9 Goodgymers were divided into 3 teams to conquer a very ambitious list of greening tasks over just a few hours.

Dave led the Gangster Gardeners (name borrowed from the inspiring Ron Finley - please watch his TED Talk). Their team led a litter pick and gifted hanging flower baskets to vacant hooks all along the road.

Jane led the Budding Botanists with homing almost 100 plants from Southsea's waterfront garden centre into planters and baskets, and decorate them with strings of solar fairy lights to brighten up the night for local residents (both human and canine)!

Aoife led the Brush Brigade to miraculously paint (and dry) 6 trough planters and a pallet in bright shades of green just in time for planting before the event ended.

There was a WILDLY successful raffle thanks to the careful counting of Wilson! A whopping 86 bins were left to linger on the pavements and hopefully we've gone a small way to encourage some positive change on the road with bringing loads of native pollinator plants for our birds, bees and butterflies to enjoy.

Many of our plants and pots were donated to be "re-loved" rather than thrown away, and 4 of our 6 large wooden planters were made from recycled timber with the proceeds from their purchase going to Second Chance Animal Rescue.

Thanks to all who came out to lend a hand and to event photographers Joe Watson and Zoe Munday, as well as event supporters Wilder Portsmouth, Natural England, The Package Free Larder, Portsmouth City Council, Fawcett Road Greening Group, and Bradite Paints.

An army of volunteers turned out to plant trees at Langstone Harbour this morning, just as well as there was a lot to be planted. GoodGym team were Abby, Katie and Wilson. Abby and Katie really put their back into it and planted about 12 plants - very impressive to watch!!!!! Due to a niggling shoulder Wilson took photos and stood about (was going to say "gave orders" but Abby and Katie were on it - absolute planting pros!!!!)

We have a newfound appreciation for our posties after our Percy Road leaflet drop. Getting those greening leaflets through the tight letterboxes gave our knuckles an unexpected work out! Tracy ran to the task and got in some extra steps alongside Julie by distributing 200 flyers to homes and surrounding businesses. We did a little litter picking by the light of the full moon and finished just in time as a forceful fall downpour showered us with plenty of good karma for our good deeds!

This was a very productive hour. Where we all got stuck in with weeding. Thanks Abby for the spare plants which makes such a difference in the gaps. John also scattered the wild flower seeds. The community were very complimentary and supportive throughout.

What is the best thing to do on a grey cloudy day when heavy rain threatens to fall....?

Put on boots and gardening gloves and get digging!

Caroline and I joined volunteers from Friends of the Earth and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to dig out weeds and unwanted plants from two raised beds opposite the Post Office in North End.

The organisations had carried out consultation with local residents before lockdown to ask for suggestions of ways to re-wild and green the north of the city and this area was a popular suggestion.

The scheme will include planting; painting the bench; and work by a local artist to decorate the walls.

Caroline and I enjoyed the physical workout and the chats with local people who were pleased to see the work to beautify this little corner.

There may be further opportunities to help out on this and other #wilderportsmouth projects.

For the maths geeks - here's a GG sum: a physical task + fresh air + mud + a hammer + a very heavy tree-rammer + worms...

= 6 very happy GoodGymers

Maxine, Manuel, Catherine, Katie, Lynn & Judy joined local residents, the Tree Wardens, Portsmouth City Council staff, plus the Lord Mayor & Stephen Morgan MP to plant fruit trees in various locations through Portsea.

What we learned from this task - don't dig holes in trainers and don't dare Katie to do anything, because she'll do it - in this case it was fitting herself into a long cardboard box!

There's another chance to get digging in phase 2 of the tree-planting on Sunday 9th February.