In this week’s FoodFutures column, Ellen Pearce, coordinator of The Plot, says a big thanks to everyone involved in this pioneering five year project…
LESS recently hosted a celebration to mark five years of the Plot at Old Holly Farm, and to thank the many people who have contributed to the Plot over the last few years.
In 2020, LESS rented two small paddocks at Old Holly Farm (near Forton) which enabled us to get a foot in the soil and start our dream of setting up a market garden and associated training programme.
The FoodFriends scheme, a small-society lottery, was set up to fundraise for the Plot and we are grateful to FoodFriends for paying for the first organic certification in 2020 that was a condition of our lease, and for supporting the Plot financially over the coming years.
Over the last 5 growing seasons, we have had 19 FarmStart trainees, 8 of whom have gone on to get jobs as growers or in social/community horticulture, whilst a further 4 have been employed by LESS on the farm.
We were also joined by an amazing group of volunteers – whose regular help with weeding and other jobs was enormously appreciated.
The Plot produced a lot of veg too – over 460kg of mixed salad (with flowers), 360kg+ of kale, and over 600kg of tomatoes from the polytunnels at White Lund.
We piloted a community-supported-agriculture model with our crop-sharers who shared the risks with us, benefitting from abundance in the good seasons and sharing the challenges when they came. There were 124 households who enjoyed a season of veg! We also donated produce to Eggcup and supported community meals in the District.
Local businesses were also part of the eco-system which made the Plot possible – it was great to supply local cafes and shops and we are grateful to Wyreside Mushrooms for their spent mushroom blocks which we were able to compost for veg growing.
It’s the end of one chapter, but the beginning of another. The space at Old Holly farm has been taken on by the volunteer group who have shared in caring for the veg growing over the last few years and the Plot is setting up a new outdoor growing space at Summerhouse Community farm; the FarmStart training programme will run again in 2027.
