Autumn news from the Farm

Autumn Farm collage

It feels very apt that I’m writing the Autumn update on the day we are celebrating Harvest with our Harvest Festival weekend. It’s one of the staff’s favourite events. As the business of high season starts to fade with the return of schools and the smell of Autumn looms large in the air, Harvest signifies a slowing and a time of reflection. We look back on the year and give thanks for all the good things and take the time to bless our lovely animals without whom the farm would be nothing.

Today we’ll be blessing two of our pigs, Molly and Luna, and their lovely litters of piglets who were born on 22nd August and 5th September. We are also giving thanks for the two new additions who will be joining us in the next few weeks – two young Saddleback pigs who are coming all the way from Herefordshire! Names to be decided…

We’ll be blessing all our horses, but especially Blossom who reached the grand old age of 21 last month and Friar who flew the flag for The Farm in an amazing ridden demo at the Cheshire Show this year!

We’ll be giving thanks for all the lovely chicks hatched over the summer… for Elliot and Emily, our two Golden Guernsey goats, who have been the absolute stars of the show in our Farm Fact talks… for Dancer the reindeer who lost her best mate Prancer last year but has brought us so much joy these last few months… for our three lovely donkeys who have embarked on a brand new training journey this year in a bid to shed their weight and have taken to it like pros (even if the weight remains much the same!)… to Berry our Jersey Cow who has been as patient and friendly as ever in our daily milking demos for the visitors.

We’ll also be blessing our amazing Farm Volunteers, without whom we couldn’t have implemented our Percy the Park Keeper trail, Summer activity programme and Summer events. From the Dog Show to the Country Fair, their help and support has been invaluable and we are so thankful for their dedication, skills and friendship.

And of course we’ll be looking forward. The farming cycle continues and already we are securing rams and bulls to ensure we have lambs and calves at the right time next year. We’re tending the Pumpkin Patch ready for our October half term ‘Pick a Pumpkin’ event. The Maize Maze is still open and won’t be harvested until the end of October. Plus the Christmas planning is already underway!

So please join us at this wonderful, colourful time of year for lots of Fun on The Farm!!! Click here for more events at the Farm this season.