Did you know that Pitzhanger Manor in Walpole Park, along with the surrounding area, will soon be the filming location of the Antiques Roadshow? Because of that, the rangers and volunteers are carrying planting activities, turning the ordinary grass patches into elegant flowerbeds.

A small but effective team of GoodGymers had a go on the planting task one Saturday in April. Tonight, GoodGym was returning with some experience and twice as many people to try to finish off the planting. Was the work easier this time?

There are no great GoodGym adventures without challenges!

⏱️ We were tight on time! It was a group run, so we needed to adjust the timings to account for that (well done Ijo on keeping a steady pace! 🙌)!

🍕 We had a booking for a monthly pizza social! That meant time was even more precious! The planting team - including the newest addition to the team, Georgina, worked extra hard to complete the whole geranium patch - and we did it! We only managed to wrap up on time because we had Milly leading the group to the venue, and Steph staying to help with putting away the tools.

⛔ The code to the lockbox didn't work! Luckily, the ranger was on duty 🫡 and saved the day, answering the call. Otherwise, we might have gone straight home (or for the pizza 😋)!

🖍️ There were no markings on the ground this time! Luckily, Annabel kept her eyes wide open and figured out the exact planting location from the photos we had! Sevan's knowledge of the location from the previous task allowed us to start digging right away.

🌱 The soil was not prepared this time! We had to deal with removing a large patch of grass first. It was a blessing to have Claire on the team, with her gardening expertise and the brilliant idea to use forks, not just shovels, to quickly prepare the ground.

🧱 There were bricks in the soil! In some areas we used brute force, in others we worked around the bricks. The plants may not ended up evenly distributed, yet they made their way to the soil!

🍂 We had to do some mulching too! With a bigger team, not everyone could do the planting. Taskforce Mike, Milly and Steph knew the drill and volunteered right away to wheelbarrow the woodchip and distribute it gently between the existing plants.

Thank you, Amazing Team, for the incredible effort in such a short time! 🤩 You totally deserved the pizza prize after the task!

Next week we are finally back to St Andrew's Church to help create gravel paths in their Pocket Allotment. Sign up now!

Steph Ducat, Ijo and Sevan were raring to go to set up for the Hobbayne Charity's annual quiz. There were some tasks they were expecting, like setting up the tables and wrapping up the cutlery. Others were new to them, as Ijo found when she was asked to steam the tablecloths as they'd come out of a box looking very crinkled.

Steph and Sevan worked with the task owner, June, on the maths of configuring tables and chairs. "Nine, six, six, no, that table's a five, eight", went the calls. They made sure that all the expected people had a chair and somewhere to eat their curry.

Steph and Sevan moved on to wrapping cutlery for the attendees and getting the crockery in the kitchen ready for plating. As everything was ready ahead of time, at front of house, Ijo ran the tuck shop as the guests started to arrive.

A group of 10 GoodGymers, including first timer Kate, descended to Lammas Orchard tonight by piloting their intergalactic wheelbarrows through the atmosphere, steered by rakes and shovels. When they arrived, they found piles of small organic pieces (woodchip) and larger organic chunks (aka chopped logs) in the grounds. Looking at the different forms of matter and their tools, the group wondered if they could be used to improve the planet they'd landed on.

Moving into the garden, the group found that the paths were part woodchipped and a strange wooden log circle was placed in the middle of it. Out of the bushes emerged a being holding something called Strongbow. Much of what he said didn't make sense until their translators managed to interpret:

"Each of these logs was a person. This one here with a hole in it was John" - Strange being

Clearly this was a local burial ground and the beings were somehow transformed into inanimate objects. What a strange place this was. The group's thoughts went back to the pile of logs at the entrance and how those ex-beings must have been unceremoniously placed on top of each other. What about the chips of wood. Were they mini beings?! The GoodGymers decided that they all deserved better than laying around in mounds.

The group split into two, with one part focused on honouring those big beings who'd been woodened. They set out to create a memorial circle like the one that honoured John's memory. The wooden beings were carefully transported to the newly created shrine.

The second group focused on what they thought must be the little beings. Their destination was less orderly. They meandered through the garden like a river, curving and threading themselves between the trees. The path was never taking the direct route from point to point. How curious.

After an hour, the mothership called. It was time to report back on what the GoodGymers had found on the planet. They grouped in the wooden circle they'd created and waited to be sucked back into orbit where they'd tell stories of the unusual culture that they had encountered and update their guide to the galaxy to include this planet, Earth.