View the Insta reel of this session here

16 volunteers. 2 hours. 42 bags of waste.

Gale Street Organic Community Garden will never be the same again!

This weekend, we moved a huge step closer to getting this precious green-space OPEN for the community. Having tended to the vegetable beds, dismantled the old shed and raised the rain-water-containers, we are now ready to get the rest of the garden accessible...

...and the garden is HUGE!

Starting in the south-east corner, we battled through the extensive under-growth to unearth myriad waste item, some examples including old carpet, old (like, vintage) HP sauce bottle and conveyor belt material (apparently from the old Dagenham Ford Factory).

Much fun was had and new connections made - with lots of inspiring ideas shared about the potential future of the garden.

Huge congratulations to all involved including our GoodGymmers Steven, Claire and Emma, local resident Lewis and Mary-Ann from BarDag Sports Academy. Nassaba and Daniel from Elevate Together, Severine, Janet and Jackie from Roding Rubbish and Nick, Olivia, Dom, Peter and Michaela from Becontree Heath Litter Pickers

Well done all - see you at a session soon!

Happy GoodGymming,

Steven (B&D Area Activator)

💥 The 1st of 4 Saturday sessions in October was smashed out the Food Forest this morning by Jaz (first timer whoop!) and Steven

🌱 Joined by Barking Food Forest volunteers Craig & Daniel - along with project lead Nikhil - we completed a crucial task in the build of the new greenhouse, all whilst battling the wind.

🪏 We finished laying access paths either side of the huge new greenhouse. Swapping sled pushes for wheelbarrow runs, we filled barrows with gravel and wheeled them the entire length of the garden - 100 metres!

🦘After all the heavy lifting, we tipped the gravel into the trenches either side of the greenhouse, and did some compacting, i.e. jumping up and down on the gravel.

🪚 We also lifted a large railway sleeper into position for sawing, sliding it into it's final resting place at the end of the access path next to the pond.

✋ High fives all around, thanks Craig for the coffee, and well done Jas on your first ever GoodGym session, look forward to the next one!

happy GoodGymming,

Steven