Happy Easter & Site Closure Dates

Happy Easter from our two of our four rabbits named Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (below)! We love our small furries here at the Farm, and where possible we take the opportunity to remind readers and visitors that rabbits (and guinea pigs) are very social creatures, always feeling happiest and safest when paired, or in larger social groups. We love that children learn responsibility and love for other creatures by owning these beautiful animals, but please do always get them a friend (or more!) to live with. Living solo, they can become very lonely.

POSSIBLE CLOSURE! We are having new toilets built and our staff kitchen is being refurbished in works that should last around six weeks. This is being jointly funded by Tower Hamlets Council and The Veolia Environmental Trust. There is a distinct possibility we may need to close on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th April (next week) to accommodate. This is not yet definite, so please do check our socials (at the bottom of this email) closer to the time. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Half Term Education Activities

Over the half term we've held lots of fun activities for kids. Farm to Fork and den-building are core activities in our school holiday events calendar; the bug hunt was very popular (finding lots of millipedes, centipedes, solitary bees and larvae); and we also welcomed back the spectacular storyteller Rez Kabir. We also made some clay birds nests, held a badge-making session, and enjoyed a wooden egg painting class. All in all, a great half term!

If you want to find out what is happening in the May half-term and summer holidays, check out our What's On page here below closer to the time.

SPRING ARRIVALS! Lambs & Seabright chicken eggs in incubation

We have two new gorgeous lambs on site! These two, held here by Farm workers Steven and Kirsten, are called Barley and Rye. Their breed is Greyface Dartmoor. Read more on this interesting breed here - previously registered as a rare native breed with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, their numbers are now stable, and we are thrilled to have these two absolute beauties with us.

Our Seabright silver chicken eggs due to hatch will, if all goes well, be with us between the 27th and 30th April. Come and see them! We are so excited.

We are recruiting!

We are looking for a newly created volunteer role to be filled, so are welcoming applications for the Visitor Engagement Volunteer role. You can read more about the role and apply by clicking the button below.

The Farm has a considerable number of weekly visitors, and we are committed to ensuring they have an enjoyable, comfortable and positive visit. With the help of volunteers, we make this happen.

The role is very varied and will involve a day of training to learn about the Farm's history, animals, gardens, and services. While not essential, an ability to speak a community language such as Bengali is desirable.

We look forward to hearing from you! Click here to read more and apply.

VEG OF THE MONTH - Spinach!

The Veg of the Month for this newsletter is our fabulous crop of spinach, pictured. It has done extremely well this year, cropping at a high rate, which means we've been able to supply several local businesses including St John, a fantastic restaurant that we partner with in Spitalfields. We have also had large crops of green and rainbow chard, as well as mustard leaf.

This produce will soon be gone, as the warmer March and April have caused fast growth. Coming up we have mixed salad available in the shop, and are hoping to be harvesting cabbage and sprouting broccoli soon too.

New Small Animal Houses

In early April we finally finished a long-running new-build project to provide summer homes to our guinea pigs, extra space for our rescue chickens, and general over-spill for emergency rescues or other unforeseen needs. This new animal home is between the ducks and chickens in the farmyard. Come see!

Lastly, Book News...

Friend of the Farm Justine Lee, who runs the City Farm Yarn project that we've been collaborating with for some time now, has released a brand new book! You can buy The Wonder of Wool: A knitter's guide to pure breed sheep, on Amazon at the button below. Alternatively, give it a few months and we'll have it in stock in our very own farm shop, which will give you an excuse to come visit!

The cover model is our very own Rolo! We are proud of the modelling career our lad has taken to like a lamb to water, and anticipate his appearance on the front of Vogue very soon.

Buy The Wonder of Wool on Amazon here.

The Farm is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00am to 4.30pm.
We look forward to welcoming you soon!

Spring 2025 Newsletter