Seven Goodgymmers met for a good forking and nattering session at Tottenham Green on a lovely mild Spring evening.

Rake It Until You Make It

We had been invited to Tottenham Green to lend them a hand with the by now mythical renovations to the Nursery building that the Friends Group has been patiently waiting for going on... erm.. an eternity.

Alas, it wasn't to be this time either but lucky for us, Laura from the Friend's Group always has a plethora of jobs to complete. Tonight we were entrusted with turning over and transporting two big piles of compost (which we had helped create last year!) over to one of the flowerbeds at the edge of the Green, and also move an awful lot of sticks into a more manageable stick pile in the composting area of the Nursery.

With no time to waste, our Goodgymmers literally dug into the evening, armed with forks, spades, and in one particular case (hi Clare), one of our Goodgymmers embraced her inner ursine nature and attacked the pile with some bear claws, thus providing the unspoken third and most important option to the whole 'Man v Bear in the woods' discussion du jour - Be The Bear! #WomanPower #SmashThePatriarchy But also, #MenDoBetter

Anyway, we worked swiftly and efficiently, finding time to catch up with our lives, bother Charlie asking him to identify every little insect and bug we found, put Julie in a bin, and make plans for a social when our Alex is back from Glasgow for a bit. 

Before you knew it, our self-appointed time-keeping martinet Nurjehan was tapping her foot and banging on about it being 8pm so we said our goodbyes, but not without giving Laura a hand and taking some selfies.

As a I said, a lovely Spring evening

Join us next week as we help the folk at Moselle Meadow create a natural pond!

Five Goodgymmers rolled up their sleeves and pulled up a multitude of weeds from the playground at Chapmans Green on this stormy May Day.

The Famous Five Go Playing

We met Alex from the Friends group at Chapmans Green who had a few options of tasks for us. Needless to say, as soon as we heard the rubber mulch at the playground needed a bit of maintenance, we jumped and grabbed onto that task with greedy hunger.

We hopscotched our way into the playground and before you could say Fireman Pole, we were on all fours. Weeds were coming through the mulchy membrane - a situation that if not dealt with regularly will affect the integrity of the fall-breaking material - and no sooner had Alex given us some tools than we were right into the swing of things.

We merry-go-rounded our way through the whole playground, pulling up weeds and chewing the fat until Gramps seesaw what the time was and called an end to the proceedings. Proving he's no longer a Spring Horse, Gramps ungracefully clambered up the playhouse to join Clare and Charlie, while Nurjehan and Veronika opted for a more grounded approach for our group photo.

Alex offered us a tour of the meadow to finish the session but we had to leave before an untimely slide into disrepute as Nurjehan had started to shout at everyone about the size of her hole as we inspected the progress on the orchard - cf. here.

On that note, we all left, making our way home before the torrential thunderstorm. 

Come next week for not one but two different tasks: Tuesday is back to nursery at Tottenham Green and Wednesday it's party time at Wolves Lane. Fun!

#MayDay #UpTheWorkers #Solidarity #NothingToLoseButOurChains  

Three hardcore Goodgymmers visited the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve for a spot for wildflower planting.

They first got the beds ready, by pulling out loads of ivy and deeply-rooted weeds.

Then, they sprinkled wildflower seeds everywhere like little fairy dust. Fingers crossed for a flowery meadow this summer!

4 Goodgymmers hankered after welly boots and head torches as they lent a hand in the dark at George Meehan House for a spot of lawn surgery.

The Beast At The Gates

Our four Goodgymmers arrived at the gates of George Meehan House for an early start to meet Luke from GrowN22 who needed a hand sorting out the flower meadow in the Wedding Gardens of George Meehan House. They arrived, all smiles and high fives but that quickly changed.

Enter The Beast.

Mylo, a Cerberus trapped in the body of the cutest Dachshund you have ever seen, guarded the gates and his human Luke with tenacious care. He barked and barked as our Goodgymmers settled into the task for the night.

It was a very muddy affair which made it very slippery underfoot but a lot easier to get rid of the top layer of grassy soil from the wildflower meadow in readiness for the 150 sunflowers, currently being lovingly grown in Luke's flower nursery somewhere in N22.

Very soon, we realised Mylo's barking was simply him trying to tell us he wanted to get involved, and before you knew it, he was digging along with Clare, Julie, and Charlie as Gramps stood around pestering our Goodgymmers for photos.

At around 7:30, and having lost the one source of light we had to low battery, we decided to call it an evening.

We all took turns at getting Mylo to do tricks and give him treats and call him a good boy, and he even joined in the high fives at the end. What a rock star.

Come next week! It's another early start but always fun as we visit Traid on Wood Green High Road.

Have you heard the one about the 5 Goodgymmers litter picking a Looney-Tunes-style pile of cans from Tottenham Green on a surprisingly mild, march evening? No? Well, you're in luck...

Edging Our Bets

On an evening when Plan A failed, the wonderful Laura from the Friends of Tottenham Green swooped in to our rescue despite feeling positively under the weather and arranged a fun session for us.

And it was much needed as a bunch of fine young men had decided to use the central path at the Green as a makeshift Reuse & Recycle Centre after what looked like a few days long drinking bender. I mean, the scale of this pile of rubbish was so cartoonish in its breadth.

Undeterred, our Goodgymmers tackled the industrial-sized pile in good spirits while some of the aforementioned young men questioned the finer points of running for fun, while also correctly identifying the level of hotness of our Dave.

Before you knew it, and a good 8 (!) full bags at last count, the Green resembled a public park again rather than a rubbish dump and Laura tasked us with our second job for the eve. On the High Road side of the park, we were asked to give some flowerbeds a proper manicure and redesign the edges of the beds. Overgrown and covered in old leaves and soil, it was difficult to see where the bed ended and the path began so we armed ourselves with spades, forks, and brooms and got on with it.

Reader, our Goodgymmers were natural-born manicurists. Little by little, the edges of the bed began to be redefined again and in what looked almost planned, we completed the job just as the clock hit Nurjehan Time™ (aka. 8pm).

We helped Laura collect the tools and put them back in her lovingly-curated shed and posed for some selfies before we headed off into the night. Boom.

Join us next week as we visit our Borough's Municipal Home to look after the Sunflower House Wildflower Meadow. Come!