It was a beautiful Saturday morning for the second GoodGym visit to Denny Gardens. A local resident has taken ownership of one of the plots and has planted strawberries and a pear tree. Meg hopes that this will be the inspiration that the neighbourhood needs to start clearing, digging and planting the rest of the site. Mimi (Emmanuelle) and I dug an edging strip on the adjacent plot while Meg tackled the brambles. The recent dry spell has left the ground really hard and the ever present bramble roots make for tough digging. Pulling back the plastic, we uncovered a couple of slow worms. After a quick photo, we covered them over to resume their slumber. We were joined for a while by local city councillor, Tiago Corais and his canvassing supporter, Connor. Slow (worm) progress, but a satisfying session nonetheless 🪱

I had hoped to finish digging out the bed that forms the border to the full length of Mrs S's garden. However it took longer than I had hoped and the top of the border still needs digging out. She was very happy though with what has been achieved so far and with how the garden is looking now.

This evening we returned to the Meadow Lane playground project. Headed up by the amazing Usha, the project aims to transform the current playground into a more vibrate open and green play space for the community, encouraging children to make dens, explore nature and run free!

We have visited the playground a couple of times before and it is quickly becoming a favorite because we get to revisit our childhoods and BUILD DENS!!!!!

Today's structure was nothing short of amazing - surely classes as a one bed in a central location with good transport links to the city centre.......

A group of us also tackled the pesky metal fencing which is getting trickier to remove as we get to the parts where the trees have claimed the fence as their own. With bolt cutters,saws and determination we managed to clear another huge section.

Last but not least, grass was cleared and soil turned over for an incoming wild flower patch. Everything is beginning to take shape wonderfully!!

Welcome Goodgym Miguel, Nathanail and Genevieve. Thank you for coming and I'm really sorry about the map confusion!!

I finally got to tackle Mrs P's grass which has become very long at the front and back. It was not possible to do the mowing during the long period of wet weather. Mrs P was delighted to finally get it cut. There was time for a quick tidy around in the front garden and of course for a cup of tea and a chat with Mrs P. She is a lovely lady and it was a pleasure to help her with the garden.

If you go down to the woods today be careful of what you may find; from sofa cushions and mugs to old record players and once loved plastic Christmas trees, our trusty litter pickers won’t leave much behind (Except perhaps Fred – who for a short time we did think had been traded in for our litter-y haul!)!

Between the picking there was chatter aplenty, floral celebrations for Joe’s 50th good deed (in record time too!), a team attempt for a baby squirrel rescue and much enjoyment of the sunshine.

As the task ended we collected & admired our haul, and noted where to come back for another go (or three) – keeping our green spaces enjoyable and litter free as we can.

And as the sun was starting to set a mob of red T’s could be seen disappearing off into the distance, after deeding well, time to get fit and check on the goodness seeded around the city!

Mrs S was very welcoming. She told me that a friend had already mowed her lawn at the weekend and so she didn't need me to do that but asked if I could dig out and weed her narrow beds bordering the lawn instead. This will make things easier for her to manage in the future. I was happy to do this but only able to complete half of the task in the time available. She will see the referrer tomorrow and ask them to request a follow up visit from GoodGym. Mrs S was a lovely lady and we had a chat and cup of coffee once I had completed as much of the work as I was able.