Our latest session at Surrey Docks Farm had a fantastic mix of tasks.

We began with nettle cutting, tackling overgrown areas to keep pathways clear and safe for visitors and staff.

We then helped Pat by moving tables and chairs to set up a children’s party, ensuring everything was under shelter so the little ones could stay dry and enjoy their celebration despite the rain.

One of the highlights of the session was heading over to the orchard to pick fallen apples, which we then fed to the very grateful pigs—an enjoyable and enriching task for both volunteers and animals alike!

For this session we needed to move some tomato plants before clearing a bed in the greenhouse (shifting the contents into ton bags). While half the group did this, the other half mixed up some compost. We finished up with feeding the cows and goats.

6 Good Gymmers arrived at the farm and were soon put to work by task owner, Kate, sifting and refining some recently produced charcoal for further use on the farm. This required a three phase production line. 1) Sieving the charcoal; 2) crushing it in a scritcher and 3) pummelling it by hand. All in all, it was a very effective workout. We organized ourselves efficiently and completed the task to time. After that, we were rewarded with a tour where we met the new pony, Joey, and the one-month old piglets and kids.

On a personal note, this was my last session at the farm for the time being as I’ll be traveling for work. I’ll be handing over Taskforce leadership to Olive and Andrada. Thanks to everyone at the farm for always being so welcoming and supportive of Good Gym!

4 intrepid Good Gymmers arrived super early at the farm ahead of the Spring Fair. Gemma, farm manager, set us to work on an assortment of tasks including gazebo assembly, outdoor furniture feng shui and plant identification. The latter was surprisingly complicated and I’m sure we all discovered new varieties of tomatoes! It was another great session at the farm and we look forward to returning to our usual Sunday slot in 2 weeks.