This Monday we were back helping Mulgrave Street Action Group with their Urban Space Community Garden. After our litter picking efforts last week, the area was now nice and clear and ready for the next step - digging up all the pesky weeds! Our first challenge was actually identifying the weeds and minimising unnecessary plant casualties. Khan had far too much faith in our weed spotting abilities and was surprised when further clarification was required. As Bekah rightly pointed out though, the definition of a weed is not set - a poppy could be considered a weed in a field of sunflowers! After decanting all the required equipment from the shed, we were ready to get cracking with the gardening…or so we thought….It turned out the pile of binbags we had formed was merely a collection of plastic aprons! Very handy for a painting task I guess, but not so much for collecting weeds in. Luckily eagle eyed Chris spotted a roll of bags camouflaged amongst the pile and we were able to crack on with the task at hand. Whilst the majority of the group started tackling the weeds, some of the stronger members got to dumping all the litter bags from last week and the contents of a green bin (which unfortunately passersby had been using as a general rubbish disposal place) into the skip. As 8pm approached, the garden was looking much clearer with plenty of space for the new planting planned for our next visit. Khan was very pleased with the result and grateful as always for all our help. After taking the all important group photo we headed on our way, looking forward to returning to the garden in a months time!

We have two sessions booked in in February and March at the Mulgrave Street community garden, for weeding, maintenance and planting. Ahead of these sessions, task owner Khan had asked us to come down as the litter was 'ripe for the picking' so we could get the area nice, clean and clear ahead of digging in the week after.

12 Goodgymmers turned out on what was a freezing cold January night. After introductions, admiring Chris's shiny new '50 Deeds' black Goodgym t-shirt - well earned, congratulations Chris! - and the usual litter picking safety briefing from Bekah ("please no wandering off in the dark on your own!") we got to work. With a good sized group we'd soon cleared the lovely garden Khan has created, and set our sights further afield to the surrounding streets, planters and bushes.

The hedges just next to the garden are so thick, it was like a crystal maze challenge trying to maneuver the litter pickers through the railings, between the trunks and stems, grab the litter and maneuver it back through the undergrowth without dropping it. At some point several of us were actually in the bushes, reaching and stretching in very elegant positions.

We found quite an array of items, including a golf club (which was in very good condition, actually...), a tyre (much worse condition), a left shoe and a right boot, a table tennis bat, and a table leg. Plus we managed to fill 13 bin bags full of litter. It was cold - oh, so very cold - and absolutely no-one was dramatic about the freezing temperature ;) However the amount we collected made it all worthwhile and after an hour we called time and gathered to dispose of the bags and take the group photo.

Khan closed the session with huge thanks to the group, sharing that Goodgym is a massive part of maintaining this garden and the litter picking makes such a difference to the local community. We were all glad to head home to the warmth and pleased with a good job well done.

Next week - we head back to Mulgrave Street for weeding and maintenance, prepping the site ahead of our March session when we'll be planting. See you there!