Luckily the heavy rain as I made my way to the mission stopped on arrival. My first job was to clear leaves from a bed, bag them up and place them in a skip. Next I carried six bags of compost up a steep path to the end of the garden. Finally I cut back overhanging shrubs to make the garden more accessible.

WOW, it was a shock to see just how much all the trees, herbs and vegetables has grown. The last time I was at this space was back in March when we had only just planted everything.
The bramble tree was giving off loads of apples that would make the best pies, there was also an abundance of blackberries not to mention the potatoes I brought home to show off to the neighbours. Louise spent time mulching and avoiding the flying ants nests, Mark was busy watering everything while I tried to free the baby trees from all the weeds that were surrounding them. All in all it was a very productive mission. I really enjoy coming to this space and It was lovely to see the chickens again they're always such a delight.

The heat of last week seems a long time ago... but it was enough for an emergency callout from the Blenheim and Arpley Residents Association for some help with some watering at their new community garden.

Equipped with a couple of watering cans and a big plastic bottle (v. resourceful) we managed to get round all the plants from hops to potatoes and ensured they were nicely soaked.

Well it was an hedgucation for me tonight as it was my first time leading a group run without Mark's supervision but luckily I had 12 awesome GoodGymmers to rely on for moral support. After a run down of our favourite ice creams (why do other countries always have cooler flavours than the UK?!) we made our way to Alexandra Recreation Ground to meet Linda and the other Friends of the Parks volunteers.

Big shout out to Hannah for leading the walking group, Stephen for backmarking the runners and Jing who was attending her first session and bravely accepted the challenge of running the long way round up the hill to the task!

Once we got to the park, Gill and Linda had us pulling out weeds that were diverting nutrients from the hedge saplings planted earlier in the year. Many hands made light work of this task and we had cleared most of the bed within 40 minutes before taking the shorter route back to the Bridge House for some post-run stretches.

Nice work team!

It was all go in Alexandra recreation ground ahead of the Music in the Park event as, with lightening speed, we worked to set up five gazebos, then arranged tables, chairs and ingredients for the Pimms and homemade cakes stalls. Our cheerful GoodGym team joined in alongside volunteers from the Friends group, soaking up the summer vibe and putting into use some excellent fruit chopping skills! The event was a resounding success, raising £1100 which will help with projects to care for and improve this popular green space.

Myself and Kelly met up with Viv and the team of dedicated local gardeners for the regular third Saturday of the month meet up at the Silverdale planters. 🌱

After lots of sun on Friday, the plants were super thirsty. So we set to work giving the plants some much needed watering.☀️

Then we moved on to tackle some weed maintenance. Pulling out the weeds to give the plants room to thrive.

We finished off with a quick litter pick, whilst a few volunteers took on the task of tackling some dead branches that were blocking the path, giving the area a thorough tidy-up. All in time to finish up before the brief showers arrived! 🌧️