Two Haringey goodgymers went off to the Mulberry Tree again to do some gardening. Another fun session with a good variety of tasks which kept everyone busy. Asan helped with planting asparagus plants, and with planting sweet pepper seedlings in to pots, amongst other tasks, and Mark was kept busy weeding and watering. Karen, Mark's sister, put in a guest appearance, even though she only arrived last night from Cape Town, and impressed all with her gardening skills and energy. Another great lunch prepared by Jo, which included 3 cornered leek pesto with pasta, and herbal tea, capped of a great time together in the garden.

A splendid morning at the Mulberry Tree Community Garden - the rain held off, the early chill in the air disappeared, plenty of interesting tasks and rounded off with a great lunch with nettle soup starring. Asan showed his range of gardening skills transplanting poppy seedlings that had sprouted in several raised beds to a different area in the garden, and also worked with Mark to repair a cold-frame raised bed. Mark planted strawberry runners in to a vertical bed built from a pallet rescued in the area. Come join us on a Friday: 10am-1pm including tea/coffee on arrival and lunch under the mulberry tree before departure.

Friday morning and it's a public holiday - what a great opportunity for some gardening - which is exactly what Asan and Mark did. After looking at the list of tasks for the session prepared by Jo, leader of the Mulberry Tree Community Garden (MTCG), Asan impressed all by indicating he wanted "something hard to do". A further task was duly added - continuing the work begun by our GGH team in March - digging up and shoveling a rich mix of compost-soil in to large bags. Mark meanwhile went orienteering around Haringey to find an open DIY store to buy a staple gun (Wickes) - which was used to secure plastic backing to a pallet - now a vertical bed for growing strawberries. Along with several other "regulars", all but one of the 10 tasks were completed, enabling three-cornered leek pesto and pasta for lunch, prepared by Jo, and a bag of "greens" for each person to take home.

This was our 1st task at the Mulberry Tree Community Garden and the welcome was anything but “cold or frosty” (with acknowledgement to “here we go round the mulberry bush …”)

Task Owner Jo was ready for us when we arrived - two tasks awaited with plenty of physical effort required!

One group took on the mammoth task of clearing a section of the garden that had become a dumping ground for wood (branches, sticks, etc) and overgrown with ivy, nettles, creepers, etc. Once cleared it uncovered a rich vein of compost and soil which was bagged and made ready for use elsewhere in the garden.

Another group worked on rebuilding a raised bed with a “hugelkultur” approach. The soil that half-filled the bed was removed and stacked on one side and the raised bed rebuilt with a base layer of cardboard and logs, with further layers of sticks&twigs&vines from the first task, wood-chip, manure, grass cuttings, soil, etc. Effectively building a compost pile in situ, with the logs etc also helping to retain water and release it when needed.

Asan was kept busy loading and shuttling wood-chip from a mound to the raised bed, and a number of goodgymers found time to contribute to both tasks.

In just under an hour both tasks had been completed and the crew gathered under the mulberry tree to enjoy a cup of herbal tea and biscuits - very generously provided by Jo. Welcome first-timers Gladys and Sharon Sharon, and a warm thanks to the rest of the crew The Neil, Dave, Paul, James, Ellie and her sister Grace (who joined as a visitor)

For some this was only the start to the evening, with several, including Sarah and Latoya who had worked late, joining Paul at pizza and craft beer venue True Craft to celebrate his birthday.

Mark Jennings