October's session with HANGOT took the team back to Osterley Lock, like last month. Unlike last month, the aim was to get the whole orchard, not only the front, to look tidy and business-like.

While the HANGOT volunteers scythed the open areas with tall grasses and burdock, the GoodGymers grabbed loppers and shears to clear big patches of brambles. For the first half of the session everyone was chopping away, making piles of spiky cuttings all over the orchard. Later on, Steph, Lena and Kash stuck to their destroying ways, while Scott and Sevan raked and pitchforked their way around the orchard, moving everyone's cuttings onto an ever growing compost heap.

By the end of the session, the dead or invasive plants had been cleared and for the foreseeable future, the orchard at Osterley Lock won't need more maintenance. Well, at least until spring arrives and the whole cycle starts again. 🌸☀️🍂❄️

The William Hobbayne Centre, home to one of the UK's oldest charities in Hanwell, has hosted many memorable events over the years where GoodGymers have lent a helping hand. From hearty dinners at Burns Night to fundraising quizzes and youth performances by the Terry Marshall Academy, the centre has seen all kinds of gatherings. But this Tuesday evening, the backyard hosted a very different kind of gig.

Taking to the stage was the 7 Scratchers Army, pioneers of the industrial symphony.

If you've never heard of them, you're clearly not keeping up with Hanwell's music scene. The 7 Scratchers Army - although not always with the same seven musicians, and not always with seven performers at all - had been touring the William Hobbayne Centre for years. Their concerts usually coincide with the start of festival season, when the weeds are at their tallest and greenest, or with the end of summer, when the wind of change sends leaves drifting into the courtyard.

Their biggest audience, however, has always been the thick carpet of moss covering the concrete. The moment the 7 Scratchers Army stepped onto the stage, the moss almost peeled itself off the ground in anticipation, eager to see the hoes gleaming in the early evening sunshine.

Like every over-the-top rock band, the Scratchers brought an outrageous collection of instruments: mighty brooms, sturdy hoes and even snow shovels, despite it being late June.

Harvey, Steph, Lena, Amy, Sevan, Richard and Kash launched enthusiastically into one of their greatest hits, filling the air with the unmistakable sounds of scraping, sweeping and scratching. The rhythmic brushing of brooms blended with the harsher percussion of hoes and shovels before giving way to the gentle rustle of dry leaves and litter disappearing into Greener Ealing bags. You might have recognised the band’s classic Smells Like Greener Ealing there. The performance was so powerful it could probably be heard as far away as Sandy Park, perhaps reaching The Green W7 or maybe even all the way to The Fox.

June from the Hobbayne Charity, the sole member of the audience for this exclusive performance, noticed that the stage lacked decoration. She decided it needed flower garlands along the fence - but there was one problem: no tools! Without missing a beat, Richard dashed home to fetch his toolbox, returning before the next song, Screwing in the Name Of, began. Moments later, the soundtrack gained an unexpected electric guitar solo: the buzz of screws being driven into the fence.

Suddenly, the whole stage burst into bloom. Steph even wore a flower behind his ear, as if he were about to go to San Francisco with flowers in his hair. Surrounded by floral garlands, with brooms, hoes and shovels still playing their final movements, the Industrial Symphony reached its grand finale: Sweep Child O' Mine. June applauded enthusiastically.

As the last notes faded, the dust settled, and the low evening sun lit up the transformed courtyard. Gone were the litter, leaves, weeds and moss. In their place stood a tidy outdoor space, brightened with colourful flowers. Only then did the seven GoodGymers realise they hadn't actually been performing a concert at all. They had been volunteering at the William Hobbayne Centre, helping prepare the outdoor space for the charity's upcoming event. They even brought the chairs and tables from the centre so they could be easily pulled out of the outdoor storage when the celebrations began. Not bad for just one hour's work!

The 7 Scratchers Army will be back on the Hanwell tour next week, this time at Elthorne Park. Fancy joining the band? Whether they become Eight or Nine Scratchers is entirely up to you: Sign up now!

Another unusually hot weekend in May, another trip to Southall for GoodGym Ealing - this time to Western Road Urban Garden to help Southall Community Alliance with planting exotic crops ahead of the season.

The garden was visited not only by six GoodGymers but also, unexpectedly, by three police officers on patrol. While the GoodGym team started preparing the veg beds and erecting trellises for beans and gourds, the hosts Janpal and Ash gave the officers on duty a comprehensive tour of the food-growing space. And there were novelties since our team last visited the garden - a new beehive had been built behind the polytunnel, with dozens of stingy pollinators already getting busy around it!

On such a hot day, many would choose an indoor task in the shade, rather than digging weeds and shovelling compost in full sun. It wasn't the case at WRUG, where the only place that counted as indoors was the polytunnel. While the early arrivals, Maxime, Sevan and Kash were responsible for preparing the outside raised beds, Ash was assigned to help Janpal construct trellises. After almost an hour (with breaks, of course!) of roasting in the 44°C "oven", he developed such an engineering skill in trellis building that his capabilities were sought for outdoors, at the raised beds, freshly weeded and topped with compost. Ash swapped with Kash and Sevan, who, together with Lena, entered the polytunnel for the planting phase. Meanwhile, Ash taught Harvey and Maxime all his trellis know-how, and all three got to planting in the raised beds.

It was a special session for Ash, as he not only survived the polytunnel sweat challenge and spread the construction knowledge, but also hit a milestone of 25 good deeds - halfway to the black T-shirt!

The crops planted today, including many South Asian staples, were:

• Snake gourd
• Bottle gourd
• Kerala
• Pumpkin
• Melon
• Tomato
• Red bell pepper

As usual, Janpal prepared a feast for the volunteers, with plenty of ice cold water to keep us hydrated, bananas, strawberries, tangerines, giant blueberries, and staple samosas. Breaks in the shade with refreshments in reach definitely helped the team keep going!

We should see the fruit ready for harvest in a couple of months! Meanwhile, we are planning another community day at WRUG in June to prepare space for additional water storage at the garden. Sign up now!

Who knows what an aquifer is? No, neither did Ealing GoodGymers until today's tree planting session in Cleveland Park with Letting Grow. Letting Grow's plan was to put 1,500 trees into the ground in the park as part of today's community day.

Maria arrived early to discover the muddy delights that awaited and started planting the bundle of whips she was handed. Kash, Theo, Lena and Sevan arrived later and were greeted by:

"Welcome to mudland!" - Maria

Task owner Ross had been in the park since the morning and offered the GoodGymers his own advice due to the muddiness of the ground:

"Use our gloves" - Ross
"Have you got an industrial washing machine to clean them?" - Sevan
"No. I have a very angry wife"
"She'll say, I can't believe you've muddied up the washing machine again!" - Ross

Some took Ross up on his offer, making his wife more angry. Those that didn't had their own extra washing to do after the task. The "fun" part of planting in this aquifer was that a puddle would materialise a few seconds after any hole was dug for a tree. This needed special trees - GoodGymers planted sweet chestnut and hornbeam - that could take the damp soil and a special planting technique:

1. Dig a hole
2. Put the top grass layer back in the hole upside down
3. Place the whip in
4. Fill the hole with the rest of the removed soil
5. Heel in the whip
6. Add some mulch

The second step was unusual and Ross said that it would help to keep the ground water away from the roots. The unsaid step 7 was to try and get as much mud off yourself as possible before planting the next tree. Some of the team had more success than others in staying clean and you can play "spot who had the most fun" with the group photo.

Everyone did an amazing job in challenging conditions, with Maria taking the award for champion tree planter 🏆. There were many people from the local area who'd come along to the community day too, so we and they will see in a few months how the whips are getting on in their own private swimming pools.