Ok, ok that's a terrible pun, I know - and I didn't even see any dill :D

A brilliant six of us turned up to help at the church community garden this evening, and soon made short work of the tasks Jenny needed.

It's been such a dry summer that she called it 'damage limitation' for now - just trying to save the hardiest plants, prepare compost for fertiliser next year from those that didn't make it, and a bit of pruning and clearing the path.

With this number of hands we got lots done in our time there, while chatting about things like droughts adaptation using larger plants to shade, more mediterranean-y plants, and concentrating water on food plants.

Then it was time to say bye and each head off into the dusk, til next time.

Today’s mission was to tackle the drawers of pots at the back of the tool shed, clearing and organising them to make the pots much easier to access. It was a surprisingly satisfying task, with one wheelbarrow ending up completely full of dust — a clear sign of a job well done!

Afterwards, we went to see the piglets, goats and the new calves, with plenty of animal appreciation and stroking. A productive and enjoyable session, combining a bit of farm organisation with some well-earned animal time.

The last 6 weeks have made a difference to the paths of the wildlife garden at the allotments: dry ground, super-ripe blackberries, and strong growth in the brambles.

We helped with two of these this evening by chopping back as many brambles as we could, and taste-testing a few berries that would otherwise have ended up at the bottom of the compost.

The self-confessed frog-fan/frog geek, Kat, also let Jeannette know that longer term the ponds will be healthier by having short spells like this where the pond dries out, as nasties like ranavirus can't survive without water so it 'cleans' the ponds ready for when the rains return.

We chopped and moved five barrows full of brambles from the path and behind the fence edges, and learned how these allotments also have plenty of community activities on AND we had a peek at where last year we'd cleared and dismantled the very solid chicken coops and plans are now being made for seating spots in the now grassy and clear space!

One of our recent regular tasks has been Penge Congregational Church, where we’ve been helping remove old junk so the church can offer space to the local creative community to work in. Joining us as new GoodGymers were Sunanda and Jasmine - thanks for coming along!

We met Jonny, our task contact, at the church and were shown the way to the crypt. Contrary to what you might expect, it was small and well-lit! It was also nice and cool compared to the heat of upstairs.

The crypt held many boxes of books donated for jumble sales but had never sold, and now very dusty! Our task was to move these up to the old hall ready to be removed from site.

Some excellent self-organising split us into teams of those bringing boxes of books upstairs from the crypt and those carrying them to the hall.

In just 30 minutes we moved over half the boxes in the crypt - fab work!

The space is already looking larger, and shows that many hands make idle work.