A lovely morning spent with Abbey People at Fox Den Community Allotment nourishing and clearing the beds ready for planting. It was atmospheric with the low mist making it feel wintery, but was almost T-shirt weather! Ideal for a morning spent working outdoors.

After a briefing from Caitlin, our first job was to spread nutritious topsoil on the beds ready for vegetables to be planted in the coming months. We learned that the soil was Fen soil, based on peat, so not only packed with nutrients, but produced locally meaning very few carbon miles. Once we'd decided the most efficient way to open the bag (piercing it a couple of times with a rake) the spreading was relatively quick work with many hands and rakes helping.

Next up was weeding one of the planters that had become overgrown with grasses and nettles. It's not clear why, but I thought starting with the nettles was a good idea, so focused on really getting them out by their roots, learning quickly that my gloves weren't thick enough and ended up very with tingly fingers. The grasses were also well rooted, so it was quite an effort and took more time than expected. Usually liking to finish all tasks I start, it was hard to leave the bed half done, but it will be a good job for someone next time!

It was great to be back at Fox Den and we are looking forward to more sunny evening sessions later in the year 🌻

Two GoodGymers and whole lot of grit

We joined Abbey People for the last evening session of the season at Fox Den Community Allotment. 🦊

Caitlin tasked us with weeding and clearing the beds and covering them with cardboard, and having seen the brilliant work started by other volunteers, we set to work.

After a good start and a nice chat, we soon realised we were up against a fierce challenger in the form of mallow. Being so prolific with deep roots makes it particularly stubborn! Leveraging with a spade, we dug and we tugged, eventually clearing as much as we could - a real team effort 💪

It's always a pleasure to work on the allotment and we came away commenting on how much calmer and uplifted we felt after the task. We will miss our visits, but look forward to returning in the spring!

Rain paused play...

...but it didn't stop five brilliant GoodGymers watering, weeding, and wielding another beautiful batch of tomatoes. It also gave us chance to have a chat and sample the produce. Win-win!

Welcome to Alan who joined us for his first GoodGym task 💪

Well done team 🙌

Another productive evening at Fox Den Community Allotment 💪

A huge welcome to Mark who joined for his first GoodGym Cambridge task 🎉

Mark and I met at Jesus Green to take a steady run to the task. Meeting Caroline and Michele there, we got to watering and harvesting. Another massive haul of tomatoes and chard this week. The whole allotment needed a good soak, and Mark did an especially impressive job, speeding to and from the water butt with a leaky watering can - not a drop spared. Before we left we all got stuck in clearing weeds from an overgrown bed. It was a four person (and a fork) job, as although very delicate looking on the surface, the network of weeds were bedded in well with deep stubborn roots to overcome. It was messy work and a lot of effort, making a successful removal all the more momentous (see picture of pure weed extraction joy) 🙌

As the sun started to go down we headed our separate ways, cycling, walking, and running along the river into the sunset. A perfect way to end a task.

Special mention to Caroline for the a-marrow-zing cake! Baked using the most enormous courgette we harvested last week - a whopping 1.8kg! 🥒 Absolutely delicious and much needed sustenance.

Today we had an energizing, educational, and fun mission at the place that was once home to a legendary mama fox and her cubs.

Some of us started the day with a light jog to the allotment, catching up along the way while pacing ourselves to avoid dehydration. At Fox Den, we were greeted warmly by Lorna, who shared the story of the site and the social motivation behind this wonderful community garden.

Then came the harvest! Green, red, dark orange, small, medium, and large, the tomatoes came in all colours and sizes. Not all were ready to be picked just yet, so we got to work taming the plants, clearing walking spaces, and making life a little harder for the hungry snails.

Next, we turned our attention to potatoes, with Lorna showing us how to spot and avoid the potentially poisonous ones (a handy skill for any gardener!).

Finally, we wrapped up the mission by being spoiled with some of the produce we’d harvested. The day’s star? A courgette the size of a baby!

All in all, a lovely mission with precious people.

Another wonderful evening spent with Caroline and Harriet at Fox Den Community Allotment, supporting Abbey People.

As well as giving everything a good water and thinning the positively thriving tomato plants, our main job was harvesting. We collected a bounty of beans and beetroot! There were actually four types of bean, including pink broad beans, which we'd not seen before - beautiful and delicious. 🫛 Special note to the perfect teeny tiny tomato.🍅

We look forward to returning soon!