We were delighted to be going back to support Coton Loves Pollinators at their allotment this week.

Meeting in central Cambridge, we took a lovely cycle out to Coton and were greeted by a lovely sign welcoming us 😊 Naturally, we stopped for a quick picture. We said hi to Bridget and were soon down in the allotment having briefing on the jobs for the evening. We were all struck by the beauty of the pollinator patch with the variety of flowers creating a stunning mix of colours and textures. And most satisfying was seeing the huge sunflowers with hundreds of heads, the result of our last visit were we spent some time planting them 🌻

After many photos, we got started on our three jobs for us this visit:

Caroline and Chris were gathering fresh compost (any excuse to use a wheelbarrow) before planting out allium and irises. Guided by local, Annalise, the result was an incredibly neat bed, pictured beautifully by Caroline under the moon. 🌝

I was working with Becky and Izzy to carefully remove a vast amount of verbena that had taken over one corner of the existing pollinator patch, to transfer to a new patch in the orchard were it will support bees and other pollinators. Being a pretty robust plant, the existing patch will be a burst of colour again next year too. 🐝

The third task was levelling the ground under the polytunnel ready to create growing spaces. It required the big guns, both our own and the tools, to break the very dry earth with a mattock. It was very physical work, so we took it in turns, passing the mattock like a relay baton. In around 40 minutes, the area was looking much flatter, and Izzy finished off the job by covering it in old sacks. We very much enjoyed the stress release nature of this task! ⛏️

We really noticed the season change this evening, finishing the task in the cool twilight, under the light of a very bright moon. Head torch season is coming!

At the end of the task we were treated to tea and delicious homemade scones, warm from the oven. With lashings of butter, they really hit the spot after some hard graft. We enjoyed hearing about bat sightings (we even saw one ourselves 🦇) and the bat surveys that happen in the orchard, as well as Bridget's echinacea purchasing - why by one when you can buy 60?? Exciting plans and we look forward to seeing how the patch looks in the spring.

The last Thursday of the month is social night, so if this wasn't enough fun for one evening, we stopped via the pub on the way home where it was a pleasure to meet new GoodGymer, Giugiu, who came along to meet us before joining a task soon 👋

A truly special way to finish our Thursday night allotment sessions for the season 💛

We were back at Jimmy's this evening for our monthly dinner service. On the menu this week: shepherd's pie & veg, with chocolate cake & chocolate custard! 😋

Keen to make the most of the sunny evening, Christopher, Catherine and I met beforehand for a 3km jog around Parker's Piece. Despite the surprisingly bracing wind, it was a delight to enjoy the last of the sun whilst we caught up and discussed about the task ahead ☀️

Energised by our run and raring to go, we were soon stopped in our tracks: the pies weren't hot enough! And so began the waiting game, checking periodically and hoping for the magic 75 °C. Entertaining ourselves with a game of 'guess the probe', it finally reached 78 °C - not quite the monumental effort of 97 °C the night before, but it was what we needed! Forming a slick 3 person production line, I dished up the pie, Chris served veg and gravy (sometimes a little too enthusiastically) and Catherine was on dessert. We soon made up for lost time and after a decent shift, had everything cleaned up! 🫧

Fantastic work again, team. It took a little longer than usual but we pulled together and did it with a laugh and a smile - as per the GoodGym Cambridge way! 🙌