we watered and shovelled compost !

Josh, Chris, Samina, Dani and Pete met at Beer n Burger, did a quick warm up, then jogged approx 3 km to meet Ajay in West Hampstead ( we finally got there after Pete got lost, there was plenty of help at hand though). Beatriz arrived then Ajay arrived on a beautiful summer eve and gave us tools to weed with - cutters, hoes, forks and gloves. We all worked really hard completely removing all the weeds from the planter box, feeling 2 huge green waste bags and also removing plenty of rubbish. We still had a little time so we went around the corner and did the same for another planter box, another good job. Thanks to everyone and to AJ. We then walked to Kilburn high road as a cool down and Beatriz went her way, the rest jogged back to B and B. Josh peeled off home as he had to go, the rest ended up in B and B and had a lovely cool drink and chat. Thank you so much to Dani who came to GG Brent for the first time, we hope you come back. See you next time.

The London Permaculture Festival is an annual celebration of natural ecosystems, and it's being hosted at Camden's Cecil Sharp House this Sunday!

Which was why our wonderful group – of Alex, Dani, John, Lydia, Nivia, Sarah, Siobhan, and Steve – assembled for an hour of nature-based volunteering!

Our task was to make sure Cecil Sharp's gardens were crisp and tidy, and ready for London's permaculture devotees!

We started amidst a flurry of brooms, rakes, and conversation – under a July sun we swept the paths and combed the lawn – and we filled bag upon bag in short order!

We then turned our attention – en masse – to the entrance gates.

John, Lydia, Sarah, and Siobhan tackled the main pathway – and they made quick thrift of weeds and leaves – leaving things looking perfectly wonderful!

Dani and Nivia focused their efforts on an area under a large tree – and they cleared the debris (and weeds and leaves!) – leaving an inviting shade spot!

And Alex and Steve helped our brilliant host (Susannah) move a chunk of festival fare down to the basement storage!

We finished by piling up bag (upon bag upon bag) of green waste into the van, before meandering off into a gentle evening :)

Thank you, everyone!!

Double gloves were the way to go for our task with the welcoming Friends of Kelsey Park this morning! We got straight to work in snazzy orange vests yanking up lots of stinging nettles, making sure to remove their sometimes very stubborn roots and also avoiding the bulbs and flowers in the area. The hori-hori knives proved useful again, and we discussed some possible culinary uses for nettles (tea / soup?) before instead opting to leave them in a pile to be collected after all. Oh, and Dani made easy work of dismantling a wooden fence in one go. Thanks everyone!