“We’ll give it a go, and we’ll get a lot done, but we won’t clear all of it” was my opinion. The task was to dig out a deep, wide load of soil from a planter - which got firmer and firmer, the deeper we got - and shovel it into large bags and wheelbarrows

Others were more optimistic, and I should have dug deep into my memory to remember the many times we’d achieved such an objective in the past. And it was the whole team who dug deep into our physical resources to complete the task – including demolishing and disposing of the planter - with fully ten minutes to spare!

Star of the task was Tom, who’s speedy shovelling of huge amounts of soil had to be seen to be believed. But everyone was on top digging form – and a similar exercise was going on the other side of Rocky Park

The good news is that friends-of-GoodGym Margaret and Ash have somehow raised enough money to build the last of their new community garden beds, with improved accessibility. So we’ll be back in December to help them with that!

Meanwhile, join us on Sunday at 10:30 to help our old friends Catherine and Liam, at the allotments just off Roman Road: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/improving-allotments-near-roman-road-2c26b74e-d164-411a-946b-406aeb52aebd

And next Monday night we’re back at the Parkview Estate: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/the-big-monday-night-task-painting-and-gardening-on-the-parkview-estate-be901ab4-f1c1-495c-9758-1ba4ddd819cd

8 goodgymers braved the slightly wet weather to paint the town (i.e. Ocean Youth Connexions) white (pun credit:Ilana. Task owner Kamal provided us with overalls to prevent us getting covered in paint. A few drops snuck in somehow but we all emerged relatively unscathed.

Rohan, Kareem, Dnyaneshwari and Tom were team Green Container. I hear there may have been some tuneful humming to make the most of the acoustics.The rest of us headed to the stairwell to paint everything but the stairs. Partway through Oliver upgraded his roller by attaching it to a big stick, allowing him to reach the taller parts of the wall.

Team GC needed to change paint partway through as the stuff they started with wouldn't stick to the walls - a paint rebellion! But Kamal soon sorted them with a more co-operative emulsion.

Team Stairwell made their way slowly down the stairs, leaving behind fresh white walls in their wake. No trips but potentially some drips.. Not wanting to mark the stairs, Ilana may have caught some with her own head - very considerate indeed.

It was an enjoyable, focused task. We all seemed to get so into the rhythm of painting that we seemed to be painting anything and everything white by the end. In fact. Team Green Container were so engrossed in their work, they stayed for an extra 5 minutes, determined to get the job done. The pull of the paint is strong.

Well done all and a massive congratulations to Kareem for completing his 50th task!

If darkness hadn't quite fallen by the time we arrived at Sivill House, it was certainly teetering over the edge. There was some illumination from the estate lights, and people brought head torches, but our main concern was the effect of the gloomy conditions on those all-important task photos!

Task owner and GoodGymer Ed directed us to a very large pile of woodchip which had been donated to Columbia TRA. It was happily sitting in the car park, but it really needed to be in the gardens, the other side of the estate. It didn’t look too large a pile, until we realised how far back it went…

Still, we had five wheelbarrows, plenty of shovels and bags, and most importantly a 17-strong squad of GoodGymers. It felt like a real workout as we persuaded the reluctant woodchip to separate from the security of its pile, to a new life – mulching! This technique suppresses weeds, conserves soil moisture, insulates plant roots and improves soil health and fertility. Yes, we’ve enabled all those things!

A special welcome to newcomers Angelique and Ryan, who really threw themselves into the task. Hope to see you back soon! And thanks to Fiona who took some good photos after all!

Despite the darkness, the night was still young as we headed off, with a suggestion that one of the task owners had invited us to the pub. We didn’t know where we were supposed to go, so after wandering around for a bit, four of us headed for the Royal Oak to congratulate ourselves on all our good work