The first Tuesday of June marked an abrupt and definite end to the May heatwave, with hailstorms and thunderstorms raging over Ealing in the afternoon. Six GoodGymers who weren't scared off by the weather, caught in the worst of the rain, or stopped by the tube strikes were lucky enough to miss the downpour and even catch some shy rays of sunshine. Jumping over puddles, Freya, Steph, Sevan and Kash ran through Ealing Common to Popesfield Allotments to meet cyclist James and walker Anna.

The goal of the task, commissioned by the horticultural charity Cultivate London, was to clear a vegetable patch to serve as a communal starter plot for people on the allotment waiting list. The idea was to give them a chance to learn, practise, and enjoy growing their own fruit and veg while they wait for a plot of their own. As you may know, waiting for an allotment space in London can take years, so the GoodGym team was ready to take on the weeds that had spread across the patch and give those keen future gardeners the best possible start in food growing.

If you think the session was a typical power-weeding-raze-everything-to-the-ground-total-destruction affair, then think again! The veg patch was already planted with a variety of legitimate plants, so uncovering all the plot's secrets hidden beneath the overgrowth proved to be quite an educational experience. Although the GoodGymers were physically on their own at the allotment, the task owner from Cultivate was on the other side of Kash's phone, providing live support. The team trusted them more than Google Lens and happily sent over pictures of questionable plants for identification.

Among the plants the group recognised on their own, or with task owner's help, were poppies, tarragon, sage, artichokes, broccoli and other brassica plants, African kale, and curry plant (not to be confused with the curry tree, which actually produces curry leaves), to name just a few. The remaining greenery, classified as weeds, filled nearly two half-tonne bags, later hauled to the green waste disposal area. In less than an hour, the two-sided plot was unrecognisable and looked like a veg patch once again – if you can identify your veggies, of course!

Next Tuesday, we are off to Elthorne Park to keep burdock under control before it spreads too far, prevents other plants from thriving, and produces the burrs that get stuck in your dog's fur! Let's tackle this spiky troublemaker before it starts producing its prickly hitchhikers. Sign up now!

Four Goodgymers present for the lunch service. It started very quite in the morning and throughout the day the temperature was going up but the flow of people was still very smooth which helps the table service. James was giving out parcels ...90 of them. Delphine joined the kitchen crew as was on pot was duties. Rainu was serving guests and was in her element. Steph Ducat was still in kitchen plating either the chicken casserole or a veggie option with a hand made mash and sone green beans. The temperature reached 30 degres in thr kitchen despite having a fan put i it. The flow was very smooth and the guests enjoyed the food. We started getting Michelin ratings and we got several 20/10 for the food. Let's put a Michelin star outside of the ESK entrance. the crew plated just over 100 main courses...yet we counted and to be exact it was 105 plates. Dessert was either you love it or you hate it : you make your own mind on this one. The desert was a Tiramisu!!This was a last minute option as originally it was going to be apple pie with custard. We know the guests love their custard so maybe next time it will be apple pie and custard.

Both James and Steph Ducat were early at the crypt of the church to help out at ESK. Both regulars and before walking in they already knew were they would be working. James in the prep area of grocery bags and Steph Ducat in the kitchen. It was very calm : was a storm coming? The kitchen was in full swing but no chaos. 90 grocery bags were prepared and ready for later. The doors opened at 11am for the customers and it was very quite. Tea, coffee were served and bingo was also starting. In the kitchen, the crew were on time and had some spare time on their hands.

After burning through an impressive pile of woodchip in a single session in March at Lammas Enclosure Community Orchard, the bar was raised for GoodGymers: the woodchip delivery that followed almost doubled the size of the heap! We’d like to say that the number of GoodGymers at the Tuesday sessions also doubled. Well, we are not there yet, but last night we came with a strong team of eight to destroy the new pile, and - more importantly - refresh the path in the enclosure and the Forest School seating area by spreading fresh woodchip.

A range of runners, cyclists and walkers made their way to Walpole Park to help pick up the tools for the task. Sevan, who led the task, Conor and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway, Jo and James cycled, and Marie, Chris and Anna walked to the task. Marie made a big comeback after a break from GoodGym, combining the woodchipping session with plenty of walking for her step challenge - we’re sure she’ll smash it!

While pushing wheelbarrows offered a perfect way to get more steps in the day, raking and loading woodchip into barrows targeted different muscle groups.

”The shovelling is a proper upper body workout!”

With a dedicated team of GoodGymers hungry for an impactful activity, only the number of wheelbarrows available stood in the way of finishing off the woodchip pile. In less than an hour, a thick layer of woodchip was covering the path from the orchard gate to the circle of logs in the Forest School, which was also neatly surrounded by woodchip. Great work, everyone!

Next week, we’re heading 2km East of Ealing Broadway to tackle the litter haunting an alleyway between West Acton and Park Royal. Sign up now!

Clean Up River Brent (CURB), led by Ben Morris, has been very successful in recent years in removing Himalayan balsam from the banks of River Brent. What is Himalayan balsam, and why would anyone want to get rid of it, you may ask. The plant, native to the Himalayas, was brought to the UK in the 19th century for its ornamental qualities. Over the years, it became dominant on many riverbanks across the country. If left unchecked, the invasive balsam can exclude other plants and decrease biodiversity, as it’s not compatible with species living around it. This tallest annual weed (reaching even 3 metres in height!) dies each year and leaves no roots in the soil, which does not help hold the soil together and stop silt from washing into rivers. Silt, in turn, decreases water quality by blocking sunlight from reaching the water and helping spread pollution.

CURB’s plan for 2026 was to reduce balsam in Ealing to zero, and GoodGym Ealing were excited to find a Saturday to help Ben and the team with that ambitious mission. One walker, two runners and four cyclists from GoodGym met the regular Balsam Bashers at Brent Viaduct to walk up- and downstream the river and scour for baby balsam to curb it (pun intended) before it grows and flowers.

James, Richard and Kash went with basher Rachel to visit last year’s balsam hotspots, including a vast area GoodGymers helped clear in 2025. Rachel and Kash, who had done bashing in the nearby locations the previous year, were astonished by how much the place had changed. It was so hard to find any balsam - that might have felt unsatisfying to the bashers, but at the same time, it was proof that the strategy of fighting the invasive plant was working very well. Meanwhile, Sevan and Jo went downstream and found equally low numbers of balsam. With such slim pickings, part of the team - Ash and Amy - were redirected to litter picking, as rubbish in the river seemed way more abundant than the Himalayan invader.

The whole party came together, and regrouped after 90 minutes, as it was nearly impossible to spot any more balsam - the last year’s teams did so well! Resourceful Ben, having spotted “accessible rubbish”, proposed to GoodGymers to spend the last 30 minutes of the session on a litter blitz in the shallow part of the River Brent. The GoodGymers agreed, and in a very short time, retrieved a bag of rubbish each, and hauled some soaked, flytipped duvets - what an impressive and disgusting find!

As the area has mostly recovered from balsam invasion, CURB is now planning to use its budget to buy native plants to plant in selected areas once the balsam has been eliminated. Watch this space for the future sessions with them.

Cliff, the chief gardener at St Mary’s in South Ealing, told us that the cemetery behind the church was meant to be a pollinator-friendly wildflower space, and not an ostensively manicured garden. Yet, after the spring was in full bloom, the back of the churchyard started getting out of control: nettles, green alkanet and other weeds took over the graves, and even Cliff’s superhuman gardening capability wasn’t enough to keep on top of that expansion. That’s where the GoodGymers stepped in.

Sevan led a group of ten nettleslayers, hungry for an evening pull session in a local jungle. Among them were two new faces in GoodGym Ealing: Giovanni, who cycled to his very first task, and Diana, who, despite being active for a few months as an Achilles guide runner, hadn’t completed an Ealing session until today. She also brought a four-legged support, the pooch Padron (pardon me if I misspelt the name), who made all the hearts instantly melt. Welcome Giovanni and Diana - we hope you’ve enjoyed our collective weeding frenzy!

Steph Ducat, Giovanni, Andy and Cliff attacked the left-hand side of the overgrown churchyard back wall, while Anna, Kash, and Harvey started from the right. Sevan, Diana, A.B., and James worked in the middle and eventually met the other two teams, having pulled or cut all the weeds on their way. In an hour, the stretch of graves along the entire brick wall at the back was weed-free!

Every GoodGym session is an opportunity to learn something new. Harvey told us about soldiers who used to whip their arms with stinging nettles to stay awake during their night watches. Since I wore a short-sleeved top while pulling nettles today anyway, I decided to test that method. I am pleased to report that the nettle stings still work, and I haven’t fallen asleep writing this report on Tuesday night.

As the days are now so long that it is still bright outside when we complete an evening task, there’s no excuse not to take advantage of it and come to the Tuesday night session. The weather has been a sheer delight, too! The next opportunity for an evening experience with GoodGym is next week - don’t miss it and sign up now!