Cofarm

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday collecting seeds from our wildflower meadow with the local community and . The seeds collected went away with who will be creating wildflower patches in the Abbey community.

As we picked the different seed heads, we enjoyed admiring the different patterns, shapes and sizes. Our favourite seeds were the calendula flower seeds that looked like octopus tentacles.

At CoFarm, our 2 acre market garden is surrounded by 4 acres of wildflowers providing an important food source and habitat for wildlife. Although the flowers are now going over and setting seed, the meadow is still looking beautiful. Come and enjoy a walk round the meadow at anytime and if our market garden gates are open, pop in see what we’re up to - we’d love to say hi.

Our heirloom tomatoes are looking beautiful in the late evening Cambridge sun.

Heirloom tomatoes are growing alongside lots of other varieties of tomatoes on the farm, and we're pleased to be harvesting them after having had some sunshine to ripen them up.

A small selection of some of the beautiful produce that we are harvesting from the farm at the moment.

Harvesting and picking produce is our main focus on our Tuesday evening sessions, so if you’d like to come and help, book a place and join us between 5-7pm - https://www.cofarm.co/bookings .

The produce that we pick gets distributed to local food hubs in Cambridge. A selection is always available for our CoFarmers who joined us in the session to buy at a 50% discount.

“Maltesers” growing fresh on the farm!

Glossy, and brown black in colour looking just like Maltesers, but even more delicious if we do say so ourselves, these black opal tomatoes are just one of the varieties of tomatoes we’re growing this year. We have 600 -700 tomato plants on the farm and we have our fingers crossed for a bumper crop!

Our next CoFarming session is on Sunday and we’d really love your help! We have lots of plants ready and waiting to go in the ground.

Head to our website to book onto a session to join us - https://www.cofarm.co/bookings

🌻 Sunshine and sunflowers on the farm.

We’re really pleased that the sun has made an appearance the last two days, and it certainly made a change from the weather at the beginning of the week!

If you’re looking for a sunny Sunday activity this weekend, why not book on and join us for a CoFarming session?

We can provide, sunshine (and shade) lots of sunflowers to admire, and good vibes.

Book a place to let us know you’re coming along - https://www.cofarm.co/bookings



Cambridge Sustainable FoodAbbey in CambridgeCCVS Volunteering for All

Sweet peas adding a pop of colour on the farm.

At CoFarm we have lots of different flowers growing, such as these sweet peas that can be found climbing up our water tanks and fences. Sweet peas provide a welcome splash of colour on these cloudy Cambridge days, and they are also rich in nectar and pollen, perfect for feeding hungry pollinators such as bumblebees.

Handfuls of sweet peas have gone home with our CoFarmers to fill their homes with their beautiful scent, and also to keep this plant flowering for longer. Harvesting some of the flowers, leaving plenty for the bees, stops this plant going to seed leaving us and the bees with flowers for longer.

Have you had some of our sweetpeas from the farm? Share your photos with us, we would love to see!

Book to join us tomorrow evening for our next CoFarming session - https://shorturl.at/veTDy

‘Bean day’ at the farm!

We had a very busy day yesterday with three business groups , and , joining us alongside our regular CoFarmers.

Together we harvested the last of the broad beans, cleared the bean plants from the plots ready for a new crop, and we planted two different types of beans in a different area. (A healthy bit of competition saw the spent bean plants transported to the compost heaps in record speed).

Lots of delicious produce was available for our CoFarmers to buy and take away with them and the end of the session, as well as lots being delivered to food hubs.

If you would like to join us for a session, check out our dates online and book a space. We’d love to have you along.

Book here - https://shorturl.at/c2ztm

Our raspberries are looking (and tasting) delicious and we need your help picking them!

Can you spare some time tomorrow evening between 5.00pm - 7.30pm to help us pick different fruit and veg from the farm ready for a pop up event on Wednesday?

If so, book yourself a place online to let us know you’re coming along, and we promise we’ll let you sample a raspberry or two.

Book your place here - https://www.cofarm.co/bookings

🧄Garlic galore!

Having harvested hundreds of bulbs of garlic over the past week, the farm smells delicious with the bulbs laid out drying in the (intermittent) Cambridge sun.

You can almost smell the garlic from every corner of the farm!

Fancy joining us for a CoFarming session? Book a session through the link below. We’ve got plenty of July and August dates available for booking!

https://www.cofarm.co/bookings

A rainy volunteer session meant we made use of our new shelter! ☔️ A lovely couple of hours spent potting up some seedlings while keeping dry

Our ponds are looking very full of life at the moment, although the toads are most likely hiding amongst the foliage! These are just one way we attract wildlife to the pond, which in turn provides nature-friendly slug control

Calling all CoFarmers - old friends and new! Your community farm needs you! Over the next couple of weeks we have thousands of seedlings to plant together, so that we can ensure a bumper harvest for our community again this season. We've added lots of extra sessions to our website at: www.cofarm.co/bookings Let's get those plants tucked into the soil together! 🌱🌱🌱

Thanks for the amazing team volunteering efforts this week from CoFarmers from and and , who have been helping, alongside other members of our community, to get the great Spring plant up well underway👍 🌞🙏

Lots of places available tomorrow, Sunday, morning and afternoon. No experience necessary, just come and enjoy the farm and each other's company. 😎

Getting ready for our busiest planting month! If you’d like to get involved, sign up to volunteer sessions via our website: cofarm.co

This is a fabulous achievement for and the result of so much passion and energy contributed by so many people over the last ten years! Special thanks to the wonderful Cambridge Sustainable Food team for so beautifully co-ordinating the partnership and to all of the brilliant staff, volunteers (including our amazing CoFarmers!) and organisations across all sectors in Cambridge who played their part - large and small - in helping to achieve 'gold' for ! Very well done and CONGRATULATIONS everyone!🥳

We are thrilled to announce that Cambridge has achieved a prestigious Gold Sustainable Food Places Award.

The result of ten years of hard work by Cambridge Sustainable Food, local authorities, community groups, and countless food businesses, organisations, volunteers and local people, this award proves that Cambridge is leading the way in transforming local food systems and enabling access to healthy and sustainable food for all.

Cambridge is just the third place in the UK to receive this accolade, which recognises food systems work at a local level from the only awards scheme of its kind. We are extremely proud! Thank you to everyone who has sown the seeds of change and helped them grow, we couldn't have done it without you.

Want to read more about this amazing achievement for Cambridge? Find out more: https://loom.ly/ruQEGs0

Cofarm, Cambridge City Foodbank, Transition Cambridge, Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum, Cambridgeshire County Council, Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre at University of Cambridge, Market House, Cambridge Colleges Catering Managers Committee and Cambridge United Foundation Soil Association Food Matters - Charity

We're so excited to be finally getting ourselves out of the mud with a proper track being laid at the farm!

Huge thanks to all our amazing CoFarmers who have been wading through the mud throughout the wettest of winters!

🙏🏻🌧️☂️🌈

The last few weeks have seen lots of winter greens harvested 💚

One of the more unusual vegetables we grow at the farm is the Oca, a potato-like vegetable that can be eaten cooked (which gives a more nutty flavour or raw (a lemon-y zing). They are a great source of vitamin c, iron and potassium!

DEADLINE TOMORROW: If you like the variety of working indoors and outdoors with both people and nature, while working to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges, apply to our Community Engagement Coordinator role by tomorrow (14 Feb)! https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

Just a few days left to apply for an exciting role tackling major challenges such as climate change and food security in a positive way - by placing agroecological food and farming at the heart of our communities.

If you love the variety of working with people and nature - outdoors and indoors - apply for this exciting role by Wednesday via our website:

https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

CoFarm Cambridge is looking for a very special person to join the team as Community Engagement Coordinator!
Please help us spread the word about this exciting new opportunity! Apply by Wednesday 14 Feb on our website: https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

If you'd like to be part of a movement that brings people together to grow and share nutritious food, build stronger communities and healthier ecosystems - apply for our exciting Community Engagement Coordinator role on our website:
https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

If you haven’t yet seen the exciting Community Engagement Coordinator job opportunity we’re currently recruiting for, head to our website https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

You’ll be joining efforts to tackle major societal challenges - climate change, biodiversity loss, health inequalities, food security - in a positive and optimistic way by placing agroecological food and farming at the heart of our communities.

Thank you to everybody who has helped spread the word already!

We are hiring! CoFarm Cambridge is looking for a very special person to join the team as Community Engagement Coordinator!

Please help us spread the word about this exciting new opportunity! Apply by Valentines Day❤️

https://www.cofarm.co/work-with-us

Merry Christmas to everybody celebrating - and a big thank you to those who have helped grow (and who have enjoyed eating!) CoFarm produce this year 🌲🥕

City MP congratulates CoFarm for distributing £100k of produce across city ‘Important milestone’ as community farm project goes from strength to strength.

Great to see CoFarm produce being put to good use!

A perfect autumn day for some volunteering 🍂

Some of the amazing (and incredibly inventive!) dishes made with CoFarm produce by members of the local community 😋

The rainbow chard leaves glowing in the evening light ☀️Lots of chard was picked today by volunteers and sent off to local food hubs. If you’d like to spend a (hopefully!) sunny afternoon or evening helping us pick, w**d, water or plant, sign up to a session on our website.
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