It was a warm one this evening, so well done to Adam, Graham and Nick for heading out into the late afternoon sunshine for a return visit to the Forest Gate Community Garden. When we arrived, Fiona our host asked us if we’d mind doing a particularly “nasty” task – having just run in the tropical heat from either Stratford or Leyton we were up for anything, although in hindsight…

She asked us if we’d mind emptying a large plastic water butt that had clearly been storing water since the dark ages – the moment the plastic lid was lifted, a swarm of flies escaped closely followed by a most unpleasant smell. Not to be deterred, we lifted the butt around the corner to the nearest drain and turned on the tap to start emptying it – it had a coffee coloured tinge to it, and downwind was still incredibly unpleasant – we followed it with a couple of watering cans as chasers down the drains...

This evening’s main event though was to get out and water the various planters that Fiona and the team tend to around Forest Gate – so armed with wheelbarrow, trolley and enough watering cans to open a decent corner shop with, we worked our way around the streets – with a convenient refill stop at the fountain to replenish supplies, and then on to the furthermost planters to give them a drink before heading back to pack everything away.

And so ended another successful evening at the gardens. Forest Gate Community Garden are hosting a garden trail on 6/7 June, and all are welcome to come along - further details can be found on their website (www.fgcommunitygarden.org).