Heaps of fun

Seven GoodGymers met at the Tree Musketeers nursery in Hackney to help the group with some gardening tasks.

Eva, Abi and Amanda had already met to do a very windy Hackney Marshes parkrun beforehand so had time for a cup of tea before getting stuck in with the task.

At the nursery, the GoodGymers who had been before got straight to work while those who were new to the nursery went on a tour to look round the site. It really is a beautiful hidden space in Hackney and worth an explore.

Eva, Amanda, Toyin and Abi got to work emptying a compost heap into a sack barrow, to transport it over to the other side of the site where the potting takes place. The compost had rotted down nicely and was ready to be used for repotting. When they got over to the potting area they found some interesting eggs nestled in the compost, which we later found out were slug eggs. They were surprisingly beautiful!

After the tour, Tim, Sian and Ben joined the others and helped get the compost heap emptied. Once we'd got it neat and tidy, it was time to turn over the neighbouring compost heap and move it into the empty space. It's a good system so that compost rots down quickly and evenly, and makes sure they are always using compost at the right time in the nursery.

While Tim, Abi and Ben finished up the great compost turnover, Eva, Toyin, Sian and Amanda spent a final few minutes pulling up some nettles which had started to take over a corner of the nursery near the pond.

After a couple of hours good work, the team finished off with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

The next Tree Musketeers volunteering session is on Saturday 30 November, when we will be out planting the trees grown at the nursery on Hackney Marshes so save the date!