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!

6 GoodGymers, including first timer Leigh, came along on Saturday morning to help out at Kingswood House, a 19th century mansion that used to be owned by the inventor of Bovril!

Kingswood Arts are working towards opening for the public in April. Today's task involved continuing to clear a room at the back of the property that was started on Southwark's Wednesday night group run. There was appliances and furniture that needed to be moved down into the basement in order for the floors to be restored. The room used to be an orangery and the Kingswood Arts team are planning to make it into an indoor garden. We got to work while Jack from Kingswood Arts made us hot drinks. After an hour and a half of heavy lifting, Jack was happy with what we had got done and made us a round of Bovrils before sending us off with donated bread that was going to go to waste.

What better way to start off your Saturday than with a session at Hillside?

There were 10 of us there today, with plenty of jobs to dig into. The winter sun was out, Lindy, Sarah and Joao had come prepared with their shades - cool as cucumbers, and it was a very pleasant morning. Special shout out to Alex and Sophie both for coming to their first Goodgym session (hope we didn't work you too hard!).

Tom started to dish out tasks for groups as one by one our runners trickled in. We had Sophie and Clare take a wheelbarrow to clear leaves on the courts.

Sarah, Michael, Lindsay and Alex together cleared a whole section of bramble and weeds behind the leaf (mulch) pile, which is where the plan is to create fixed compost bins. Next to it, the loose logs were collected by the rest of us - Lindy, Joao, Emily and myself. They were put in wheelbarrows and wheeled over to another site in order to keep a bug home(?) hotel(?) going. With the rent prices in London - they're getting a sweet deal with what we set them up with.

We breezed through the tasks, and as we finished we began to fill the rest of our time digging up the wild garlic bulbs that keep taking over. Good work from all! 👍

11 Goodgym superstars came out on a slightly damp Saturday morning to help Tom out at Hillside Gardens

We were back at Hillside Gardens this morning to continue the work we began last year. We had a whole load of new people to Goodgym this week which was awesome and meant we were able to get lots done!

First timers 🎉 Steph and Sadaf were tasked with weeding around the planters and against the walls. They also harvested some potatoes so congratulations and hopefully someone enjoys those with their dinner 🥔

Meanwhile Amesh, Ali and Kit were introduced to the pesky garlic weeds which are still lurking in the flower beds. They dug out loads and planted a few more sapling trees.

Joao, Emily and India were down the bottom of the hill collecting lots and lots of leaves and taking them to the soon to be re-organised compost heap.

And finally Hillside Gardens legends Nathan and Kaz were tidying up some of the yard area, tipping out smelly water and checking the trees that were planted last year. They're still alive and looking good.

We'll be back at Hillside every Saturday in January so come along again!