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!

What a scorcher for our first visit to Fox Den Community Allotment! 🦊

We were met by the brilliant Lorna, who showed us round the beautiful space and shared the history of the allotment - once home to a family of foxes. Lorna and volunteers from Abbey People have transformed the area to grow a huge variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs for the local community and Abbey Food Hub.

It was brilliant to welcome Philip for his first GoodGym mission. 💪

We set to work building frames for the broccoli, thinning the bumper crop of tomatoes, and giving everything a much needed water. Never missing an opportunity, carrying the double watering cans worked well for some weighted squats. We had the added bonus of meeting some chickens and were able to harvest some produce to take home - Phil becoming Fox Den's fist broccoli man. 🥦

The allotment is a calm haven in the city and we can't wait to visit again!