50 spades of grey

What better way to spend a chilly February Monday than by having loads of great things to celebrate at GoodGym Wandsworth?

First we were happy to welcome Abigail to her very first GoodGym session. Give her a cheer! Great to have you join us Abby.

We also had a special milestone to mark, as our lovely Jo clocked up 50 good deeds last night. Amazing work Jo, that's a huge amount of weeding, planting, painting and more - not to mention all the miles along the way! Here's to the next 50...

Our third reason to celebrate came a bit later on at our monthly pub quiz, when we managed to scoop first prize and nabbed ourselves a cash win! Perhaps our GG garden might reap the rewards? If you'd like to join us for our regular social, it is every first Monday of the month, and everybody is always welcome.

After a short warm up a discussion about all the nice things we had done that weekend (spending time with family, half price burgers, friends' birthdays and hen dos) we headed off for Doddington roof garden. This space has been transformed by volunteers into a thriving garden for local people, but the huge area needs a lot of upkeep. We go as much as we can to lend a hand, and as we arrived last night we were met by Malissa who had loads of jobs for us.

These included 'hedgehogging' the big grass plants - a new term for us! Basically it meant using secateurs to give the overgrown plants a good hair cut, so while half of us got cracking with that, the rest of the group composted, watered and cleared.

We also had an extra challenge of shifting a ton bag of wet compost across the garden. At first attempt it seemed impossible to budge the dead weight, but after a few trips with the trugs, a wheelbarrow or two, and a lot of sheer determination we managed to drag the bag and deposit the nutrient rich soil in the right place. It took quite a bit of muscle and grit, but we would not be beaten! This would have been too big a job for many of the regular volunteers, so it was great we could help.

If that wasn't enough hard work, we just had time to squeeze in a leg blast in the square downstairs. It featured steps up, squats, fast feet and lunges - all the key exercises to work those lower body muscles!

Don't forget about the community mission to create an outdoor classroom which is coming up - I'm told there will be a reward in the shape of pizza post task!

Next week as it is pancake day, a group of us will be popping out for some treats post task. Join us next Monday to at Paradise cooperative garden.