It's no secret that the wood-fired pizza from Horsenden Farm is a magnet for GoodGymers - so powerful that it pulls people from different areas to Ealing! Today the promise of the Horsenden Loaf speciality brought three guests from GoodGym Hounslow: Michelle, Kymm and Gus.

But there is no pizza without fire! And there is no fire without firewood.

This Saturday's task was to help the Horsenden baker Anthony stock up on firewood to feed all the hungry GoodGymers after the winter sessions at the farm - and the number of volunteers at the farm has grown rapidly in the last months, reaching 9 people in October. At today's session, we welcomed a new joiner, Diana, who met us at pumpkin carving at Northfield Allotments last week. Welcome to GoodGym Ealing, Diana!

Ijo, Steph, Sevan, Penny, Kash, Diana and the three Hounslow visitors grabbed wheelbarrows and loaded them with logs from a pile located higher up the hill. It was the opposite of our usual tasks at the farm: shovelling woodchip or compost into barrows and pushing them uphill. This time the heavy loads were going down the hill - but don't be fooled - it was hard work!

Not far from the pizza oven, Kymm was assembling a Jenga tower out of firewood pieces that kept coming in barrows in all shapes and sizes, so she had no way to apply any strategy to how best to arrange them. In the end, it turned out she did a nifty job! Next to Kymm, Gus found his happy place at a contraption he would love to get for Christmas: a log splitter. Before having a go at that apparatus, Gus received the safety training and protective goggles from Anthony.

"I'm the most hipster lumberjack!" - Gus said, admiring his new eyewear.

Splitting the logs required time and focus, so after the pile was transported downhill, Gus stayed at his post, accompanied by Michelle who swapped with Kymm on the wood tetris position. The rest of the team was made redundant and looked for other jobs at the farm. They were employed to build a highway between the veg patches out of old cartons and fresh woodchip. Penny, Diana and Ijo laid the cardboard foundations while Steph, Sevan, Kymm and Kash brought the material for the path surface - all of that to stop weeds from growing in spaces between the plots.

Two hours of the farm-style workout was concluded with the obligatory team lunch at Horsenden Loaf with pizza, coffee or craft beer from the local microbrewery. We are already looking forward to the session next month - save the date and sign up now!

Don’t get dust-tracted!Dust another manic cleaning day at the end of the ESK Friday Hub. 3 Musketeers stayed to clean the kitchen and serving area, but also the main foyer. Sweeping success. and Angela just thought the team was dust-tacular!

The clock was ticking : both the kitchen and dining team were ready to rock and roll. We don't chicken out when it is busy. Guests started rolling in to sit down and enjoy a chinese soup(vegetables) with some hot drinks, then came the much appreciated chinese BBQ chicken served with rice and stir fried cabbage...customers really enjoyed and gave 10/10 for the chicken. Then swiss roll with custard was served and an option of home made cinnamon rolls. Busy but steady service. We also had some vegetarian chicken casserole for those who wanted something else.

Ijo and Steph Ducat stayed as partners in crime: beating the crap out of the filth and grim in the kitchen. You don't call the Ghostbusters but the Goodgymers to clean up the mess. Another kitchen bites the dust : Dirt 0 Goodgym 1

Ijo is becoming a regular in the serving/kitchen on Fridays. Steph Ducat went to his usual place....the kitchen : first session at ESK and had an important task today: guard and maintain order at the entry to the Crypt of the church. Not as busy as usual but loads of lovely food prepared and served to the guests. Homemade Courgette soup, followed by freshly made mash with either a chicken or vegetarian casserole. The guests with full stomachs could then roll over 🤣🤣 not to sleep of course. They got Swiss roll cake with custard. Had loads left for the guests to takeaway