Apart from the trainer we had an all female team last night and their handling of power tools and gardening skills were quite simply sublime! We were kicking off a 3-week project with Wood Street South Gardening Club to spruce up some gardens in a local council estate near Walthamstow Village.

There to meet us were the green-fingered gardeners Stavros and Julie. As part of Wood Street South Gardening Club, Stavros and Julie have worked hard to build a real sense of gardening community in their local area. The plants and trees they have nurtured make a real difference to this corner of Walthamstow.

After a winning recent Silver Medal at the London In Bloom Awards, they have raised the bar even higher. Our job was to help cut back some of the plants, clear away some apples from the trees and most importantly help to build some planters. Fortunately, we have some experience of planter building from a previous project

As if by magic we were joined by, Clara, a veteran of the previous planter campaign whom we hadn't seen for ages. So good to have you back Ms Breakwell and not just because you brought a couple of cakes with you!

After meeting Stavros and Julie and working out the various jobs we needed to do, we set to it. Ama was front and centre on power drilling duties (don't mess!) Pippa and Clara were supporting this effort with some heavy lifting. Meanwhile, the rest of the group got busy with weeding, cutting, apple picking-up, and generally making everything look beautiful.

With the light fading and the planter still under construction, the gardening team of Ruby, Ruth and Kelsey dived off for some cheeky drills leaving the construction team to finish off their planters. It seems I underestimated their work rate as when we returned to meet them they had finished and gone to meet us!

Fortunately, WhatsApp came to the rescue, and we reconvened at Mirth with Clara's cake and a few cheeky halves.

Join us next week for Planters II, The Return Of The Planters

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