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 Why not become a member of Bath City Farm? If you would like to receive a copy of our all singing, all dancing newsletter, in glorious colour and with pictures, please consider becoming a member of Bath City Farm. Membership only costs £8 a year (concessions available). Your membership fee helps to support our running costs, e.g. salaries, site work, newsletter and of course our animals. Seasonal Celebrations at the Farm Bath City Farm has hosted some fantastic free events over the last few months which have been very well attended by the local community. During the October half term we held a ‘Snap Apple Day’ with the Wansdyke Play Rangers to celebrate the autumn apple season. There were many fun, traditional apple-themed games including snap apple, apple bobbing, longest peel and William Tell. Children also made fresh apple juice from local apple trees using a traditional press. The juice went down very well with everyone and was consumed as quickly as it was made. The farm held its annual Bonfire evening on November 5th. The unique viewpoint from the farm allows excellent views of the firework display from the Recreation ground and because of this approximately 150 people attended. The farm provided a huge bonfire, BBQ and refreshments for visitors, and staff and trustees were also able to keep a watchful eye on the animals to check that they weren’t too stressed out by the loud bangs. Once the bonfire finally got going it was a very successful evening and we managed to make a profit of £125.00 towards the upkeep of the farm through the sale of food and refreshments. To get everyone in the festive mood we organised an after school family Christmas celebration with the play rangers on the 18th December. We collected lots of natural materials including willow, holly, ivy rosehips, dogwood and conifer branches to make Christmas wreaths and other decorations. There was also a fire were we roasted chestnuts and potatoes while we made our decorations. Everyone’s wreaths looked amazing, much better than what you would buy in a shop, and of course free! Goodbye From Di Di Appleyard, the Farm Co-ordinator is leaving the Farm in January to take up a position as Community Garden and Outreach Officer with the Palace Trust in Wells. “I’d like to say that I have enjoyed my time here, I have learnt an awful lot and hope that I have helped the Farm to get a bit nearer to that dream of a community café on site and to be surer of a stable future. I will miss everyone but will be back to visit and lend a hand when I can.” Volunteer Update The cold weather we have had so far this winter has not put off volunteers from coming to the farm which proves just how committed they are; so a big thank-you to you all, we wouldn’t be able to do it without you. Monday volunteers have been working really hard caring for the animals, clearing bramble and nettles, preparing the flower beds for the spring, maintaining the wildlife pond and laying hedges. The next couple of months will prove to be very busy too as we have a new hedgerow to plant in Lower Lamb Sleight which will also need to be fenced off to protect it from the cows. There is also a lot more scrub, nettle and thistle clearance that needs to be completed before the spring. Bath Mind and the Genesis Project have recently started volunteering at the farm again after a short break. They have enthusiastically taken on one of the raised beds and are creating a mini allotment for growing vegetables. Animal Update All of the animals have been coping well during this cold spell of weather adopting their winter coats or plumage to help stay warm. We have been getting through lots of bales of hay though to supplement the goats and sheep’s diet and also lots of extra straw to provide a nice warm bed for all of the animals. We did have some bad news in September regarding our Soay ram Zippy. He was found dead in the sheep field and it appeared that he had been mauled by a dog. It looks as though Zippy successfully prevented the dog from attacking the rest of the flock but died as a result. We were all very sorry to see him go as he had been a very good ram and the flock had produced lambs for three consecutive years. Of course this means that we will not have any Soay lambs next year as Zippy died just before the breeding season was about to start again. It has therefore been decided that we will keep the female flock of Soay sheep and obtain some Jacob sheep in 2009 which we will use for breeding instead. All of our male lambs went to slaughter in October and there is still some meat left to purchase from the farm. This will be the last chance to try this beautiful rare breed lamb so get it while you can! The Ducks received a lovely Christmas present from us this year in the form of a brand new duck pond. We finally got rid of the bath in their main enclosure and replaced it with a pond that all eight ducks can swim in happily. One of our trustees; Paul Poulton and two of our volunteers very kindly helped to build the pond, so a big thanks to them. We have finally received confirmation that Jimmy the Tamworth Boar will be arriving in the next few weeks from Gloucester City farm to visit Molly for a month or so. We are all looking forward to welcoming him to the farm again; we just hope Molly gives him a good welcome too! As well as the resident animals at the farm we have also had some fantastic sightings of visiting birds too. Over the last couple of months we have seen bullfinches, goldcrests, lapwings, green woodpeckers, great-spotted woodpeckers, herons, buzzards and sparrowhawks and an increasing flock of starlings to name but a few! All of these different species are a great indication that the farm is an incredible habitat for local wildlife. Courses at Bath City Farm The farm recently ran a very successful Animal Welfare and Horticultural course funded by Community Learning Services. The course ran every Wednesday morning for ten weeks and students learnt about composting, planting vegetables and apple trees as well as animal care including; treating the chickens for lice and cutting the goats hooves. There was also a day trip to Broadlands Community Orchard where students were able to pick apples and press them to make fresh apple juice. Every one really enjoyed the course and we hope to repeat it again this spring so thank you to everyone who attended. Information on further courses will be available at the farm. Kedric Fisher Saturday Morning Environmental club Bath City Farm is starting a new club for children age 8 to 13 on Saturday mornings. We are hoping to attract local young people, who will be able to have lots of fun looking after the animals, doing nature trails and wildlife surveys and lots of other traditional activities. At the same time the club will hopefully raise the children’s awareness of sustainability issues and also engender a sense of custodianship of the Farm, their place in the world and ultimately the wider environment. Fundraising news We were recently granted £6,000 from the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation towards the salary of the Farm Co-ordinator CHK Charities have awarded us £5,000 to pay for the Volunteer Co-ordinator’s salary. We have also had donations towards our work from:- Coutts Charitable Trust £750 We would like to say a big thank you to all the groups and individuals who supported the farm in 2008.
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