|
||||||
Allotment societies at farmers' market
 |
Allotment gardeners in Cambridge ran a
fortnightly stall at Cambridge's Farmers
Market in Market Squares from August 1999 to August 2000. Our stall now continues on
the last Sunday of each month. Takings from sale of surplus produce are used for allotment promotion such as advertising and improvements e.g. site noticeboards. The stall also acts as an information point about allotment gardening. Thanks to Cambridge City Council for the use of the space. If you're interested in having a stall at this
increasingly popular market, held every Sunday, contact the organiser, Annette Joyce E-mail : Annettej@cambridge.gov.uk |
 |
Report from 22 August 1999 A team of volunteer helpers turned up early to set up stall for a 10:30am start. Fortunately the weather was fair. Queues several people deep quickly grew when the market started. The allotment stall had the widest range of vegetable produce of any of the stalls present. All proceeds from the sale of vegetables are being used to fund the promotion of allotments. Watch out for the forthcoming Cambridge Allotments 2000 promotional campaign! |
 |
The preceding day, gardeners throughout Cambridge
had collected surplus produce from the following allotment sites, including Baldock Way, Burnside, Elfleda Road, Histon Road, Pakenham Close, Stourbridge Grove and Trumpington. This picture shows fresh dwarf green beans from Burnside, picked less than a day earlier. |
 |
Allotments enhance the image of our city! Several visitors to the stall came from abroad. One of our helpers spoke fluent Spanish, which came in handy when a couple from Spain, who are now resident in Cambridge, discovered that allotments were currently available to rent. They now intend to look for a suitable plot. |
 |
More dwarf beans from Burnside Allotments : this time they're yellow. There are purple varieties, too! |
 |
I wonder how I'm supposed to use this new toy? It's actually a yellow courgette, as you probably know. |
 |
The main objective of the stall was to promote
allotments to the citizens of Cambridge. There were many enquiries and it is likely that
several people will rent plots now that they know about this opportunity. Visitors are seen inspecting an aerial photo of the city which shows the locations of the allotment sites. |
 |
This huge pumpkin will turn orange in time for
Halloween but nobody felt strong enough to carry it home! Hopefully the allotment societies will attend more farmers' markets like this in future. People frequently wanted to know if the stall would come back again (probably realising that it is hard to find vegetables of similar quality elsewhere). This was the first of a series of planned farmers' markets. |
Latest update 20/07/01