Arriving at Feeding Ealing today, there was already a large group of volunteers there. More than had been at the site for months. Walking through the growing area, compared to August plenty of harvesting had already been completed as growing beds had been picked and cleared.

Joseph was glad to see the GoodGym team again and had tasks ready for us to do. In the polytunnel, there was produce still shooting upwards and ripening, which sounded like a nice problem to have. Hiding behind the polytunnel were raised beds, where potatoes had been been growing and were ready for harvest.

Team To-may-to

Giles, Therese and Sevan made up team To-may-to. Their goal was to untangle tomato plants that had gone rogue. They were mingling together and not sticking to their own bamboo stakes, making them hard to support with the canes and difficult to spot ripe fruit and harvest from when the time comes.

They joined another volunteer in the very densely packed tomato patch who'd been at it for 2 hours already. The volunteer was teasing the vines apart to try and have a single stake per plant, from the roots to the shoots. The plants were brittle though and easy to break, so there were some casualties along the way.

This was Therese's first task and she asked if they were all like this. Complicated and difficult to complete? Well, it's not unknown and GoodGymers often need to use their ingenuity to solve problems at tasks. Today's was particularly challenging though. Well done on your first good deed Therese and we hope to see you again soon 👏🎉.

Team Po-tah-to

Team Po-tah-to was larger, with Delphine, Kash, Maxime and Dora, who's become a regular recently. They found that some potatoes had already been removed from the soil in the morning and Joseph said to leave the rest to be harvested later. Instead, the team was asked to tidy the area around the veg and potato beds to help the remaining produce grow stronger.

Time To Call It Off

The weeds were removed and Team Po-tah-to were successful, with plenty of time left in the session. They were even able to flex their muscles and move a heavy table too 💪.

Inside the polytunnel, Team To-may-to admitted defeat against the renegade tomato network. Between the heat, the density of plants and not having a good way to keep each one supported and separate to the others, they let Joseph know that it was best to leave things as they were.

Despite the tangled tomatoes still growing wild in the polytunnel, Joseph was very happy with what the team had achieved and decided to call it a day.

Just as we thought the 2026 heatwaves were over, the first Saturday of September hit us with a blast of scorching sun before noon - but we liked it! On a beautiful, warm day, ten GoodGymers gathered at Horsenden Farm to help the newest residents settle in nicely. The new additions to the farm animals gang were two ponies. One of them, a retired mare, Trixie, had already arrived, and we saw her grazing behind the orchard. Her companion, a working pony, was due to arrive over the next few days.

Today's task was to create a new paddock for the ponies. We didn't need to worry about building the fencing - the job required clearing an overgrown meadow, full of thistles that had outcompeted even the frequent offender among the invasive plants - blackberries. We collected thick gloves, shears and loppers from the tool store and headed up the hill, saying hi to the two goats and the farm cat on the way.

The result of our nearly 2-hour chopping extravaganza was spectacular. Thanks to teamwork, the satisfying feeling that cutting back activity offers, and staying well hydrated, we managed to clear a large area that would certainly be comfortable for more than two ponies at a time. Or at least we thought so. We really tried to look at the paddock-to-be from our customers' perspective.

"If I were a pony, I'd like to hang out under those trees." - Iram.

The task owner, Elsa, was delighted to see how much had been achieved in such a short time. We hope that Trixie and her new pony friend will be equally pleased with their new space.

On the way to the seating area, where we'd devour pizzas and drink locally produced beverages as a reward, we spotted that the harvest mice were back in town. The cute tiny rodents hiding in the glass terrarium got the adult GoodGymers as excited as kids! It might have been one of the last chances to see the mice this year, as they are released into the wild every summer and autumn to rebuild the population of a species that had been extinct in our borough until Ealing Wildlife Group had reintroduced them.

If you missed this month's Horsenden Farm session, worry not! The next visit to the hidden gem of Ealing is in October - save the date now!

The fourth expedition to Grove Farm in search of the Unholy Grail of biodiversity - Japanese knotweed - brought together volunteers from the local area, from the far south of the borough, and even from beyond its borders. Mike from Friends of Grove Farm decided to lead the task unusually in the afternoon, due to an earlier event at the Grove Farm Nature Reserve - the Slow Worm Safari. Mike told us that only one specimen had been spotted during the event, while the expected number was ten, which wasn't good news for biodiversity. On a positive note, the sighted slow worm was pregnant, so there's still hope that the local legless lizard family will grow.

The quest to find the highly invasive non-native knotweed attracted adventurers like GoodGymers Giles and Jo, who cycled from the South Ealing and Brentford area, Sevan and Kash, who ran, also from the south, having completed two missions on the way, and Afshin, who returned for the second adventure of this kind in a row. The GoodGymers were joined by a returning explorer, Deborah, and Sue, new to Grove Farm. A team of eight resumed their travel up the Coston's Brook ditch.

The regulars knew the drill, the newbies quickly got up to speed: hedge trimmers, shears, loppers, rakes. Clear the path. Make it wider. Put the trimmings aside. Throw logs away from the trench. Do not hurt the other folks in the process.

Today's discoveries:

• Badger burrows
• A rusty shopping trolley
• A tyre
• A single wellie
• A sandbag-reinforced campsite (a secret bunker entrance?)

But all of those artefacts paled in comparison to what we discovered at the end. Even the knotweed. Oh yes, we eventually did reach the knotweed, although some of us, after three previous sessions, had started to doubt whether we'd find it this year. We left the invasive knotweed alone, acknowledging the mission's success from a distance. Then all the eyes landed on the most unexpected finding, waiting for us under the crown of a large fallen willow whose branches Mike meticulously sawed off.

It was a geocache. Afshin opened the container and found an Elvis CD and logbook with an entry from 23rd May 2005! Everything was soaked, and we couldn't reveal other pages of the notebook without destroying them. The artefact from over two decades ago now needed some drying before getting reinstalled in its location.

Meanwhile, a much younger thing that could be found in the park needed quite the opposite - plenty of water. On the way out of the woods, we visited the black poplar tree the GoodGymers helped plant in December last year and lent Mike a hand in watering it, before returning to the tool container to tidy and lock up the equipment.

On Thursday evening, the Ealing GoodGym team supported Hanwell Boxing School, a registered charity and amateur boxing club that provides affordable boxing training, fitness coaching, and structured youth development programmes for people from all backgrounds.

The group, consisting of Sevan, Giles, Kash, and Maria, met at Ealing Broadway Station, where we were delighted to welcome a new member to the team, Bilal, who arrived well prepared for the task, complete with his gloves.

Before heading to the task, the group completed a short warm-up led by Kash and set off on a run of just over 3 km. Kash split the group into two teams so everyone could run or run/walk at a comfortable pace. Sevan, acting as backmarker, ran/walked with Bilal and Giles, while Maria and Kash ran ahead to the task location to meet Scott, who cycled there, and the task owner, Linda.

Linda was very pleased to see the GoodGym team and explained the evening's task. The boxing school was preparing to welcome new members and launch new activities, so the outdoor space needed some attention. Our job was to clear leaves from the pathways and remove overgrown vine plants and ivy to make the area cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.

Linda provided all the necessary equipment, including brushes, large plastic buckets, and digging shovels. Initially, Scott, Kash, and Maria began sweeping leaves from the entrance area. When the rest of the team, Sevan, Giles, and Bilal, arrived, we divided into two groups.

One team focused on removing ivy from the corners of the site and gathering leaves with shovels into piles. The leaves were then transferred into large buckets and carried to a designated grass area for disposal, following Linda's instructions. The second team concentrated on sweeping leaves from across the pathways into central piles, making collection easier and more efficient.

As time passed, Kash began to wonder whether we would manage to complete all the work before the end of the session. However, the GoodGym team never lets its leader down. Everyone increased their efforts, worked together efficiently, and successfully completed the task on time.

The transformation was impressive. The pathways looked much cleaner, tidier, and more inviting, and Linda was delighted with the results. Seeing the positive impact of our work made all the effort worthwhile.

At the end of the session, the team made their separate journeys home. Kash, Sevan, and Giles ran back to Ealing Broadway, Scott collected his bike, Bilal headed for the bus, and Maria walked home after another rewarding GoodGym mission.