It's been a tough summer for the weeds at St Mary's Churchyard Garden in South Ealing. First, the unforgiving drought, then the mighty gardener Cliff, and now this - a horde of GoodGymers!

Even the train disruptions during the heatwave couldn't hinder the unstoppable active transport enthusiasts: group runners led by Sevan - Steph Ducat and Kash, a solo runner Richard, cyclists Amy, Scott and Maria, and walkers James and Diana.

Thirsty and depleted weeds growing by the northern wall of the churchyard could not stand a chance against the assault of spades, forks, mattocks and shears carried by the gang in red t-shirts. Chopped, pulled or dug out, the weeds became green waste to be rapidly raked away and loaded into a wheelbarrow. From there, there was only one way - onto the giant compost heap.

The transformation of the area was remarkable: from a green (yes, it somehow managed to stay green, unlike the dried grass) carpet of weeds into a levelled layer of woodchip. Cliff was very pleased by the sheer power of teamwork, brought by GoodGym. When Ealing eventually gets some rain, the chief gardener hopes to seed some grass in the churchyard and bring the garden back to life with some pleasant greenery.

We will be back at St Mary's churchyard first thing in September. With Steph in charge, the team will attack the infamous northeastern corner of the garden to free it from the remaining weeds. Sign up now!

Next week's Tuesday session: Help women in Acton discover free, inclusive health and fitness opportunities.

More GoodGym this week?

Thursday: Help keep the orchard alive! 🌳 Watering fruit trees at Elthorne Triangle in Hanwell 💦.

Saturday: 🥦 Fun, exercise, food growing 🥔 August Community day at Western Road Urban Garden.

Mission control were very clear with Ms L that her, Kash and Sevan's priority for today's mission was to clean her garden table and chairs ahead of a garden party that Ms L was planning. As soon as Kash and Sevan arrived, Ms L started pointing out areas of the garden that needed work. Kash and Sevan tried to keep things on track with the table and chairs, but they weren't front of mind for Ms L.

After being reminded that the GoodGymers were only there for 90 minutes, Ms L exclaimed:

"I told Big Jim that I needed help between 3 and 5"

Kash and Sevan never learned who this mysterious Big Jim was. If it was an actual person or Dave Guest's Mission Control alter ego. Ms L said that she always contacts Big Jim to get more help and to schedule follow up sessions.

Back to the task at hand, with only 1 bucket, 1 brush and 2 cloths, Sevan started scrubbing the table top then a chair with soapy water. Kash started chopping brambles as there was nothing else to do with the garden furniture yet.

After a while, the GoodGymers switched roles. The white plastic furniture had collected a thick layer of grime over one or more years that was taking a lot of effort to scrub off. Bit by bit, it was getting lighter and whiter.

There were other tasks around the garden too.

"There's 2 fox poos on the ground. Can you pick them up please? I can't reach them."
"There's another one there." - Ms L
"Where?" - Kash and Sevan
"By the bush"
"I don't know how you can't see it. I can." - Ms L
"That's a black sock" - Kash

...then ten minutes later...

"There's another poo, by the bush."
"Look! Right there." - Ms L
"That's the sock again" - Sevan

By the end of the task, the table and chairs looked usable by Ms L's guests and were placed on the patio to dry. The path into the back garden was clearer and some of the brambles had been cut back too, leaving Ms L a lot happier about the state of her garden.

As Kash and Sevan left, Ms L told them that she'd be on the phone to Big Jim tomorrow to book some more help 🥸. Sevan picked up 2 rogue socks too and put them in the bin, so that they don't give the local foxes a bad reputation.