A trip to Parkfields Community Garden this weekend and Emily, Melissa and Rachel got stuck right in. The garden is a big area of land at the back of the allotments and Cath and Alan are keen to educate the community about plants and food. The task owners met us there and gave us a list of jobs that they needed to be done that required a few hands. Melissa got straight to work cleaning out the plant pots. Emilyand Rachel started on the no dig plot - a natural way to reduce weeds in a big area without the need for pesticides. We pulled out the tops of the weeds, raked and watered the soil, laid down large pieces of cardboard, watered the area again and then did a few runs with wheelbarrows to cover the cardboard with wood chip. That should all rot down nicely to create an area that's ready for planting. We also helped to move the plastic that had been ripped off the polytunnel in high winds and the wood that had been used to weight it down. A great workout indeed!

At the end of the session, Cath kindly offered us melon - very refreshing!

The first task was a general tidy up of waste, plastic, glass etc. While this was being done I was multitasking raking and weeding as I went along. The yurt was then cleared and cleaned out ready to start being dismantled at a later date. Worthwhile task in glorious sunshine. Hope it goes a way to cheer people up after the devastating events of previous weeks. Sorry no photos taken.

The morning after Spring’s (?) chilly sleet showers, three Good Gymers - Adam, Jassy and Emily were put through their paces by task owner for the day, Amanda at the Parkfield Community Gardens in Ham.

The first challenge involved figuring out which hose to turn on, they all seemed to lead nowhere!

Once the correct hose was located, we filled up multiple water buckets to wash down the garden chairs, the table and even Emily herself, who managed to get more on her than the table!

After a quick sweep of the garden for plastic and general waste, it was onto the main challenge itself.

This was creating a trestle saw horse for the owners to be able to chop wood more easily. We each took it in turns to measure, saw, and drill the wood, which proved a challenge, but thanks to a terrific team effort we wood-worked it out!

A big old shed was taking up room where the gardens want children to be able to play outdoors. We used hammers, crowbars and brute strength to tear the shed apart and make space. Maybe for a tree swing!

Parkfields community garden were in need of our help on Saturday morning. Four GG crew and other local volunteers came to pitch in with some tasks to help tidy the site up. The skip was unavailable so we sorted rubbish into piles ready for collection later. Stella cleared the entrance way, rooting out some seriously big weeds and clearing a curtain of climbing plants to make the way in more welcoming and less of a 'secret garden'. Adam, Emily & Jassy worked to transfer bags of stones into sturdy rubble sacks and sorted, chopped and moved lots of old timber, brambles, and plant debris to reduce a waste pile and liberate some tarpaulins. One highlight was when Emily was put on a pedestal for uncovering a ceramic sink support. Thanks to Alan, Kath and Karen for welcoming us and giving us a great challenge. We look forward to coming back and helping more as the garden takes shape.

It was a cold, frosty morning but that didn't stop an intrepid group of GoodGymers head to Parkfields Community Garden to help tackle their jobs list. Two main tasks for the day - to clear the rubbish out from under the fruit trees and add more cardboard as a base layer to stop the weeds AND move the wood chip pile left on the side of the road that had rotted into perfect compost (once the roots, weeds and brambles had been removed) to the orchard. Heavy jobs but we joined other volunteers and kept at it. Adam, Rosanna and first-time GoodGymer Rachel tackled the wood chip pile - removing weeds and getting it ready for transporting whilst the other Rachel and Stella prepared the orchard. The wood chip pile was full of interesting finds including a boiled egg and a roll of tape! Very eggciting. Yes, eggsactly. Eggcellent.

The wheelbarrows were filled multiple times (and we even tried to guess how many runs we had left once the woodchip bag was removed - although we forgot to count so I say we all won that score). The fruit trees will feel the benefit as soon as the compost rots in.

We all felt we'd achieved alot in the time we were there and it was very satisfying to see the progress. Tea was made by Amanda but I don't think we paused to drink it! We have promised to return as they have big plans on how to open it up to the community but lots of prep work needs to be done. We'll see you next week to remove the play sheds.

Big shout out to Rachel on her first ever GoodGym! Hope to see you again soon.