On a slightly chilly June evening, five Goodgymmers met task owner Michael at Woodside park to weed a flower bed.

The bed was full of beautiful plants but had been slightly overtaken by weeds. Michael advised as to which plants were weeds and which plants should stay, because to our untrained eyes everything looked quite pretty, really. But the Blue Alkanet and overgrown brambles had to go, along with the non-native beer bottles and energy drink cans. We also welcomed newcomer Sheril under the Goodgym "bring a friend" initiative - well done Latoya on your indoctrination I mean induction efforts.

The team got so stuck into clearing the weeds they didn't want to stop as 8pm neared. The good news is that Haringey council have agreed to maintain the bed once a month. So although we didn't finish the job we made a very good start, and can be confident that our hard work was not in vain.

So at 8pm our worthy Goodgymmers departed, to continue the evenings revels at an alternative location I regret I unable to divulge.

Ten Goodgymmers journeyed deep into the heart of Haringey's latest tiny forest for a spot of dregrassification.

Olfactory Blues

Our Goodgymmers ran a cool mile to the New Road Park Tiny Forest as part of the Tiny Forest Wildlife Count. Friends of the tiny forest met us there and after a temporary misunderstanding around whether Gramps was going to foot the bill for all the Big Fat Cats bonuses at Thames Water, we were pleased when Mina from the Friends group turned up with tools, bags, and clear mandate for our lot: de-weed this poor tiny forest so the trees get more of the rain water into their thirsty roots - whenever it comes.

Say no more. Our Goodgymmers pulled grass, yarrow, and dandelions to their hearts' content, while discussing the merits of medieval mead-making and the evolutionary reasons of why a little bit of pain is good for you.

All the while, Gramps was keeping a beady eye on the lookout for any sign of wildlife. Sam came to his rescue, in a way, when she alerted him to, as she put it, a very faecaly smell in the area she was weeding. Reader, she must hit the vulpine scatological motherload because we all had to move away from the area. All newcomers were warned to avoid Sam's behind because of the faecaly smell - 'behind' used here purely in its geographical sense rather than anatomical and in no way for comedic purposes at poor Sam's expense. No. Never.

After about an hour, our heroes stopped for the evening after a rather successful weeding session and we all headed home satisfied with a good day's work.

Boom.

Join us for another tiny forest expedition next week as we visit the folk at White Hart Rec.

8 Goodgymmers rolled up their sleeves and assisted the good folk at Harmony Gardens with an old school hardcore weeding session.

Couples Therapy

Did you know that the collective noun for a group of tadpoles is a knot? Now you do.

Did you know that the Irish for fox, madra rua, literally translates as red dog? Now you do.

Did you know that if you soak comfrey leaves for long enough, not only will they stink so bad that they'll make you retch but also could potentially create some fun, homemade explosive device? Now you do* (please don't blow anything up IRL. Talk to your mates instead)

Did you know that if you ever need anyone to lead a couples therapy session you should never ever ever ask either Niamh or Gramps to lead it? I suppose you could've guessed that one by now.

Anyway, enough with the free public service broadcasting, if you want to learn more lessons like the ones above, you should definitely join a GG live classroom near you pronto!

It wasn't all fun lessons at Harmony Gardens, however. Oh no, sweet Murphy was there too. For those unfamiliar with this absolute gem, Murphy is the official GGHarringey canine rep, whose vet last week confirmed he's roughly around 100 years old in human years. Not that that would stop him from walking to task, joining in the digging, and check notes engaging in a very public and sloppy snogging session with Gramps. Legend.

It wasn't all fun lessons and canine shenanigans at Harmony Garden, however. Oh no, there were also tadpoles. Our Goodgymmers kept taking little breaks to have a look at the little fellas swimming around, while Mike from the Friends group kept a close eye on an unnamed hirsute Goodgymmer who wanted to take some tadpoles for his own pond. No, unnamed hirsute Goodgymmer, that's not allowed. And yes, hirsute Goodgymmer, your fish will probably just eat them anyway.

It wasn't all fun lessons and canine shenanigans and knotty but nice mischief at Harmony Gardens, however. Oh no, we also found the time to do some proper work. Three-cornered leeks were pulled with no remorse as they had taken over one of the beds at the back of the centre. Meanwhile, at the front of the building, a lovely field of self-seeded poppies were being crowded out by weeds but our Goodgymmers came to the rescue. They even managed to find a previously unspotted dog rose. Fun. All in all, a good hour's work if we say so ourselves.

Again, you should definitely come

I arrived right on time for Ms. B's warm welcome. Flipping the mattress turned out to be quick and straightforward.

Next, she showed me her balcony, where some of the wooden boards had a bit of moss. She’d already set out the perfect tools—metal brushes and a vacuum—so I got to scrubbing and cleaning. By the end, the balcony looked fresh and tidy, and Ms. B’s happy reaction made the effort worthwhile.

It was a pleasure to help!

5 Goodgymmers paid a flying visit to the wonderful gang at Chapman's Green for a spot of flowerbed maintenance.

Come on you Reds!

Let's be honest, good ol' Gramps was very preoccupied with finishing the task at hand in time to get his eyeballs in front of a television set at 8pm for the start of the second leg of the Champs League semi finals to see his glorious reds (#COYG)

Nevertheless, always the professionals, we took instructions from the Friends group to clear the "goodgym bed" from all weeds in time for a volunteering session this weekend.

We jumped at the task with gusto. Niamh in particular found the time to regale us with some rather unconventional running commentary about pulling up weeds but for the sake of Goodgym's PR department we will not print it in here.

Luckily, or unluckily in hindsight, Gramps managed to get away in time for the start of the game in which the reds put a valiant fight but went on to lose and be eliminated from the competition.

Gramps will recover eventually, we're sure.

Seven Goodgymmers started the evening with high hopes and ended the night drawing their sorrows on the banks of the Westbury Banks nature Reserve

Locked, stocked, and frazzled

Our Goodgymmers arrived the Nature Reserve to find that a neighbouring Friends group had borrowed the main tool they needed for tonight's task of clearing the top end of the Reserve to make it a bit more presentable from the street. Undeterred, our Goodgymmers used whatever tools were available to them to get on with the job at a hand.

Our Julie arrived straight from work like the rock star she is but it did mean she had some expensive work gear and her home keys with her in her work bag. Gramps suggested she put it in the thief-proof super-safe virtually-unbreakable toolbox for safekeeping. And then, then the key broke.

After a rather long period of panic, Gramps arrived at the only real solution available to them and called an emergency locksmith.

Our team completed their task for the evening all the while keeping an eye on Gramps' blood pressure. When 8pm came and went without any sign of the locksmith, our Goodgymmers armed themselves with drinks and crisps for the offie and we all settled in the Reserve for the long haul. We needed to make sure our Julie could get home after all.

Eventually, our knight in shining armour arrived and proceeded to do a lot of huffing and puffing. After around half an hour and a few hundred pounds later, we had broken into the box and we were all free to go home. So we all went to the pub to settle our nerves, of course.

Never a dull moment with GGH!