Remembering Michael

This run was dedicated to Michael. Michael was Harriet's coach from July 2011 - April 2013

"Me and my team jumped at the chance to mulch potatoes. From the name I thought it would be a bit like what ancient Romans do when they make wine; we'd get to kick off our stinking GoodGym trainers and stamp around barefooted in a heap of fermenting potatoes. We would make vodka for the community.

"But turned out that's not what the mulching process entails. All you do if you want to mulch stuff is chuck sawdust, and a pile of chicken poo (casual), all over it, followed by water galore. This helps root vegetables grow big and strong. But I'm not sure whether it works on everything e.g. Receding hair or children."
Jessie Barnard

"For the last 20 years I've huffed and puffed every time mum has asked me to muck the chickens out. Yet tonight, when Richard asked for volunteers I jumped at the chance. I guess all mum needed to do all those years was frame it as exercise...

"It was made even more fun by a good bit of inter-pen competition: who could clear their pen the fastest? We thought we'd won at first, but then realised that the six inch thick concrete slab that we'd brushed clean was in fact compressed chicken poo, and we'd barely started. But altogether, armed with a couple of spades and pitch forks, I'd say we did a good job, leaving two pens fit for royalty. Or bantams."
Hermione Taylor

"A group of us took to drenching the parched soil that embeds the wide range of seedlings on show at the centre of the farmyard. After plunging our watering cans into a vat of cold water, we scurried across to the seed beds where we poured water around hardier new starters with plain nozzle cans or carefully doused delicate seedlings using our rose-topped cans (yes, I too have just learnt that is gardening’s equivalent of the shower head!).

"This to-ing and fro-ing proceeded quite efficiently, until Mark spotted the potential of the watering cans as kettlebells and proceeded to demonstrate an impressive range of moves, from bicep curls to tricep over shoulder extensions. I only wish I had handed him a full rose-topped can; now that would have made a good photo op!"
Pauline Keating

"While harvesting may sound like the easiest task of the evening, it was by far the most rewarding – because we got to eat what we gathered! Spitalfields City Farm kindly told us to collect all the rhubarb, mint, wild garlic and chard we could carry. We eagerly agreed, forgetting we had to, quite literally, carry it 3.5km back. While running. But carry it we did, looking like a gang on the run from a recent rhubarb heist, much to the amusement of the local Tower Hamlets’ residents.”

Cod with Chard, Sugar Snap Peas and Wild Garlic

Ingredients:
150g Cod Fillet
2 Chard Leaves and Stems
Handful Sugar Snap Peas
1 head Wild Garlic
1 tsp Olive Oil
Handful Fresh Parsley
75ml Vegetable Stock
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Method:
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add wild garlic and diced chard stems. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add cod and cook both sides for around 2.5 minutes each. Add sugar snap peas, stock, parsley and chard leaves and cover for 1 minute. Season, serve and enjoy!
Rebecca Harris