Volunteering on the Food Works Farm
By Hannah Ronan-Brown
"As silly as it may sound to some, spending time in nature truly grounds a person. It can still the mind and free us from anxiety and stress, and that is what the farm gave me. It was a chance to find some calm in 2020 – the year of constant background stress and worry."
My time at Food Works
Food Works is a Sheffield-based organisation that takes surplus food from supermarkets and local shops, and uses it to create healthy, homemade ready-made meals that are affordable (only £1 each!). Some surplus food is sold in their Sharehouse shop, based over at Wyborne, next to the Sheffield-Rotherham Parkway. Dependent on the work of volunteers, Food Works is a hub of volunteers from all ages and skill-sets, all working with the common goal of reducing food waste and food inequality.
I first heard of Food Works in May 2020, when I needed something to fill my summer before starting my PhD. I started off doing a couple of meal delivery shifts – delivering healthy meals to a wide range of people; from those who were busy working and enjoyed the convenience of a ready-made homecooked meal, to those who were vulnerable and isolating during the pandemic. Delivery was fun, but searching for some more social interaction, I tried some shifts in the Sharehouse.
The Sharehouse is a busy place, with deliveries of donations form supermarkets arriving throughout the morning and early afternoon, and a shop area open to members of the public to buy food and ready meals. A basic (but big) Surplus Box is made up of the core ingredients that have been delivered in bulk that day, including fresh fruit and veg, bread, pastries, tinned goods, crisps and biscuits, and any other goodies that are plentiful! For each box, shoppers can choose some fridge and freezer items, like meat, cheese and milk – the number of chilled items available is dependent on how many food donations have been received that day. The Surplus boxes cost just £1 each, though many people choose to give an extra donation on top of that. I enjoyed working in the Sharehouse immensely; it’s a place where there is plenty to do and lots of lovely volunteers to talk to.
Working on the farm
In July last year, Food Works set up its city farm in a field at Green Estates at Manor Top. I jumped at the chance to get involved with the farm. The first day I was there, the field had two rows of redcurrant and raspberry bushes, a couple of weed-filled beds of rhubarb, dwarf beans and kale, and some teeny tiny tomato plants that had not enjoyed the summer drought. Bramble-hedgerows formed the edges of the field, which supplied us with gorgeous plump blackberries through until Autumn.
The first few weekly sessions were spent clearing the existing beds – myself and Fran, the expert and designer of the farm, spent 3 weeks clearing nettles from around the redcurrants so that we could collect the fruits. The nettle stings were annoying until my skin went numb to them – turns out that thick gloves and long sleeves are no barrier to the most determined nettles, and in 30°C sunshine, I’d rather just get stung!
Over the weeks, as we turned golden in the heat of the sun, the farm changed beyond all recognition. By October, when I last went to the farm, we had our first no-dig beds prepared, ready for planting out this Spring.
No-dig beds
A no-dig bed is a very easy way to prepare ground for crops. It requires (almost) no digging up of weeds or grass, which is time-consuming. There are several methods for no-dig beds – this is the one we used, but there are lots of similar methods used and recommended by various experts that you can find detailed online if you’re interested.
Step 1 – Make sure the ground is level. Cut down existing plants to a short height, remove big tussocks of grass, and try to fill in any holes with compost, or with the bits you’ve chopped down. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but no one wants a lumpy bed, not even your runner beans.
We did have a little problem on the farm with dock – it was almost everywhere. This turned our no-dig method into a slightly more 50%-dig method. Dock is a horror to get rid of, and you ideally dig down and remove the tap root, which is surprisingly strong and inhabited my nightmares until December.
Photo courtesy of Rachaelina (Food Works)
Step 2 – Cover your levelled ground with a layer of cardboard. This will block light from the plants below, preventing photosynthesis and ultimately killing the weeds. Cardboard is generally considered the best material for a no-dig bed, because it will decompose over time, unlike carpet or plastic weed fabrics that are sometimes used.
Step 3 – COMPOST! You need about 10cm of compost on top of the cardboard. You can mulch this over time if you want or mix it with manure as you apply it to increase nutrient content.
Step 4 – Plant! In theory, you can plant into a no-dig bed immediately, though you will have to do a little weeding as stubborn weeds burst through the cardboard. Weeding no-dig beds is one of the main efforts that you have to put in over time, but depending on the crops, you don’t have to be any more strict than you would with any other plant bed.
On the farm we didn’t plant into our beds immediately, as we finished the first one in September which is probably a little late for most crops in Sheffield. The goal instead was to have all the beds finished by our winter break beginning in November, so that beds needed minimal maintenance work come spring.
The best thing about the farm
I started volunteering with Food Works because I had time to spare and I wanted to do something useful and keep busy. The farm began at exactly the right time for me; I got to spend hours each week in the sunshine, and the rain, carrying mountains of nettles and dock, hands stained from collecting blackberries from the hedgerows, and I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent my summer.
As silly as it may sound to some, spending time in nature truly grounds a person. It can still the mind and free us from anxiety and stress, and that is what the farm gave me. It was a chance to find some calm in 2020 – the year of constant background stress and worry. I would advise everyone to find somewhere outdoors where they can spend time, and absolutely get involved with volunteering at allotments and food farms across Sheffield. There are plenty when you get looking!