The Three Brambleers

What a busy Saturday for a trio of Ealing GoodGymers that met in front of Mrs W's house for their first mission of the day! Sevan and Kash just warmed up with a short jog to the task while Jenni was already done with her morning run and parkrun volunteering.

Mrs W was delighted to welcome "gardening experts" to her back garden. Jenni indeed had practical knowledge about the matter, Kash covered her lack of expertise with confident silence, and Sevan rushed with his standard disclaimer "we are not experts, we are just volunteers".

Mrs W offered the guests drinks and Kash had a glass of water before the main workout. "What would you like us to do first?", the GoodGym team asked. Mrs W suggested cutting the grass. The friendly neighbour, who also went outside to tend to his garden, nodded in approval - that would make a visible difference.

Jenni scouted the site to check for any obstacles to grass mowing. The litter was the most obvious thing to collect. The real enemy though lay hidden in the grass - the brambles! Sevan and Kash were ready to start pulling and cutting the stems but Jenni had a more reliable way. She took the shovel and started digging out the roots of the brambles.

All GoodGym forces at the site were deployed to fight the brambles. The malicious plants formed a network all across the back of the garden and set up traps for Mrs W to fall! The brambles also overtook the old shed, blocking the way to get inside and access Mrs W's lawnmower (the mower for GoodGymers had been borrowed from a neighbour).

When Jenni walked by a bushy tree growing in the centre of the garden, something caught her hair. She dodged the attack and pulled out a long bramble from between the branches. It was surprising that the stem was hanging from the tree, just as it was not attached to the ground - but it was! Kash fearlessly dove into the tree with the pair of cheap secateurs she recklessly chose as her weapon. She reached the Heart of Darkness - the thickest bramble - and cut it from its source of power - the nourishing soil.

With Mother Bramble defeated, Sevan with powerful loppers and Jenni with spade started destroying the BrambleNet and pushing the enemy to the boundaries of the garden. They covered each other's backs so that the brambles could not launch a treacherous attack while one of them was picking litter. After Jenni and Sevan made the grounds a bramble-free and litter-free zone, Kash launched the mower and cut the grass.

During the battle with the brambles, Jenni grew attached to her spade and found another use for it - edging the overgrown paved path. After she finished with the pathway to the back of the garden, she attended to the edges of the slabs in front of the shed. There she uncovered tiny blue tiles that Sevan described as looking like "little square biscuits". The tiles were cute but had to go to the bin.

After 90 minutes the garden was transformed. Mrs W was so happy she didn't mind that Kash broke something again - this time a plastic handle of a trowel. The Three Brambleers left the garden wheeling the garden waste bin to the front of the house. Jenni was ready for her later groceries task, and Sevan and Kash ran towards North East for their afternoon missions in Camden.