It was a beautiful sunny morning today at the Forest School Allotment. Helen, Amy, Rachel and Julie started off by moving the compost from the old raised bed which was in a shady corner into the new beds in the sunnier side. It was heavy work but with a few of us we worked quickly, so there was time to help Alex with some heavy lifting jobs that needed doing. We moved some bags of compost and some heavy plant pots into their new homes. It was great to see the results of some of our earlier efforts, with some plants we’d saved from the old beds and pots coming into flower. Kate and Rob brought their new arrival to say hello, and we all enjoyed spending some time with the animals (goats, rabbits and best of all CHICKENS). A great task today and a big welcome to Amy on her first Goodgym mission.

Freezing temperatures were no match for Goodgymers this morning, as Emily, Jacky, Tom, Mark, Rachel and Julie braved the cold to help Alex with a few jobs at the Forest School Allotment.

The Forest School has some new members, Salt and Pepper the therapy goats. Although they are tiny (and very cute) they need plenty of space in their pen, so there needs to be a few changes to the layout.

Our first task was to move a fence, which needed all our strength pulling the posts out of the frozen ground. Then after getting some big pots out of the way we started moving some of the raised beds.

Once all our tasks were done we couldn't resist saying hello to all the chickens, rabbits and goats before we left.

A great task today and we cant wait to come back to help Alex with some more projects soon as they get ready for spring.

The Forest School allotment at St John's needed our help, and we were ready for action! Led by volunteer Alex, we got to work removing pesky bindweed that was creeping up the fences and into the allotment.

With tools and gloves on, Merton tourist Rachael, Emma, and Jana used trowels and forks to dig out the roots, while Luke and Tom took on the perimeter with spades. Rachel untangled the bindweed from the fence with impressive precision.

At halftime, we split into two groups, head torches on, to tackle weeds inside and outside the allotment. Before long, the job was done! To top it off, we got introduced to the resident chickens and rabbits. Mission accomplished – can’t wait to return!