A berry fruitful task

Since May is practically loaded with bank holidays we had a first in Wandsworth last night. Instead of a group run on Monday we switched it to Tuesday and thankfully six GoodGymers came along to get a whole lot of good done!

Jo, Matthew, Ros and I met at our usual spot at the BAC and ran together down to our monthly session at Doddington community garden, where we met Jamal and Divya.

Our first job was moving some unwieldy pallets from the bottom of the steps right to the top of the garden. It's so lovely having a space on what was once a disused rooftop, but those stairs do make it a bit tricky for the regular volunteer group - which is where GoodGym comes in!

We were greeted by the many cats who live there, and keeping our eyes open for the family of fox cubs that share the garden, we got stuck into our first job.

The strawberry plants needed to be dug up and transported, so we carefully prised up the berries and moved them into pots, while also transplanted the teasel to make way for sweetcorn and other plants. Every visit we learn new horticultural related words and skills!

While Ros and Matthew got busy creating a waterfall of strawberry plants using an old pallet, the rest of the team laid down cardboard in the raised beds ready for filling with compost. It's a great tip for keeping the earth rich and weed free. We were careful to preserve the bags which will be used for growing eight different types of potatoes. Great to see that nothing is wasted.

Next week it's the Big Help Out, which we will be getting involved with in collaboration with Beautify Balham. Sign up here for a lunchtime session helping clear litter before a GG social! Hope to see you there.