August is the start of harvesting season at Feeding Ealing. Gathering organic produce is a daily activity as food that's not ripe one day can be perfectly ripe the next and spoiled 2 days after that. Today, task owner Joseph gave the group a tour of the flourishing raised beds outside and polytunnel inside (which was toasty warm), then he set everyone a sight test.

Some okra had been harvested on Friday and today, the GoodGymers were again looking for any that were ripe and ready to pick. The okra was great at hiding itself, so good eyes were needed to spot the green fingers between the equally green leaves and identically green stems. Everything on the plant was surprisingly prickly too, leaving everyone a bit itchy after filling their baskets. Tomatoes and karela, which Delphine thought looked reptilian, were also picked to be donated.

With all of the ripe produce gathered, the next most important task was watering. The recent hot weather meant that twice daily watering was needed, especially in the polytunnel where temperatures can hit 50C. With only 3 hoses, Gus, Delphine and Harvey grabbed their spray guns and soaked all of the plants from top to bottom. Some of the team regressed back to their childhoods and skooshed each other as well as the plants with their Super S-okras, claiming that they were keeping everyone cool, which they kind of were.

There are plenty more fruit and vegetables that are still growing on Feeding Ealing's trees, bushes and plants. Honeydew melons, peppers, tomatoes and ginger to name a few. As they become ready to harvest too, we'll be back with another session at Feeding Ealing to help them collect their crop to donate to local good causes. Keep and eye out for new sessions as they're listed.

GoodGymers took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
Elsa saw them and GoodGymers looked good.

Elsa, from Friends of Horsenden Hill, knew the fearless 14 GoodGymers who arrived at Horsenden Farm on a sunny Saturday were the only team large and brave enough to work so close to where the Gruffalo lurked in the woods behind the farmhouse.

First, she asked Gus, Steph Ducat and Richard to gather the timber stacked beside the farmhouse and reinforce the dead hedge. A sturdy barrier against the hungry Gruffalo, perhaps?

Next, Elsa sent Afshin, Iram and Kash to wheelbarrow a mountain of green waste - rotting onion tops, spoiled peppers, pattypan squash and potatoes - to a spot near the canoe club. Was this a cunning plan to tempt the Gruffalo towards the canal instead of the farm?

Finally, Elsa recruited Andrew, Breda, Emma, Harvey, Melissa, Penny, Scott and Sevan for an enormous weeding job, hoeing and scraping the grass and weeds from the path leading to the Gruffalo's lair. Surely she wasn't making it easier to spot the monster's turned-out toes? Not at all. By clearing away the soft carpet of greenery, she'd ensured that if the Gruffalo sneaked in to steal the pigs, the scrape of his terrible claws against the hard, dry ground would give him away long before he reached the farm.

With the farm secured from its fearsome woodland neighbour, the GoodGymers, led by Elsa's trusty dog Archie, headed through the deep dark wood, following the heavenly aroma of Horsenden's famous pizza. Then, suddenly, they stumbled upon... the Gruffalo!

"Here's my favourite food!" the Gruffalo said. '"GoodGymer crumble!"

But one sniff of the pizza wafting through the woods changed his mind. By the time he reached the farm, there wasn't a slice left. The well-fed GoodGymers simply strolled past the Gruffalo's lair on their way to their second task at the top of Horsenden Hill, leaving the poor monster to rummage through the pile of green waste by the canal in search of a few scraps of rotten onion.