October 2026 Newsletter
Harvest Festival 2026
This years festival was a roaring success! Held at the wonderful Mudchute City Farm again, we had a fantastic day with all our young farmers, after school club participants, our spinner Jenny, and our dedicated staff team. Trophies and pics below!
Animals
Best guinea pig, Tarragon and Amira (after school club)
2nd best chicken, Cherry the Wyandotte and Cara (young farmer)
2nd best goat, Fern the pygmy goat and Milo (young farmer)
4th best handler in the 15-18 year old large animal class won by Halima (young farmer) and Violet the pygmy goat
6th best ferret, Tabasco and Halima (young farmer)
6th best goat, Violet the pygmy goat and Ayub (young farmer)
6th best handler in the 8-11 year old small animal class, Cherry the chicken and Vincent (after school club)
Young farmers Ayub and Gemma also won special rosettes from the Castlemilk Moorit Society for showing our Castlemilk lamb Una!
Gardens + Spinning Stall
This year we welcomed our volunteer spinner and weaver, Jenny, to demo at the festival, which was wonderful. We also won the below for gardens produce and plant presentations:
1st place for tiny bouquet
1st place for potted perennial
3rd place for potted annual
3rd place for mini garden (adult age category)
3rd place for container of eggs (featuring a wonderful egg plate made by Shankly Boy Ceramics - available in our shop!)
We also won the trophy for highest points for our horticultural entries, and our Young Farmers Coordinator, who runs the programme here at the Farm, won 4th best ferret with Teriyaki.
Lastly, our wonderful young farmer Gemma won a special award called the Craig Award, in recognition for how much she has contributed to the group since starting with us. Congratulations Gemma!
Photo credits: Harry Sweeney Photography
Sheep Drive 2026
As we always do, every year, this September we attended the annual Sheep Drive and Livery Fair organised by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, keeping alive the ancient rites of Freemen of the City of London, which in the old days allowed the Freemen to walk their sheep into the city without paying tax.
These days the event is used as a fundraiser for charities supported by the dozens of Worshipful Companies (Livery Companies) in the city, of which we are one. It celebrates all things wool and promotes the work done by the Livery Companies, and we took with us a few of our livestock and our wonderful, dedicated herding volunteers, and Jenny, our resident spinner and weaver volunteer mentioned above, who gives demos throughout the day.
We share our stall with Justine Lee from Ossian Knitwear. She's responsible for the London City Farm Yarn project that our sheep contribute fleeces to, and she uses the Sheep Drive event to promote that amazing project every year.
Come and see us in 2027 - we'll send the date out closer to the time. It's the only time of year you'll see sheep walking over a main thoroughfare bridge in Central London!
Photo credits: Gregoire Chaillet
Hazel, our Royal Golden Guernsey goat
Hazel the Golden Guernsey goat was born at Spitalfields in 2013. For 13 years, she brought so much joy to the farm and all those that visited her.
She had a gentle, comforting presence, when not cuddling up with her daughter Juniper she would demand cuddles and biscuits in equal measure!
Her arthritis sadly became too painful for her in her last week and we made the difficult decision to say goodbye. Rest easy, sweet Hazel. You were the best lady, and you will never be forgotten.
Sullivan's Vet Visit
Our miniature donkey Sullivan needed emergency veterinary care in September, and thanks to the team at House and Jackson they were quickly able to diagnose and treat him for a lung infection. Unexpected medical care costs add up very quickly. If you are able to support Sullivan and his friends, please consider donating to us - we would be really grateful for the help.
His bonded mate Gilbert went with him, just so they weren't without each other during his five day stay at the vets.
Site Developments
Our pathways are currently being renovated by Bow Maintenance, funded by Tower Hamlets Council. These accessibility works have been in the pipeline for several months now with the council, to improve our pathways and general accessibility around the farm; including the renovation of the fencing and paving on the farmyard. Please come and see the wonderful work they've done when you're here next, and we hope it makes the space more enjoyable for wheelchair users, buggies and pushchairs, and people with limited mobility. Feedback is very welcomed - stick your head in the office if you'd like to chat.
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING
As a reminder, we run a fantastic team challenge programme here at the Farm, so if you or someone you know works for a company that has a CSR budget, we'd love to see you. More info and booking details via the button below, and the stats for September were:
Total hours worked were 971; across 245 volunteers; who came from a total of 27 teams from different companies.
Click here to bring your team!
Photo: Travelers Europe team at the Farm, 2025
That's it for this edition! Thank you for reading.
The Farm is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00am to 4.30pm.
We look forward to welcoming you soon.