BBC radio interview and photos

We have the link to the BBC Cambridge radio interview with our coordinator Charlotte! You can play it wherever you are. Charlotte represented the Garden at Earth Day celebrations in Cambridge with a colourful - and fitting - costume. She is such an inspiration to all of us.

Pic: Elena Moses

We have been sent pictures of Empty Common at different stages of its growth by Elena Moses, a keen environmentalist and photographer who has been a good friend of the Garden for many years.

Early days, well before this blog started

Another view of the garden before we took over

The garden in full swing

Then came the polytunnel!

Plastic bottles make good cloches

The heritage wheat we sowed 

Burwell wheat

Polytunnel bloom

Veggies do have pretty flowers

Tomatoes ripening in the polytunnel

Charlotte talks to a volunteer

More photos to follow. Happy Gardening, wherever you are!

A video about the garden and interview with our Charlotte

Our coordinator Charlotte was interviewed by BBC Cambridge on 11 September at 12.15. I have contacted the BBC to find out when they post the link. In the meantime, you can watch this video from That's Cambridge.



We are trying to spread the word about the garden among local residents, so far two talks are planned, one at St Augustine's Church, CB4, and one at the Chesterton Garden Club. Information will be posted when it's released by the organisers. The meeting hut project is progressing, our representatives met the City Council to share the plans by architect Alex and the engineer Simon.


Back to gardening, after long weeks of drought we got some rain so the grass morphed from straw into green and luscious growth. A cut with our solar-powered mower is on the list of tasks. Aside weeding and harvesting a variety of veg, young strawberry plants were bedded last week.
Have a lovely week and if you want to join us, click here for more info.


The arrival of the rain means we have a reduced watering rota - it has not been very wet yet and seedlings in the polytunnel need to be attended to. We are growing winter lettuce while cucumbers, basil and tomatoes are still being harvested indoors.

We are featured in the Independent's Happy List!

We are proud to announce that the Independent newspaper recognised the hard work and dedication bestowed on the Empty Common Community Garden by Charlotte Synge, whom we know is very modest and has always requested not to feature too prominently on the blog.

I was told by Michelle Golder, who is working on a film about Empty Common, that the Independent was looking for nominations for the Happy List 2018. I filled a form asking a lot of questions and waited. I was told we had been chosen in late August so I emailed Charlotte with a white lie that I needed a picture for a poster for a future talk. When the list was live, I surprised Charlotte, who is going to give an interview at BBC Cambridge this month.

Charlotte and our garden are featured at number 21 out of 50 individuals on the Happy List! If you read the list, you will see that we are above individuals raising money for very good causes so we are chuffed by this recognition. A well-deserved pat on the back for Charlotte, all the volunteers and those who helped us over the years.

I would also like to add that although the application form explained that Cambridge Council gave us funding for the meeting hut, there is no mention of it in the photo caption. The University of Cambridge has given some money and offered help with the project, but the bulk of the funds comes from the Council.

If you clicked the link on the article (lacking an em at the end, which I added to the screenshot above for clarity, the link works on the newspaper's page though) and found our blog, welcome! If you live in Cambridge, you can join us. Look for the first post with Charlotte's email address and the map here and feel free to contact her. If you do not live in Cambridge, you can follow the garden's progress on this blog.

If you are a company and would like to donate items in kind or fund us, please contact Charlotte, the email is on the link above.