Spring 2026 Newsletter
Partnerships! Great Ormond Street Hospital & Natural History Museum
We are very proud to announce two new partnerships - one with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), to take mobile farms to the children in their care, and another with the Natural History Museum (NHM), where our sheep Barley and Rye have been contracted to give the grounds a haircut!
At GOSH we are working into their newly launched Mental Health Strategy, part of which supports the increased health outcomes evidence of spending time outdoors and with animals. They had focus groups where it was requested, and used global studies and research showing it improves patient well-being. They will be using the results to hopefully roll out our mobile farm programme to other wards in the rest of the hospital, using the results that come out of our engagement with the Mental Health unit.
And at the NHM our Greyface Dartmoors, Barley and Rye, are currently having a feast! The boys are on a special grazing assignment at the NHM for 3 weeks (returning 24th Feb). They are helping to graze the wildflower meadows in the Museum's wildlife garden, and will be hopefully paying another visit to the Museum in the autumn. Sheep grazing can help spread seeds around from the wildflowers, and eating dominant grasses can prevent pollinator-friendly meadow flowers from thriving.
You can visit the boys during their time at NHM by booking free tickets on the Museum's website.
Photos - Left/top: our mobile farm at GOSH; Right/bottom: Barley with the Natural History Museum in the background.
Half term activities!
Join us this half-term at the Farm, for a fun-packed time for children! Tomorrow (Friday) morning you can meet the animals at our family friendly farm guided-tour! Please click here for our What's On page for more details.
Young Farmer's Taster Day! February 28th, 10am-1pm
Are you aged between 14 and 17, and looking for some hands-on farm experience? Please click here to email our Young Farmers programme and register interest in our Taster Day coming up on 28th February at 10am till 1pm!
We have new livestock! Cariad, Violet and Fern...
New goats! - This month we welcomed two new pygmy goats to the Farm. 10 month old Violet (white goat) and Fern (brown goat) have joined us from a farm in Hampshire. As a large number of our older goats are heading towards their twilight years, Violet and Fern will be helping start a new era of younger goats at the Farm. We are hoping to breed them in a year or two when they are old enough, meaning we will have plenty of gorgeous pygmy goats coming up through the ranks. They've already completed their first mobile farm, visiting children at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Lambing is coming... April should bring the pitter patter of tiny hooves to the farmyard, with Rosehip the Castlemilk Moorit expecting this year. And we welcomed a new sheep to the flock, who is also hopefully pregnant! Cariad (pictured at the top) is a Balwen, a rare breed from Wales, who has joined us for the year from another flock. She's still very timid but hopefully in time will settle well. Her lambs will be crossbreeds - part Balwen and part Castlemilk. Come and say hi!
A big welcome also to our new Bantam Chickens...
Our Bantams have arrived! At the end of last year we collected four new Bantam hens to join our flock. Peach, Apricot, Cherry & Plum are Wyandotte chickens and have already started laying tiny eggs for us. The Wyandotte breed comes in sixteen different colour varieties! Bantams are around two thirds the size of a normal sized chicken. They are incredibly entertaining, do go and say hi to them in their purpose-built henhouse the next time you're up on the farmyard.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT!
Every newsletter we spotlight an achievement by one of our brilliant volunteers. This issue, it's Serena!
Serena is one of our wonderful Farmyard volunteers who has been helping us care for our animals for over two years. Alongside tending to the animals here she is also an avid gardener, and manages her own allotment. After hearing about OrganicLea from Chris (our Head Gardener) she decided to learn more formally and began training there.
We were incredibly happy and proud to hear that she had completed her Level 1 Certificate in Practical Horticultural Skills and has started training at Level 2. Her highlights have been understanding soil composition, propagating plants by stem cutting, and learning about annual pruning va restorative pruning.
Well done Serena!
clothing sale
Come visit our clothing sale! It's a pay-what-you-can, second-hand sale, raising funds for the Farm - an antidote to the fast fashion landscape that seemingly, these days, we can never escape. So come down and have a browse! We have plenty in stock - including baby clothes, jewellery, clothing for all genders, and even some books.
Location: The Lodge. For those who are currently observing Ramadan or Lent, this space can still be used as a multi-faith prayer space - please just ask one of the team members during your visit and we'll give you private access.
Please note: we're extending the closing date above, so this clothes shop will run beyond the 27th Feb!
shop happenings
As you'll also read below, we've been harvesting more greens recently so stock should be up more regularly.
We also have veg plants available if you want to plant your food out for spring! Put it in the ground now, and get their roots established before it gets warm - we have coriander, chervil, and flowering perennials too.
We also have just ONE loofah sponge remaining; these have sold really well – we grew them here at the Farm and made them here too, and it has been lovely to see that people value eco friendly products that are locally made.
Lastly, we are also selling some super cute crochet dishcloths made by Farm friend Andrea. Thanks Andrea!
Goodbye to our beloved Bayleaf (1996-2025)
It is with heavy hearts that we share the sad news that on Boxing Day, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Bayleaf the donkey.
Despite being incredibly stoic, the vets confirmed that Bayleaf was struggling with a serious health issue, and we knew it was time to let him go peacefully.
Bayleaf was a truly special donkey. Arriving at Spitalfields in 2001, he became known for his calm nature and love for ginger nut biscuits. He spent the rest of his (almost) 30 years bringing so much joy to the Farm and our visitors, educating volunteers in equine care, and visiting schools, churches, and hospices throughout all seasons.
Our other donkeys, Derek, Gilbert, and Sullivan, were able to spend time saying goodbye and understand the loss of their herd member.
If you have any memories of Bayleaf you'd like to share with us, do hit reply to this email and tell us all about them. We'd love to hear it.
Images: Bayleaf with his bonded brother Derek; Bayleaf on his birthday; Bayleaf grazing his paddock
VEG OF THE MONTH - Chard, Kale & Mustard
This month has been fantastic for mixed salad, chard, kale, and mustard. We've had lots of these crops, plus some more jerusalem artichokes going off to our local restaurant partners St John Spitalfields
Given the time of year we have been very fortunate and fairly productive. Finally, it is also looking like there will be a good crop of onion and garlic this year, which should both be ready by May/June.
INTERSPECIES BONDING AT THE FARM
A few weeks ago, our Farmyard Manager Jenny thought it would be sweet to introduce some of our animals that usually don't mix on the Farm due to the locations of their enclosures. This photo is of our donkeys, Derek and Sully, meeting our beautiful rescue turkey, Marilyn Monroe.
Team Building - come and visit with your company!
If you didn't already know, we run team challenge days for companies who want to do something fun with their CSR budgets, and give back to their community while strengthening their intra-team bonds. What are the benefits of bringing your team to our Farm for your team building experience?
For You:
- Enhance team bonds and promote employee wellbeing
- Learn new skills
- Enjoy a rewarding day in an inspirational setting
- Contribute to the local community and environment
- Fulfil your Corporate Social Responsibility aspirations
For Us:
- Receive practical help on site from highly motivated groups
- Share the importance of a rural community in London
- Develop new relationships and perspectives
- Generate funds towards the running costs of the Farm
- Help us deliver on our strategy and charitable objectives
We take care of all the planning, protective gear, equipment and activities for your volunteer day; you can expect to be led by an experienced and knowledgeable Farm staff team; and we have PLI and a thorough Risk Assessment for meeting all your H&S requirements.
We could not maintain this site without Team Challenge volunteer time. It also helps us fund our education and mobile farm programmes, which help us keep food growing, animal experiences, and our space in general available for free to the various under-served groups we work with.
Click here for full information on costs, activities, what to expect, and how we look after you all on the day.
Site Improvement CALLOUT
We need your skills! Do you have any experience or contacts in wood shingling? Our Lodge has a shingle roof in dire need of improvements. if you know anyone who knows anything, please share our site manager's email with them and ask them to get in touch. Your Farm needs you!
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.