Whooooo it’s hot out there!

At high noon Meg, Ben and Steve gathered to spend some of their Sunday afternoon helping Mr M and his family clear and tidy an overgrown garden.

As we arrived at the home not too far from the Arsenal stadium where GoodGym Islington meet every Monday for our group runs (you should totally sign up here), we were greeted and shown to a lovely garden space.

Japanese knotweed (booooo) had not just overrun the far end of the garden, but was bringing down some lovely trees and obscuring a large area of the garden. The family had been making good use of some of the beds for growing herbs and veg, and as we got started we would occasionally be met with a burst of fragrance from some mint or spring onions that had managed to spread into the messy area.

Ben got to work sawing larger branches that had been pulled down by the knotweed (boooo again) and Meg got stuck into clearing weeds and undergrowth while Steve cleared a space for a wood pile and assumed the role of Chief Photographer. Our chat covered making space in our own homes for growing food and veg, building garden furniture, local neighbourhood scandals we had heard growing up and what we had been up to so far on the weekend.

Our mission was set to last around 90 minutes and as if by some kind of halftime magic, the kids of the family appeared and treated us to a tray of fizzy drinks and water - much appreciated on a hot day!

Thirst quenched, we kept going, turning our attention to taking some of the thicker weeds and unwanted growth from the flower and veg beds. Likely this garden will take another mission to really get the weeds out and the soil turned ready for planting, but we could step back from our work and see a great difference made. We carried the nine (nine!) bags of knotweed, rubbish and garden waste out to the front of the house, saying our goodbyes and receiving some lovely thank-yous from the family.

After that, it was a quick jog to our respective homes for shade and icy drinks to cool off.