On a warm Monday evening, 13 keen Goodgymmers arrived at the idyllic Olden Community Gardens, just opposite Drayton Park station. This beautiful spot is could be easily missed when walking by Arsenal Stadium, but there are hidden allotments, butterfly gardens and neighbourhood connections built on an area that was dedicated for gathering WW2 debris in the past!

More information about Olden Community Gardens can be found here: https://www.oldengarden.org/

Welcome to first time Goodgymmer Lisa - Thank you for joining us!

We had a variety of tasks on offer for us, stretching between the main garden entrance, past many fox dens, and over to "the bridge gardens" (which expand over a working railway bridge for National Rail services).

- Task 1

Together, we helped to shovel 2 full builder's merchant bags of mixed compost from the main entrance (the only vehicle drop point for gardening material), over to a more convenient location. At least 6 of our crew filled portable tubs of compost, before carrying this material by hand. By the end of the session, we came together to lift the final bag of mulch safely and carefully to the intended spot. Great job all!

- Task 2

Our team helped with preparing the gardens for the potential heat wave next week! We located all of the available water points for hose pipes and watering cans, and set about dousing as many of the plants and saplings as possible. This was a difficult task, as Olden Community Gardens is set on a hillside, and we needed to stretch the hose pipes around awkward corners and down slopes to effectively cover as many beds as possible. Between us, we did a smashing job within an hour of problem solving and teamwork!

Following our session, we enjoyed a trip to the Highbury Library bar and bottle shop to celebrate former Area Activator Simon's 800th good deed! A great way to close up a quality evening of Goodgymming- well done all!

Monday night brought out a magnificent twelve GoodGymers to ARC, with six running with Steph Ducat from Arsenal stadium, and all 12 rolling up their sleeves to get the towpath garden ready for planting out.

While some of us were still buzzing from Sunday's Arsenal Parade, others were visibly relieved that football had packed up for the season - and that this wasn't a week for litter picking!

Amy from ARC marshaled this particular Red Army into action across three fronts: one crew tackled the prickly job of cutting up and bagging thorny hawthorn branches; another set to work building raised beds along the garden border; and new member Devika and I got our hands well and truly dirty turning the compost heap.

The transformation of this little patch - small in size but brilliantly situated - since our last visit is genuinely impressive. A good night's work, a fresh set of raised beds, and all last night's rain should combine to even more progress and growth by our next visit. Bring it on.