The mud Blog

Manchester Urban Diggers Manchester Urban Diggers

Emergency veg boxes and restaurant quality produce

This month BUG have been sending out 100s of kilos of veg to school families in need. Grown, harvested and packed by school students and volunteers, the veg boxes will go to who can't afford to put food on the table.

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Our Local Plan For Nature

For the past 2 years, MUD has been 1 of 18 non-profits nationally on an exciting programme called “Nature Neighbourhoods” (NN). The project is managed by The National Trust, the RSPB and WWF and is supported by The National Lottery and the Coop.

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Manchester Urban Diggers Manchester Urban Diggers

May Day

Wowwww what a day!! We celebrated the changing of the seasons with community, music, dance, and traditions rooted in nature and folklore.

Pictures by Atti of @themossyard.

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The bakes of May

A few delicious bakes made in May by our in-house baker Katie.

This month includes pistachio ice cream, raspberry danish with raspberries, tomato oregano danish, raspberry, rhubarb & blackcurrant ice cream, nettle and ricotta roll using nettles and herbs from the garden, ricotta and rhubarb bakewell tart, rhubarb and custard turnover, miso & sesame cookie and orange & almond cake.

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Compost poems

In another life, our fundraiser Joey is also a poet and occasional poetry teacher, organiser, critic.

He has recently written an essay about a poetry pamphlet by Sean Roy Parker, an artist, poet, and landworker, whose work and thinking about food, land, and practical, grassroots community support, is in close conversation with our own work and thinking at MUD.

The article thinks a little about what activities like community arts, poems, gardening, fermenting workshops, cooking together, have in common, as forms of creative play which help us to think through the ways we want to live together.

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How does volunteering work at MUD?

We’re incredibly lucky to have an amazing community of volunteers - and we’re always excited to welcome new faces to our Gardening Club! Read on to find out how it works and how to get involved.


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Table to Farm

Growing skills and techniques for people interested in digging deeper into where their ingredients come from and how to make them taste their best.

Every Tuesday 1-3pm at Platt Fields Market Garden starting on the 6th May.

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Leek, Mushroom & Chestnut Pie

With a hot water crust pastry that's quick and easy to work with. This recipe is vegan but can be made with dairy alternatives. Toasted cashew nuts can be used instead of chestnuts if they are not available- or just double the mushrooms.

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Seed Swapping Is A Radical Act

On 22nd Feb we hosted our 5th annual seed swap. Every year it has been a little bit different and we learn each year we go.

Here’s how and why we do it, and why a seed swap is a radical act.

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Winter Squash & Sage Bake

This easy recipe works with any pumpkin or winter squash. I used Queensland Blue, which has a mild, sweet flavour. This bake is good served with a roast dinner, a salad or even with a fry up.

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MUD Kitchen

The story of MUD Kitchen - the heart of Platt Fields Market Garden.

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Spiced Pumpkin Porridge Recipe

Pumpkin puree adds a rich sweetness to ordinary porridge- and counts as one of your 5-a-Day. This recipe uses Queensland Blue Squash but any pumpkin/squash will work.

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The Hungry Gap & Building a Herb Planter

We decided to design & built a herb planter in partnership with Patagonia who have been promoting regenerative agriculture practices around the world using their companies influence.

The planter design has been inspired by aquaponic systems. It demonstrates the benefits of good drainage in your containers and after a few weeks of growth looking beautiful as the roots will grow and dangle through the mesh searching for more water in the tray below.

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Happy Earth Day

Today is Earth day! An international celebration of our planet and environment and a call to everyone to work towards protecting the Earth. At Manchester Urban Diggers we believe that local, sustainable food systems are a pivotal part of this fight, Earth Day is every day at MUD.

Being involved in the environmental movement means we get the opportunity to work with some amazing people. To celebrate today, we'd like to introduce you to one of our amazing volunteers, Klaudia!

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