Three Ealing GoodGymers: Harvey, Sevan and Kash, and a guest from Hounslow, Maxime, met Romina from Cultivate London at the back of Berrymede School. For the Ealing crew, it was a nostalgic visit, evoking memories of the earthy, woody scent of wet leaves that had been so frequently and diligently collected in previous years by GoodGymers. But something was off. It was bright and warm - unlike all the previous occasions when our team was involved in harvesting that crumbly, nutrient-rich gold from under the trees on damp and dark winter Tuesday nights.

Romina showed us three bays with leaves turning into compost, which the Cultivate charity would sell to maintain their operations. Like wine aging in oak barrels, the chemistry was turning the autumn leaves from past years into something greater. Bay 2022 contained Cultivate's finest blend by date: from leaves collected over a record of four GoodGym Ealing sessions in one season (and probably some Hounslow tasks too!). That batch was now on sale. Bay 2023 had leaves mellowing gracefully, but not mature enough yet to hit the shelves. Bay 2024 was empty. We missed the harvest last winter, and the 2024 leaves, swept under a tree, were patiently waiting for GoodGym attention. That was our task for the evening - catching up with the 2024 leaf collection.

The start felt slow. First, we had to move out of the way a layer of low-quality tree waste containing undesirable sticks to get to the real, mulchy stuff. Secondly, we brought tools we were not sure whether were the best choice. Thirdly, we had to figure out a system. We tried buckets, shovels and forks to fill large bags with leaves in an efficient way. Then we moved the bags on a trolley and hauled them into Bay 2024. We left Romina with 2.5 bags full of leaves and Maxime with the secret recipe on how to collect the leaves best. We were sure that he would bring that knowledge to next day's Hounslow session at the same location.