August is the start of harvesting season at Feeding Ealing. Gathering organic produce is a daily activity as food that's not ripe one day can be perfectly ripe the next and spoiled 2 days after that. Today, task owner Joseph gave the group a tour of the flourishing raised beds outside and polytunnel inside (which was toasty warm), then he set everyone a sight test.

Some okra had been harvested on Friday and today, the GoodGymers were again looking for any that were ripe and ready to pick. The okra was great at hiding itself, so good eyes were needed to spot the green fingers between the equally green leaves and identically green stems. Everything on the plant was surprisingly prickly too, leaving everyone a bit itchy after filling their baskets. Tomatoes and karela, which Delphine thought looked reptilian, were also picked to be donated.

With all of the ripe produce gathered, the next most important task was watering. The recent hot weather meant that twice daily watering was needed, especially in the polytunnel where temperatures can hit 50C. With only 3 hoses, Gus, Delphine and Harvey grabbed their spray guns and soaked all of the plants from top to bottom. Some of the team regressed back to their childhoods and skooshed each other as well as the plants with their Super S-okras, claiming that they were keeping everyone cool, which they kind of were.

There are plenty more fruit and vegetables that are still growing on Feeding Ealing's trees, bushes and plants. Honeydew melons, peppers, tomatoes and ginger to name a few. As they become ready to harvest too, we'll be back with another session at Feeding Ealing to help them collect their crop to donate to local good causes. Keep and eye out for new sessions as they're listed.

Another brilliant day volunteering at the farm! We mixed up the perfect growing blend for the tomatoes before planting them out, then spent the rest of the session watering what felt like every corner of the garden—everything was definitely feeling the heat and in need of a good drink.

The highlight had to be meeting the farm's newest arrivals: the adorable calves, who only arrived this week, and, of course, catching up with the ever-curious goats for some well-earned cuddles.

A productive day of muddy hands, happy plants, thirsty gardens, and very cute farm animals! 🌞🌱🐄

In a rare alignment of planets, this month Horsenden Farm did not have any of his standard crew of 'leaders'.

No problem at all and all hail to COMMUNIST GOODGYM! WE ARE ALL LEADERS!

Oopss. I got a bit carried away. 😅

No problem at all. Amy, Freya and Gus met with Magda from the Friends of Horsenden Hill and we got to it (There may have been a quick coffee and pastry stop on the way)

The task today was to help clear up the pond. One of the volunteer hopes to make it less steep for wildlife to get into it but before that the current situation needs assessing and as it is it's just overgrown.

So we got started with moving a pile of logs until.... Delphine made an appearance!!!

We had perhaps been a little too keen on getting started that we did not wait for anyone else that was maybe perhaps on their way. But she found us and got to it straight away too.

Logs piled up. It was time to get to the fun bit! Barbed wire. Amy showcased her wire cutting skills while Freya and Delphine started bashing the overgrowth while Gus helped dismantling the fencing. After a little bit of tea discussion we actually got offered a lovely cuppa from Magda. That was needed to help finish the job.

While there is more to be done, a large part of the fencing is now gone and a good chunk of the pond cleared up. A pizza well earned!

Until next time!