity to do a proper core session so we took advantage of the lovely weather to knock out a series of exercises aimed at strengthening our abs. Just look at those happy faces in the photos!

On Saturday there is a great community mission to plant at Harvard Hill. So far we have no sign up so it would be wonderful if you had a short window to spare to lend a hand! Here are all the details you need.

Happy GGing everybody!