8-Up

Show Up 👨👩‍🦰👨

Three GoodGymers from an earlier community mission at Grove Farm converged on Ms A's house as the sun started to beat down and the mercury rose. Madhan had been here before and knew what to expect, explaining to Kash and Sevan that the garden was overgrown with much to do.

Listen Up 👂

Ms A's son greeted them and gave a simple instruction. To make the garden better so that Ms A could enjoy sitting in it with her friend.

Looking around, there really was a lot to do. There was ivy creeping all over the ground and brambles encroaching from the flower beds, so the team set about pushing them back, focusing on the big wins.

Get Tooled Up 🧰

Ms A's son had 3 pairs of shears, a saw and a pair of secateurs ready for us. Some of the tools were reasonably new and others had seen better days. Sevan found that one pair of shears was boobytrapped as the stoppers didn't align, meaning that unsuspecting gardeners thumbs would smack into each other as they chopped. Ouch!

Tear It Up 💪

Madhan and Sevan decided to go for the ivy covering the ground, looking to make it safer for Ms A to walk in her garden. Madhan chopped with the shears while Sevan went for raw power and tried to rip the vines and roots out of the ground. Soon they had a nice clear patch and a pile of vines.

Chop It Up ✂️

In the meantime, Kash was chopping away at the brambles and ivy at the sides of the garden. She'd created a giant pile of very spiky cuttings which the team realised would be challenging to bag.

Sweep It Up 🧹

The easiest win of the day was sweeping the dead leaves on the path. This linked up with the ivy removal to create a stretch of garden that was clear of trip hazards.

Bag It Up 🗑️

The fun part was getting the giant spiky branches into bags. The GoodGymers summer gardening gloves weren't up to the task, so Kash double gloved while Madhan and Sevan tried to be really really careful.

They filled 6 big bags with garden waste and felt that they'd made a big improvement for Ms A.

Split Up 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️____🚶‍

Madhan, Kash and Sevan split at the top of the road to go to their next good deeds. Madhan went right, to Chiswick, while Kash and Sevan turned left to catch a train to a Lewisham adventure.