Let us know if you have anything from your allotment that you want to give away, whether it's fruit and vegetables, compost or even old tools.
Similarly, tell us if there is a community event you would like to publicise or promote.
Email the details to allotments@cambridge.gov.uk and we'll add them to the page.
Eager potential food growers required
A new Growzones project is starting in Cambridge in March.
Growzones is a fun and practical way to help people grow food in their gardens or allotments. It works by getting around six households together to do some work in each other’s gardens in readiness for the spring growing season.
The project is open to anyone, regardless of their fruit and vegetable growing experience or the size of their plot.
An introductory meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 1 March at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BA.
For more information visit growzones.com or telephone Jane Brown on 07715 320886.
Open Eco Gardens day
Cambridge Carbon Footprint (CCF) is running an exciting Open Eco Gardens day on Saturday 14 July, similar to their annual Open Eco Homes days, to inspire the public with gardening ideas and methods, and to build a stronger network of local food growers.
CCF are shortlisting 10–15 gardens for the showcase, ideally within three miles of Cambridge city centre. These can include interesting examples of community gardens, orchards, allotments, container or roof gardens, home gardens, etc.
Taking part would involve host gardens running public tours on 14 July. The tours would be run free of charge with a suggested donation of £3, which would go to CCF.
If you have an inspiring garden and are able to run tours on 14 July, please contact Patrick Leckie (patrickleckie@hotmail.com) for more details. Please also notify us of other gardens you know about that could be included.
Foodshare surplus produce donation
The Foodshare Network is inviting every allotment in the UK to choose a local charity and set up an onsite 'donation station' for growers to donate surplus produce.
The pilot scheme in Milton, Cambridgeshire is proving a big success at reducing the food bill of their chosen charity, the Milton Children's Hospice.
By delivering fresh, seasonal local produce, not only does the charity get healthier food, but there are also benefits for the environment through reduced 'food miles'.
Visit the Foodshare website for more details.
Potential manure contamination
There have been reported local occurrences in which horse manure has been contaminated with a weedkiller called aminopyralid that can cause entire crops to be lost.
What you need to do:
- For all new manure supplies, insist on firm assurances that the manure has not come from animals fed with grass, forage or straw that has been treated with persistent hormonal weedkillers, including products such as Forefront.
- If you have contaminated manure, ask your supplier to cease distributing to others until they can guarantee that it is not contaminated.
- If you have manure that you have not yet used, test it before spreading it.
More detailed information is available on the allotment.org.uk website and Royal Horticultural Society website.
