Cherian met up Simon at Thorlands Gardens after he was expecting 3 GoodGymers, but was thankful that even one showed up. Cherian helped him replant random 'Jerusalem Artichokes', which had been dug up from the Kitchen Garden last week. They also turned the bed which had the artichokes and watered it as it had become very dry after Friday's heatwave day. They also gave the same treatment to the beds in the Wild Garden. Finally, they gave a liquid feed to the banana tree (which now has five leaves, each new one bigger than the last). Cherian stayed for three hours as they kept on going. They took off some low lying branches off the Acer tree which was blocking gate. Finally, they went back to the Walled Garden to turn over the compost and add chopped stems and leaves for aeration and nitrogen. A great session in two!

Cherian came from Hendon, Dan from Hackney, Lisa and John from Camden Town, Mehmet from UCL (the long way round) and Scarlett from Australia (an even longer way round). Welcome especially Lisa (recommended to GoodGym by our Angeliki) and Scarlett to their first ever good deed.

Arriving bang on time, or even earlier in some cases, we were soon provided with a random selection of digging and cultivation tools. We set to work churning the earth in preparation for seeding an area of Compton Terrace Gardens which had become worn and bereft of grass due to wavering walkers veering off the path.

We took a bucket-full of stakes, bamboo sticks and variously-sized poles, positioning them round the earth we'd prepared earlier, as a subtle warning to any passers-by to "Keep Off The Good-deed".

Then came the seeds themselves, a consistent shower of grass-coloured specks spread evenly and thickly over the newly churned soil by our super sextet, before being covered by top-soil from two large, newly-opened bags.

We hadn't finished yet. There were twigs and small branches to be picked up, making the place look a lot tidier. Whenever we thought the task was almost complete, we spotted many more twigs and small branches previously invisible to the naked eye.

And Lisa did a great job rescuing a park bench from an overgrown bush, making it once again somewhere safe to sit without being assaulted by superfluous branches.

With Tabitha, Josh & Catherine looping up outside Beer & Burger for a needed warm-up for those fresh off a half marathon. A slow run was begun for the first task at Clitterhouse farm for 2024. Meeting Lee and Cherian upon arrival. With fresh paintings up upon entrance and tuliups blooming to welcome us, we gloved up with buckets and forks in hand. With a heap of compost to overturn and move to a new location. We were moving mountains not molehills. Working in the farm, mother nature decided we needed feeding and bestowed buckets of rain down on us ensuring we were well watered. With some smooth transitions of team work, effort was shared and compost was delivered. With a meandering movement back to Beer & Burger for a well deserved drink to celebrate the changing of season and type of tasks!