Last Saturday, before the 10th anniversary celebration of GoodGym Ealing, our gang joined the Hanwell and Norwood Green Orchard Trail (HANGOT) to cut back orchard hedges and water young trees at the Elthorne Triangle Orchard.

But what about the older trees? How were they going to survive the extreme drought that has been affecting London since the end of June, especially with Hilary and Clive from HANGOT away for a week in August?

The GoodGymmers offered to take care of the mature trees in the Elthorne Triangle orchard, and, thanks to Ranger Jon, they were given access to 10 five-litre water containers. According to Hilary, that was just the right amount of water to keep the trees going that week.

What better excuse to perform the farmer’s walk routine than carrying containers to water fruit trees in a public orchard! And that’s exactly what the GoodGymmers did, hauling and tipping the containers around the orchard. It was the hottest day of the week, with temperatures reaching 37°C, but with five pairs of hands on the job, the task was short and easy, taking less than 20 minutes. In fact, a significant percentage of that time was spent simply opening the storage space where the containers lived!

The GoodGymmers decided to add a bonus task: weighted step-ups on the steps leading from the canal to Elthorne Park. Since the ranger had provided a bucket, funnel and rope, they also decided to fill the empty water containers with water from the canal, ready for the next time the trees needed watering.

The five GoodGymmers also used the session as an excuse for some extra light exercise on that very hot day. Scott cycled, Richard, Sevan and Steph Ducat ran, and Kash walked. It was a great way to get out of the house or work and into the outdoors, making the most of the golden hour before sunset.

It's been a tough summer for the weeds at St Mary's Churchyard Garden in South Ealing. First, the unforgiving drought, then the mighty gardener Cliff, and now this - a horde of GoodGymers!

Even the train disruptions during the heatwave couldn't hinder the unstoppable active transport enthusiasts: group runners led by Sevan - Steph Ducat and Kash, a solo runner Richard, cyclists Amy, Scott and Maria, and walkers James and Diana.

Thirsty and depleted weeds growing by the northern wall of the churchyard could not stand a chance against the assault of spades, forks, mattocks and shears carried by the gang in red t-shirts. Chopped, pulled or dug out, the weeds became green waste to be rapidly raked away and loaded into a wheelbarrow. From there, there was only one way - onto the giant compost heap.

The transformation of the area was remarkable: from a green (yes, it somehow managed to stay green, unlike the dried grass) carpet of weeds into a levelled layer of woodchip. Cliff was very pleased by the sheer power of teamwork, brought by GoodGym. When Ealing eventually gets some rain, the chief gardener hopes to seed some grass in the churchyard and bring the garden back to life with some pleasant greenery.

We will be back at St Mary's churchyard first thing in September. With Steph in charge, the team will attack the infamous northeastern corner of the garden to free it from the remaining weeds. Sign up now!

Next week's Tuesday session: Help women in Acton discover free, inclusive health and fitness opportunities.

More GoodGym this week?

Thursday: Help keep the orchard alive! 🌳 Watering fruit trees at Elthorne Triangle in Hanwell 💦.

Saturday: 🥦 Fun, exercise, food growing 🥔 August Community day at Western Road Urban Garden.

Mission control were very clear with Ms L that her, Kash and Sevan's priority for today's mission was to clean her garden table and chairs ahead of a garden party that Ms L was planning. As soon as Kash and Sevan arrived, Ms L started pointing out areas of the garden that needed work. Kash and Sevan tried to keep things on track with the table and chairs, but they weren't front of mind for Ms L.

After being reminded that the GoodGymers were only there for 90 minutes, Ms L exclaimed:

"I told Big Jim that I needed help between 3 and 5"

Kash and Sevan never learned who this mysterious Big Jim was. If it was an actual person or Dave Guest's Mission Control alter ego. Ms L said that she always contacts Big Jim to get more help and to schedule follow up sessions.

Back to the task at hand, with only 1 bucket, 1 brush and 2 cloths, Sevan started scrubbing the table top then a chair with soapy water. Kash started chopping brambles as there was nothing else to do with the garden furniture yet.

After a while, the GoodGymers switched roles. The white plastic furniture had collected a thick layer of grime over one or more years that was taking a lot of effort to scrub off. Bit by bit, it was getting lighter and whiter.

There were other tasks around the garden too.

"There's 2 fox poos on the ground. Can you pick them up please? I can't reach them."
"There's another one there." - Ms L
"Where?" - Kash and Sevan
"By the bush"
"I don't know how you can't see it. I can." - Ms L
"That's a black sock" - Kash

...then ten minutes later...

"There's another poo, by the bush."
"Look! Right there." - Ms L
"That's the sock again" - Sevan

By the end of the task, the table and chairs looked usable by Ms L's guests and were placed on the patio to dry. The path into the back garden was clearer and some of the brambles had been cut back too, leaving Ms L a lot happier about the state of her garden.

As Kash and Sevan left, Ms L told them that she'd be on the phone to Big Jim tomorrow to book some more help 🥸. Sevan picked up 2 rogue socks too and put them in the bin, so that they don't give the local foxes a bad reputation.

Sevan and Kash started their Sunday morning in Catford - a location that had set high expectations of encountering legions of cats! So far, the only feline spotted was a cat-shaped teapot at the beneficiary's kitchen during the first mission.

The second stop in South London was Brockley, with a gardening mission for Mrs D. Sevan's and Kash's job was deadheading large numbers of overblown flowers and generally cutting off whatever was dead in the pots and flower beds. And there were a lot of plants looking quite beyond help. The majority of the potted flowers and shrubs had twigs and leaves that were dry as a bone.

Kash followed Mrs D through the house to pick up tools from the shed in the back garden and spotted a black cat dozing on an armchair.

"Beautiful cat!" - Kash.
"I have seven of them! Here's another one. - Mrs D.

A white cat, squeezed between the top cupboard and ceiling in the kitchen, was fast asleep too.

Outside, in the front garden, Sevan and Kash encountered another two tomcats from the seven-feline army: a ginger boy and a large, fluffy orange-and-white cat. Both were looking for some shade under the bushes Kash very enthusiastically trimmed back. The lawn was spiked with smelly landmines the cats had left behind, securing their territory. The traps weren't that effective, as they hadn't stopped Sevan from removing weeds growing in the grass.

The three unseen cats decided not to reveal themselves at any point of the mission. Sevan and Kash were sure, though, that they had been watched by the undercover felines all along. The GoodGymers had nothing to hide: they had left the garden looking considerably less overgrown than they found it.

Miss M of Catford needed to replace a blind in her kitchen as the old one no longer worked properly. For that job, she was getting two GoodGymers all the way from West London, Sevan and Kash. Kash was very excited about the trip southeast as she'd never been in Catford before.

Miss M had all the tools needed (a Philips screwdriver), a ladder and steps. It was certainly easier to have two people for the task, so two sets of steps were perfect.

Sevan and Kash quickly removed the old, red blind (quite on brand for a GoodGym mission!) and replaced it with a more tame grayish-green model. It was a surprisingly sweaty workout for an indoor, technical task. The screws had to go into new holes in the wood - non-existent holes the duo had to make without a drill or an electric screwdriver, but by driving the screws into the wood at an angle where it was a bit tricky to apply power.

"It works so smooth now! Thank you very much!", Miss M said, delighted to try out the new blind.

The lady wished the two a good rest of the Sunday and success in the other missions they had planned to do while in South London.