Things begin to quieten down now on the farm...especially on the event side of things. What a wonderful season it's been though.
After a wet start to the year and having to cancel our 'Spring at the Farm' event, I did panic that it would be an omen of the year to come. Luckily, this was far from the case.
In May, we had the lovely Scripts for Supper (Annie McKenzie) bring 3 weekends of entertainment. Food and theatre all rolled together and acted out as you eat your delicious food provided by various chefs from Masterchef. The cast were lovely and we had all become accustomed to the yard being full of song on rehearsal days. All 6 nights were a sell out!
We also hosted Future Growers, ran by the Soil Association. This is a chance for young growers to come together and meet like-minded people, go and visit farmers and hear their stories. We provide a base for them in our camping field and cook them a big meal in the evening.
May brought the first run of children's birthday parties as well. We offer a tractor trailer ride and open up the straw bale den. The kids love it, plus it gives them the freedom to run about in a safe environment.
We finished the month with the Woodcraft folk holding their annual camping trip with us. Stories around the camp fire and exploring our farm trail.
June started well with a 40th Birthday party - they hired the whole yard and had food from the BBQ. The following weekend was the return of 'Open Farm Sunday' that takes place on farms all over the country. It's a great opportunity for people to go and see how their local farm works.
D'arts fest returned in July. This is the fourth year it has been hosted by the farm. It's a festival for people with learning disabilities, their friends, family and carers. A special weekend of arts and live music.
We had our first wedding in July. The weather was amazing (as it was with all of them this year) and we had such a lovely time with the couple. August and September was filled with more weddings. It went by in a flash!
For three days we become a big part of our wedding couples lives and become the backdrop for their big day. We get to know a lot of the family and guests and by the time the Sunday has come around, it's sad to say goodbye to everyone. Our final wedding in September finished with all of them in a circle singing at the top of their lungs. A very emotional moment! After such a busy summer, it's moments like that I realise how lucky we are to live in Devon and work in such a beautiful place.
A weekly art class started in September- ran by the lovely people of Colour Wheel . It's been amazing seeing how much people have learnt from it.
At the end of September we had lots of birthday parties and our first yoga on the farm. This went down very well and we were happy the classroom was being used for something different.
October is spent preparing for our biggest open day of the year, our 'Apple and Pumpkin Day'. This year was the busiest yet! We had more activities thanks to The Outdoor Group who built a shelter in the orchard and taught people how to do nordic weaving. Poco Drom returned and sang the kids favorite songs. Tractor trailer rides ran all day.
Our straw bale den closes at the end of October as the cows come in for the Winter. Of course, we managed to squeeze in a few more parties before it was occupied by cows!
For the first time ever we ran a pick your own pumpkin morning. We couldn't believe the amount of people that turned up for it. It was so much fun and the patch was left empty. We'll definitely be doing that next year!
I thought things would quieten down after October, but November has been busy so far with various conferences taking place and us provided catering for all of them. We love come up with ideas on site for tasty lunches!
We have more yoga happening at the farm soon and a weekend of Thai massage classes.
Which brings us to December. We're preparing for our Christmas orders of organic meat. It's also a great time for me to plan for 2019.
It would be amazing to hear what things people would like to see more of on the farm.
Thank you to everyone who hired rooms, got married, celebrated their birthdays, downward dogged, painted a pumpkin, rode our tractor trailer and for everyone who has enjoyed our farm throughout the year. Looking forward to another busy year!
