The last session of a hot Saturday took Sevan and Kash to Isleworth, where, according to Kash, who had visited Mr C's property the week before, they would find shade. But not for long! They were about to cut some trees!

"Welcome to the jungle" - Mrs J, Mr C's wife.

The garden didn’t look much like a jungle to Sevan and Kash at eye level, but, looking up, they could see that the tree crowns had grown out of control.

Sevan first tackled a wisteria plant that had climbed up a magnolia tree, and now rose even above it. He cut two wisteria branches, twisted around each other, at head height. The hope was that anything above, hanging on the magnolia, would eventually die out, freeing the tree.

Sevan then took a long-reach pruner to decimate the branches of a bay leaf, which had started as a herb in a pot but ended up as a full-grown tree, several metres high.

Meanwhile, Kash reunited with Mrs J to form a sniper and spotter squad, which had been very effective the previous week in cutting bits of a very spiky wild plum tree. With Mrs J holding the ladder and collecting the cuttings, Kash managed to take down several big branches with a saw, leaving only the thickest one that grew upwards from the tree trunk.

Cutting down most of the plum tree’s crown not only allowed more light into Mr C’s and Mrs J’s house, but was also beneficial for neighbourly relations.

"Wow, the tree is gone! It looks great. Thanks so much. J, we'll buy you a plum tree in a pot for getting rid of this horror!" - Neighbour.

A return visit to Mrs M for Kash and Sevan brought a similar request. Over the summer, one of the trees that the GoodGymers trimmed 4 months ago had shot up and needed to be brought back to a manageable height.

"This should be a quick one" - Kash

After 40 minutes of trimming, the pair were almost finished and were neatening up shape of the tree. As Mrs M walked past, she casually doubled the GoodGymers' work.

"Can you do the same to that one" - Mrs M

Mrs M was pointing to the neighbouring thuja tree, a type of cypress. This would no longer be a quick one...

The thuja was a different beast. Much more wild. Sevan found the right technique as he started shaving the sides from bottom to top. Kash tackled the top of the tree, which was much trickier than the first as there were fewer branches that formed the point and they were each much thicker. A long saw was found in the shed and together with a long stretch, Kash managed to saw the tree down to size and everything was packed away to the garden waste bin.

It's been over 50 consecutive days - and counting - without any rain in some parts of London, and Western Road Urban Garden in Southall required a constant effort from Janpal and volunteers to help the site keep up with the ongoing heat. The exotic vegetables inside the polytunnel were doing well, and the veg plot we had cleared, woodchipped and partially planted only a month ago started already producing crops such as aubergines and tomatoes! None of that came without a price. Manual watering of veg beds took a lot of time and energy and wouldn't be sustainable in the long term. That's something the architect of Western Road community garden Ash wanted to address for a while.

In February this year, we had taken first steps towards executing Ash's vision of installing two 1000-litre rainwater containers. The mud wasn't going to serve as a reliable base for a tonne of water in a single container, so after digging out the soil, we'd been looking forward to pouring the concrete into the square spaces for a few months. Today was the day to make Ash's vision reality!

Seven GoodGymers came to support Western Road on a Saturday morning in August:

• Walkers: Angela
• Runners: Sevan and Kash
• Cyclists: Scott, Amy and Steph
• Cyclists/parkrunners: Richard

The Plant Squad

Angela, Amy and Janpal had plenty of tasks to do: from weeding the bed alongside the polytunnel, to harvesting and watering the new veg plot. In the polytunnel, they discovered a watermelon that looked pretty good on the outside, but a closer look revealed a small hole and the fact that the fruit was half eaten inside! Judging by the size of the hole, it looked like a rat, rather than Mr Fox, was the prime suspect this time. To save the other juicy crops, Janpal ordered the harvesting of the green tomatoes before the rat laid its eyes on them. Amy found some very long chili peppers, and everyone had a chance to see ripe snake gourds.

Janpal's top tip for cooking a snake gourd:

"Make sure to take the skin off and discard the seeds. We haven't done it last time, and that was the most bitter thing I've ever had!"

The Concrete Cowboys

The group keen to learn concreting skills joined Ash and started with combining the mixture for a base for the water container:

• 4 parts shingle
• 2 parts coarse sand
• 1 part cement
• plasticiser.

While Steph, Richard and Sevan mixed the concrete in a tray to wheelbarrow it to the destination hole surrounded by a wooden frame, Scott, Kash and Ash cleared the weeds inside and around the frame, assisted with pouring the mix, then levelled and tamped the concrete.

The team used up all the resources allocated for one of the bases, then threw in some rubble to bulk up the base, but there wasn't enough material to finish off that stage of the project. Despite great teamwork and solid progress, we'll need to come back to finish off the job when more materials are available. Join us next Wednesday!

On a very hot late Friday afternoon, Mr G was coming back from a medical appointment that had overrun badly when he received a phone call.

"Hi G, this is Kash. I'm in front of your house to do your shopping."
"Hi Kash. I know. This is bad. I'm sorry. My appointment was postponed, and I was stuck in the waiting room."
"Where are you?"
"I'm just walking to the XYZ station. I'm really sorry."
"Listen, don't worry, I'll wait for you."

But Mr G had a better idea. Kash knew Mr G's shopping list by heart, possibly better than Mr G himself, so they'd made a deal. Kash went straight to Sainsbury's, and recalled and purchased 11 items from the latest Mr G's shopping list. They'd agreed to meet at the ZYX station, where they arrived pretty much at the same time. Kash then carried the groceries to Mr G's and collected the change.

Mr G, despite being disappointed with the bad luck with his appointments this week, cheered up.

"Of all this week, one good thing happened to me - that you put yourself up! That you give a darn about me. I know you all [GoodGymers] do. And remember, I always greatly appreciate that."

That's the pep talk for you all, GoodGymers, for the end of the week! 🫡

Last Saturday, before the 10th anniversary celebration of GoodGym Ealing, our gang joined the Hanwell and Norwood Green Orchard Trail (HANGOT) to cut back orchard hedges and water young trees at the Elthorne Triangle Orchard.

But what about the older trees? How were they going to survive the extreme drought that has been affecting London since the end of June, especially with Hilary and Clive from HANGOT away for a week in August?

The GoodGymmers offered to take care of the mature trees in the Elthorne Triangle orchard, and, thanks to Ranger Jon, they were given access to 10 five-litre water containers. According to Hilary, that was just the right amount of water to keep the trees going that week.

What better excuse to perform the farmer’s walk routine than carrying containers to water fruit trees in a public orchard! And that’s exactly what the GoodGymmers did, hauling and tipping the containers around the orchard. It was the hottest day of the week, with temperatures reaching 37°C, but with five pairs of hands on the job, the task was short and easy, taking less than 20 minutes. In fact, a significant percentage of that time was spent simply opening the storage space where the containers lived!

The GoodGymmers decided to add a bonus task: weighted step-ups on the steps leading from the canal to Elthorne Park. Since the ranger had provided a bucket, funnel and rope, they also decided to fill the empty water containers with water from the canal, ready for the next time the trees needed watering.

The five GoodGymmers also used the session as an excuse for some extra light exercise on that very hot day. Scott cycled, Richard, Sevan and Steph Ducat ran, and Kash walked. It was a great way to get out of the house or work and into the outdoors, making the most of the golden hour before sunset.

It was a LoT to give back! this week as we teamed up with Library of Things to spread the word about borrowing rather than buying. 🌱

We were joined by Charlotte, Library of Things’ Lead Marketeer, who also used to work at the Corporate Centre — so it was brilliant to have you back with us! We were also very happy to welcome Kash, a GoodGym familiar face. 👋

Jalal arrived on his bike and led us over to Library of Things in the Livat to start the evening. We got a proper look at how it all works, including their real-life lockers, before heading out into the local community with a stack of flyers - 1000 to be exact!

We found a nearby residential area and set off on a flyer-filled trail, working our way along three big roads as a team. And just when we thought the evening couldn't get more exciting, we had a very rare summer solar eclipse to enjoy! 🌞 With our trusty protective glasses at the ready, we took a little time to admire the spectacle and catch up.

Then it was back into town, where Jalal was waiting for us, happily handing out flyers to anyone who looked like they might be interested. 📣 After spreading the Library of Things love far and wide, we made our way back to Shepherd’s Bush station.

A big thank you to everyone for making it such a fun one — and to everyone who helped get the word out. Borrow more, buy less, and give things a second life! 💚