Round two of our support for the apple orchard volunteers at St Joseph's in Mill Hill was epic! 4 Goodgymmers helped Tim, John and a host of locals scour the trees for fresh fruits and windfalls, gathering almost as much as last time. We found spartans and bramleys applenty, plus some of the smaller sweet varieties.

Some of the rows are full of fruit but they won't come off the trees easily due to the drought, including the many golden delicious, which are tiny. They're hoping might swell up a bit with the recent rains and be ready soon.

We closed the session with a fantastic weight training round: lugging the sacks to the fence, then up the hill to where the van would arrive to collect them. Some of the apples went to the NW7 Hub, North Finchley Community Grocery, Cottage Home Residents and to the horses in the fields near the orchard.

There are still a few tons left to pick, so the next big session will be this Saturday - sign up here.

3 Goodgymmers joined 4 locals and Daniella, the unofficial Apple Queen of Barnet and organiser of the community harvesters, for a pick on Lodge Lane. There was only one tree in the garden, but it was a biggy!

With 8 fruit pickers we gathered 3 crates in under an hour. Two crates are for food banks and the other we sorted for people to take for cooking compote, pies and dehydrating, as they have bruises or other kinds of damage. There's plenty more up the tree for residents with many of the lower apples not yet ripe, so an easy pick for a moderately tall person / good jumper.

I rocked up to Mrs T's for a gardening mission and she welcomed me in and I met her husband, who needs round the clock care. She found me tools for clearing the weeds from the driveway and leaves from the guttering.

The brick-paved driveway wide enough for four cars, but, optimistically, I said I'd have a go at the beds as well if there was time. Undeterred, I got stuck in, weeding, sweeping, clearing and making little piles all over the place. A fox had made its own little piles, so I cleared those up as well.

Mrs T was really grateful, even though it didn't feel like I'd done all that much by the end. It was clear she'd regained peace of mind, having the garden chores back under control, so she could start going out in short bursts to do little tasks in the flower beds. And of course I thanked Mrs T in return for making her driveway available for my workout!

With three of the Community Grocery's top team away, as well as a couple of Goodgym's regulars, it was a wonder things went so smoothly today.

But we were so ready for the delivery today that three of us ran out with empty trolleys as soon as the first truck showed up - with one box of eggs, which the driver kindly carried up the stairs by himself. So it was back to waiting until the rest arrived. And they did - with two new drivers as well!

Then the rush began, but with 5 helpers from the grocery we made short work of the bananas, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, baby food soft drinks and milk. Everything went inside for sorting and then I helped store things in the downstairs cupboards while they wait for space to clear in the shop.