GoodGym and MIND in Camden: A tree is for life not just for Christmas

A merry band of three headed to Castlehaven outdoor hub this afternoon from the Healthy Minds coffee morning. We were accompanied by the soundtrack of Lullatone and various lovely piano pieces with names like 'highly organised cleaning equipment' and the like. Paul, Tom and Lucy were met by Nichola who gratefully accepted her gift of coffee grounds from Paul and showed us to our task.

Amazingly - it being June (!) - someone had just donated a Christmas tree to Castlehaven. The owner was surprised that it had started to go brown as it had done so well since Christmas until now. However, after a little investigation it was clear what the issue was: overwatering! The soil in the tree's pot was absolutely sodden and there were no holes in the bottom of the pot for drainage. Our poor tree was drowning!

First things first, prepare the new pot for the tree. This meant shovelling out all the rather ripe smelling dirt from inside the pot we were going to use. Whilst doing this we found a worm. Unfortunately not the right kind of worm for the wormery so we set him free into the raised beds.

Today I saw a little worm , Wriggling on his belly, Perhaps he'd like to come inside, And see what's on the telly. Spike Milligan

Pot ready, we started the mission of getting the tree out of its sodden pot. No mean feat! Some tugging and twisting wouldnt do it so it was time to get the pocket knives out. Tom and Paul took it in turns to cut into the pot until we had enough wiggle room to pull the tree free - hooray! To our surprise under the first pot was ANOTHER POT. The second was much thinner and easier to get off so finally our tree was free.

• A tree-mendous success

The tree successfully re-potted, we can't wait to see it green and flourishing in the weeks to come. We then helped with some dead-heading and went around the corner for some fitness fun - from squats to lunges to shuttle runs to star jumps and more squats!

Great work everyone :)

See you next week!

Lucy J