We were accompanied by staff of Reason Digital today to Moss Brook Organic Growers as part of their volunteering commitment to good causes in Manchester.
As part of developing a Land Army for Greater Manchester Kindling has been experimenting with different ways of getting volunteers into local farmer's fields to help support our City's sustainable food movement. So to be able to take six member of staff of a local social enterprise out was a great opportunity to test the idea out.
We had planned to help plant seven thousand cloves of garlic, but the land was too wet. Instead we harvested leeks, cabbage and Kale over the half day. Reason Digital also helped us put up our new shelter for the first time and cooked a leek soup (harvested just yards away) for lunch.
The group had agreed to be our guinea pigs, allowing us to discover things like: how much wood we need to cook lunch; how much water we needed to take for washing; how long it would take to put the marque up etc. All things we need to know to run professional and comfortable outings for other businesses. Businesses who may be willing to financially contribute for the opportunity to support local growers as part of their corporate social responsibility.
So, a huge thank you to Reason Digital for their hard work and patience and Rob from Moss Brook who guided our work. We owe a special thank you to Unicorn Grocery for providing us with funds to buy clothing and tools, a field kitchen and crucially a shelter for those all too frequent showers.