A staggering 4.5 tonnes of top-quality, organically produced food has been grown on CoFarm Cambridge's urban market garden over the course of its first season, with an equivalent value of around £21,000 if it was sold at the farm gate.

All the food grown this year has been donated to community food hubs around Cambridge to support people experiencing food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time when maintaining health is of the uppermost importance, we are proud to have provided nutritious food to help improve the health and wellbeing of people in our local community.

More than 250 volunteers, led by Pete Wrapson and Dominic Walsh, have helped sow, weed, tend, and harvest the vegetables planted on the two-acre market garden, which all began in earnest once 360 metres of rabbit-proof fencing was installed in May.

More than 50 varieties of veg have been grown this year, including: potato, tomato, peppers – sweet and chilli – aubergine, beans, rainbow chard, beetroot, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, rocket, various herbs, salad onions, radish, chicory, courgette, cauliflower, broccoli, white/green and savoy cabbages, calabrese, cavolo nero, kale, sweetcorn, fennel, pumpkins and squash, pak choi, oca, parsnip, swede, turnip, spinach, celeriac, and Brussels sprouts.

The success of the market garden has reinforced many of CoFarm's core values, namely to build communities through growing and sharing delicious, nutritious food. The number of volunteers that have helped transform what was a bare field into a thriving market garden is testament to the community spirit of the project.

‘Volunteering gave me a real sense of purpose this year. Knowing that I have helped to strengthen my local community during the pandemic is really rewarding. And, being outdoors and gardening with new friends has been so enjoyable,’ said Sarah, a CoFarm Cambridge volunteer. 

Many thanks to everyone who has made CoFarm Cambridge such a huge success this year! It could not have been possible without the support of more than 130 sponsors and partners: Abbey People; Allia Limited; Arm Limited; Amey Cespa; Bank of Ireland Begin Together Fund; Cambridge 2030; Cambridge City Council; Cambridge Sustainable Food; Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance; Cambridge Water PEBBLE Fund; DEFRA; Horizon Resource Centre; RH Partnership Architects; RSPB; St Andrews Church, Cherry Hinton; and The C3.

By Greg Blackman

Media enquiries: Jessica Rowbury (jessica.rowbury@cofarm.co)