Angela, Rachel and Sheila joined the group of regular volunteers at Nature's Haven. Our first task was to help weed the flower and veg beds. Just as we were finishing Kanika managed to escape from work and join us. Our second task was to plant out some broccoli plants which had outgrown their seed tray Before we knew it, it was time to socialise over a cup of tea and celebrate Claire's birthday with chocolate cake! They are really building up a lovely community.

Angela, Sheila and Jack gathered at Nature's Haven, alongside other volunteers, to continue the creation of the new mini orchard. Sheila and Angela fancied some physical work, so set about digging up some Choisya roots to clear the ground ready for seeding with wild flower seeds. Meanwhile Jack helped Roger pull ivy off the building. We admired the bee hotel that had been made that afternoon by a volunteer team from Centrica. Nature's Haven is living up to its name! We took a break for a cup of tea, some cake and wished Jack a Happy Birthday 🎂

Lisa, Angela and Sheila helped out at Nature's Haven, joined a little bit later by Roberta after she had finished her day's work. Today was a very exciting day. After all the shrub cutting, shredding, root extraction and ground digging over the last few weeks by Goodgymmers and other volunteers, we actually got to plant some fruit trees! The ground was raked over, and some very special fertiliser from an exclusive restaurant was applied, and we were ready to go. Angela and Lisa dug three deep holes, and planted three cordon apple trees. After some consultation about the precise positioning, the fourth hole was dug and planted with a step-over apple tree. What an awesome foursome! We then planted some perennials and bluebells as groundcover between the trees. We gave them all a good watering, and stood back to admire our work. It was great to see the transformation of this area, and look forward to some scrumping in the future!

An amazing 6 Goodgymmers turned up at Nature's Haven to continue the good work started at Wednesday night's session, alongside other volunteers. Peter, Matthew and Scarlett took on the tricky task of digging out the roots of the shrubs that had been established there for many years. Luckily Peter had been practising in his own garden for just such an opportunity, so was able to bring a wealth of experience And Matthew and Scarlett had been at the Wednesday session, so the task was in capable hands. Meanwhile, Rachel, Clara and Sheila did a final dig over the area soon to be planted with fruit trees, pulling out any bits of old root as they went. We were hoping to plant some trees in this session, but we weren't quite ready - maybe next week. Taskowners Claire and Aleks were extremely grateful for the Goodgym help and delighted by how much had been achieved. We look forward to seeing the fruits (literally!) of our labour very soon!

We made a return visit to Nature's Haven to add some Goodgym enthusiasm and muscle to clearance work that is going on to make way for a new mini-orchard. We welcomed Aidan to his first ever Goodgym session, and what a welcome addition he was to the group. Nicola was sporting her new 100 Deeds Tshirt, and looked great! Our taskowners Claire and Aleks were on hand to give us instructions for the evening. One group tackled moving a huge pile of branches, which had been cut down from the old shrubbery, to an area at the other end of the site, where they can be picked up for disposal. As Jen commented It was a perfect demonstration of how many hands make light work. Just as they were congratulating themselves on clearing the area, Aleks found them another enormous pile to clear. But they weren't daunted by the task, and by the end of the session that pile had been cleared too. Great work! Meanwhile another group set to, digging the shrub roots out of the ground. Not an easy task, as they all seemed to be interconnected underground, and the roots were tough. Undeterred, the team battled on, and every so often there were little whoops of triumph as another root ball was lifted from the ground! As the light faded we called it a day, and were treated to hot drinks and toasted marshmallows round the firepit. We love coming to Nature's Haven! A very satisfying task and we look forward to a return visit, perhaps to help plant the orchard?

On a beautiful Spring morning, Roberta, Jen and Sheila met at Nature's Haven community garden alongside other volunteers and taskowners Claire and Aleks. Sheila had brought her shredder to use, as there are huge quantities of branches to get rid of, from shrubs which have been cut down to make way for a mini orchard. Whilst Sheila and Roberta fed material into the shredder, Jen replenished the pile from the upper area. As we shredded, the Cotoneaster, Hebe, Choysia and Vibernum branches released wonderful aromas. A beautiful Robin visited us all, hoping for some rich pickings from the disturbed soil. We made good progress, and the upper area is gradually being cleared. Work will continue at Wednesday's Goodgym session - hopefully many hands will make light work! Happy Easter, everyone!