It was welcome sunshine that greeted us in Maryland this morning as we made a return visit to see Sue and her planters (of the "inanimate wooden" kind, not of "tea"...).

She had already forewarned us that today's task was painting (something we're always up for, especially when it's bright and sunny outside), and was clearly well prepared as her shopping trolley was overflowing with items that a modern day Michaelangelo would have been proud of.

After a quick round of weeding to tidy up some of the planters that we hadn't tended to during our last couple of visits, the paint trays, brushes, gloves and tins of white primer appeared, and once Graham had carefully done the pouring, Rosa, Hilary, Eugene and Nick positioned themselves along the wooden sides to get started, and as with all good painters, chatted contentedly as we worked. Helpfully Sue had marked with a cross (confusingly...) the blocks that she wanted painting - forfeits would apply to anyone who strayed outside of the lines.

As if by magic, we were soon joined by Kevin and Sharon, making a very welcome return to tasking, and it took Sue all of two seconds to put a paint brush in Kev's hand and tell him to start work...

After a good ninety minutes of careful brushing and much concentration, we soon had the three large planters primed with different sized white blocks (Piet Mondrian would've been proud of our efforts). Sue's intention is to then apply a range of different colours onto the primer which will then give the planters a more unconventional "artistic look"...a return visit surely beckons for us all to complete the masterpiece...

Tonight's task, our first visit to Wild Green E13, a volunteer led community garden in Plaistow, lived up to its name in so many ways. Our welcoming host Fleur was pleased to see us, and once she'd unlocked the container and distributed gloves and gardening tools, she pointed to a long edge of the garden, where some fruit bushes were lurking behind a lot of very green weeds and grass (and snails...), and asked us to get weeding...and so we did.

No prior skills required, and whenever we came up against some vegetation that we couldn't decide was friend or foe, Fleur got our her plant identification app to give us the go/no go signal (one was even identified as an opium poppy...which made us all wonder if there was some extra curricular horticulture going on in the garden...)

With four of us (Hilary, Graham, Bea, Nick), and Fleur on management oversight (and litter picking) duties, we had a great and very sociable evening in the fading light removing the unwanted green stuff, disturbing the habitat of far too many snails, but eventually leaving this area of garden looking much neater, and with easier access to the fruit bushes. Good work all around. We've agreed on a return visit on 16th June for more wild and green fun.

What a difference a bit of daylight makes! After what has felt like a very long, dark winter, it was a joy to head out while it was still light — a sure sign that spring (and lighter evening runs) are finally here. We were off over to Forest Gate Community Garden to meet our host Fiona, one of the volunteers from the garden. A small group of us, including first-timer to Newham Ambra, jogged over from Freaks and Geeks to the garden, where we met the rest of the team — including very first-first timer, Gavin, who’d cycled over.

The garden’s story is really interesting — the site was once a hostel, but abandoned and then left to overgrow in 2006 (think buddleias aplenty). A group of determined locals began the transformation in 2013, securing a lease in 2015 and bringing together over 70 volunteers to clear the space, build raised beds, dig a pond, and get planting. By 2016, the garden was open to the public — and it hasn’t looked back since. It’s a great example of what sustained volunteer effort can achieve.

With that inspiration in mind, it was time to get to work. After gathering tools and bags at the garden, we headed over together to a set of community planters along Upton Lane that the Forest Gate team also look after. Being a little distance from the main site makes them trickier to maintain, and so our help is particularly valuable.

We weeded, cleared rubbish, and gave the beds a much-needed refresh ahead of a community garden trail coming up in early June. These planters sit right out on the street, so the difference is immediate — helping make the area feel greener, brighter, and more cared for for everyone passing by and living nearby.

Huge welcome to Ambra and Gavin — it was great to have you both along and making a difference from day one!

📅 What’s coming up?

👉 Check out all our upcoming sessions and sign up here.

There’s no session next week as we take a short Easter break, but we’ll be back on 14th April with a visit to a community garden in Plaistow. After that, we’ve got a fantastic line-up every Tuesday evening over the next few months, plus some weekend tasks on the 18th/19th April, soon to be listed.

And of course, we’re at London Fields Junior parkrun most Sundays if you fancy getting involved.

Great work everyone — see you soon! 🌱