Apologies for the delay in getting this out, but I’ve been a busy old bee, They do say that things are ‘sweater’ late than never, so here’s the run report from me...

The last bit of gardening to help out Chiswick House took place on Wednesday eve, With potatoes to sow and weeds to pick and bags of compost to heave.

That’s enough poetry for now. Wednesday evening was slightly cooler (cooler meaning not 35 degrees, but a chillier 32) & we had had the first drops of rain in possibly 72 years, but that didn’t keep a huge group of socially distanced superheroes from coming back. Chiswick House & Gardens had gone from mess to success with GoodGym help over the past couple of weeks, with a ‘plot’ of weeding, watering, pruning and digging going on in the Kitchen Garden.

It was the last community mission here before the big open day at the weekend, so there were a few final jobs to be done. A few of us had a kale of a time trimming the leafy green veg, then there were the crispy marigolds that needed to be pulled out, a compost heap that needed a top up and a lucky trio who were clover-joyed to be in the strawberry patch; learning the difference between a weed and a dead strawberry. The rest of the group were on potato harvesting at various plots around the garden. Spuddenly the grounds were filled with laughter as the goods being pulled from the ground turned interesting phallic. A competition ensured as to who could reap the most, shall we say, interesting shaped potato.

Time flew by, and before we knew it, there were barrows full of penises, sorry, I mean potatoes, and buckets of goods for the compost heap. Looking around, the garden looked great. What a difference a few weeks and a few GoodGym helping hands could make.

Good luck for the open days, Chiswick House, and we hope to be back again!