AstraZeneca comes back to ECCG

Another cohort of green-fingered volunteers from AstraZeneca visited the garden in July. We documented what they did for us in these lovely photos.

Thank you so much for contributing to our community garden with your hard work.

The Garden still needs volunteers, if you would like to join, please get in touch.

Another party at Empty Common - Sunday 17 July

It's summer and the watering rota is in full swing because it is not raining and if it does, it is not enough for plants to thrive.

This Sunday, the Empty Common Community Garden is hosting the Transition Cambridge's summer picnic, 12:00-14:00. It is open to anyone and it's a chance to meet and catch up with local transitioners. 

Please bring your own food and drink (best if we don't share because of covid). The picnic will go ahead whatever the weather as the new meeting hut is now viable!!!

Donations towards ECCG are, of course, welcome!

Below are the photos of our own party, which was attended by members of Transition too.

 

Saturday picnic party - 2 July 2022

Apologies if the blog has been quiet. We have been working hard, watering and planting in the outside beds as the outdoor growing season started. The hut is also progressing. Why not come and see for yourself this Saturday? 

Come and join us and help to promote ECCG. Bring food and drink to share. We hope to see you there! 

A wonderful party with new sign-ups

On Saturday the Garden was full of people and music as we ran a fundraiser to finish building the meeting hut. It has been a long time coming but the hut is looking great and just needs some finishing touches before it becomes a place to hold workshops and have cups of tea!

I took a selfie in front of the hut, which was decorated with recycled bunting; we had music, food and great conversations.

There was even some folk dancing and it was a glorious sunny day, so everyone enjoyed the party and it continued well after the advertised time.

We had visits from friends from other allotments and Camlets members.

Meanwhile the polytunnel is filling up with seedlings and plants.

The inside of the hut is very welcoming, we just need a few bits of furniture and some paint on the walls.

A great day for all of us, we have not had such a great party for a year or more due to Covid restrictions. A few new volunteers also turned up. We need more, so consider joining us! We also accept donations in money and kind.

Spring party at the ECCG: Saturday 21 May 2022

A past musical party in the Garden

ECCG is having a Spring Party with musical entertainment on Saturday, 21st May, from Noon to 4pm.

Bring a picnic and something to sit on. 

If you are a musician and wish to join in with the folk session in the second half, you are welcome to bring your instrument along. Spare parts will be available if you want to read the music – bring your own music stand!

Everyone is welcome. Donations for the Garden are gratefully accepted.

Spring is in the air: we need your help!

A lovely view of the garden

Spring has sprung at Empty Common Community Garden. Charlotte emailed us that the solitary bee home did well this year for both healthy solitary bees and their parasites. We got 95 healthy mason bee cocoons, 16 unidentified bees in clay nests and plenty of parasitic wasps. 

Simone took a group of visitors from the University to visit Empty Common - a preview to a talk about the garden on Tuesday 15 March. 

We need more gardeners! There are lots of seeds to sow and prepare beds for. Seedlings are coming up in the polytunnel and will need transplanting outside when the soil has warmed up and there is less risk of frosts. Please get in touch with Charlotte to join - csynge@googlemail.com - or visit on a Sunday from around 10.30 to meet the current volunteers.

Visitors admire the shed with its lovely paintings

The hut is coming along fine, today's visitors were very impressed. Thank you to Utpal for taking all the photos in this blog post. We also discovered a book box, this is an initiative by Inci, a visiting scholar who has a small plot adjacent to the community garden.

Below is our most dedicated volunteer looking after a bed protected with a net so birds and other wildlife cannot munch the crop. We met her today and she had a chat with the visitors, urging them to join!

More lovely photos show how great the garden looks, even now when it's early for most crops.

The blue shed 

Utpal (first on left), our photographer

A new year - gathering in the garden and bird count

An outdoor gathering by the fire pit

The year 2022 has started with some uncertainty regarding Covid and with very changeable weather, from mild to frosty. On Sunday 23 January, Transition Cambridge organised a winter gathering around the firepit at the Garden. 

The Christmas gathering had to be postpoined because of Covid regulations, so the idea of having an outdoor gathering with baked potatoes and mulled wine was heart warming. Luckily the weather was kind and covid regulations allowed open-air gatherings, so the gathering went ahead. The pictures say it all. Click on a photo to enlarge it and view the rest in a slideshow... With sincere thanks to Transition Cambridge for sharing them.

A bird count also occurred towards the end of January, but because it was very busy, there were few birds. The count was repeated but birds still proved elusive, which is uncommon as the Garden is very popular with wildlife. Ben counted 1 robin, 1 pigeon and 2 blackbirds. This was a bit disappointing but let's bear in mind that as the weather improves, more people are keen to get out and about, and there are more cyclists using the track at the back. Perhaps the birds are making the most of the hours of the morning and evenings when not many people are about. 

More photos of the gathering are below. A belated Happy New Year from us!