Sun's out, guns out, buns and 'phibians out

We pitied the April Fools who didn't come to a sunny Woodberry Down community garden to shift five tonnes of woodchip and soil, clear out weeds and enjoy a BBQ. No joke.

Sweet Valy, hi!

On the first day of April, Valy greeted us and introduced us to local community gardeners who had a ton of work to do and more! They couldn't manage it alone and called on the dream team of:

• four mission masters
• two mission newbies (Louise and Kat)
• tree surgeons (just two of them), Rick and Mark
• Heart FM on the radio
• AND local community hero, Bilali

We made mole hills out of mountains!

Rick and Mark extended a warm welcome then asked us to shift not one but three tonnes of woodchip which came from a pear tree in Essex.

Hazel was a machine and stayed by the mound throughout the first exercise, diligently shovelling and showing no signs of tiredness and outlasting various partners: AMAZING! The rest of us took wheelbarrowfuls and scattered it between the grow bags.

It looked like a mammoth task but, with many hands, we made light work of it. Nick cleared up the area using a leaf blower which we thought could be marketed as a super hair dryer for busy women! Or at least on April Fool's Day.

Teenage dirtbags

We had a brief break for soft drinks and crisps (few abstentions) then quickly shifted tonnes of soil from the back of the van. It tilted much to our visual delight but it did remind me of poor Biff in the Back to the Future trilogy. Thankfully none of us got covered in dirt during the tilt!

We furiously shovelled the dirt and filled a few massive bags then, again, Nick gave a quick blow dry and sweep to the area and it looked as good as new.

Weed toad you saw

Next up for the team was a massive general clearing of the entrance to the gardens.

There was Japanese knotweed, ivy and branches that needed sawing off. We cleared other weeds, litter, some metal gates and a small group of chocolatey toads (not made of chocolate!).

Weird find of the week goes to some Stud 100 spray. I'm too embarrassed to explain what it does but no-one admitted owning it!

Hazel also found a part of the spinal column but no other parts. Ominous.

Food, glorious food

As a treat for nearly three hours of hard work the local residents prepared a BBQ with buns, rolls, salad, coleslaw, grilled meat and vegetarian sausages.

We had great chats, made progress towards our Five a Day with a helping of fruit salad then went off to enjoy the rest of the weekend while Nick and Mark stayed behind to finish other tasks.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable and physically demanding morning with great weather, company, music and refreshments and we would all happily return again