Collingwood Childrens' Farm Summer 2012 Newsletter

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FARM YARNS Summer 2012 Summer 2012

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Collingwood Childrens' Farm Summer 2012 Newsletter

Transcript of Collingwood Childrens' Farm Summer 2012 Newsletter

Page 1: Collingwood Childrens' Farm Summer 2012 Newsletter

FARM YARNS

Summer

2012

Summer

2012

Page 2: Collingwood Childrens' Farm Summer 2012 Newsletter

Farm Yarns is a quarterly publication from the Collingwood Children’s Farm (CCF). The CCF, a not-for-profit,

educational small-holding city farm was established in 1979 as a “country experience for city folk”. The Farm is sited

on the Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands, the oldest continually farmed land in Victoria (since 1836).

The CCF is guided by a Committee of Management, elected annually.

The Collingwood Children’s Farm are proud to acknowledge the Wurundjeri of the Kulin Federation

as the traditional owners of the Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands, the land

we respect, care for and farm on behalf of all Victorians. The Farm thanks

all Wurundjeri Elders past and present, for their guardianship of these lands.

We would like to acknowledge generous

support from the following organisations:

2012-13 Committee of Management

Cheryl Cameron Mikyla Hart Netta McArthur (Pres.) Helen Semmler (Sec.)

Lachlan Fitch Pip Hay Lily O’Neill Greg Sparks (V.Pres.)

Richard Ginsburg (Treas.) Jane Ogilvie Lachlan Turner Cr Stephen Jolly

Alex Walker (Farm Manager)

Farm Patron - Mrs Elizabeth Chernov, Government House

Front Cover photo - First chicks of the 2012-2013 hatching season (image by Sev Darwell)

Rear Cover photo - Christmas Day on the Farm (image by Andrew Phillips)

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Farm ManagerFarm ManagerFarm Manager Alex WalkerAlex WalkerAlex Walker

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fully develop an appreciation of their needs

and behaviours. Thanks to Sev Darwell for the

great photo on our ‘Farm Yarns’ front page.

It’s hard to believe but your Farmers Market is

celebrating 10 years of operation at the Farm

this year. Since kicking off the ‘new’ Farmers

Market revolution in Melbourne, it has become

an integral and much-loved part of the Farm’s

monthly calendar and continues to inspire

other communities to launch their own. We

should all be proud of both its popularity and

critical role in providing direct employment

and income for Victorian farmers and food

producers. Remember, where you spend your

dollars has power! There will be 10th

Anniversary celebrations happening at our

December 8th market to enjoy.

The Farm’s Annual Report is now completed

and available for reading. Thank-you to all

who contributed to this important document.

To save on paper wastage, we are making it

available online. If you cannot access the

internet, please call into Farm Reception and

Managers Report

Wow, talk about swings and roundabouts with

the weather. Just when it seems that Summer

is starting to settle in, we get a cold blast and it

feels like Winter again. Sun then snow (well in

the mountains anyway) then sun! That’s the

one constant thing about farming; you’ve got

to accept whatever nature provides (for better

or worse) and do your very best to work with

what you receive.

There are plenty of new arrivals at the Farm

who are growing quickly after our recent

Spring Lambings, Kiddings and Calving. A

good amount of lambs were born from our

sheep flock, but not so many from our goat

herd. Biddy our milking cow gave birth to a

healthy female calf, Daphne (who has been

joined by a companion, Daisy).

Nick has also started the 2012-2013 poultry

hatching season. Through viewing windows

at the Incubation Room, all visitors can now

delight in seeing cute little chicks and over

time observe them developing into adult birds.

It’s very important (especially for children) to

see and understand the life cycles of animals to

Below: Daphne getting a bottle of Biddy’s milk

Below: Goats old and new grazing … nom, nom, nom

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the year, with one key highlight being a visit

by YOF Ambassador and renowned

Australian cricketer, Glenn McGrath. With

strong country connections, Glenn apparently

loved his visit to the Farm.

Work will soon start on completing the final

stage of utilising our vintage ‘Southern Cross’

windmill (next to the Workshop) to pump

water across the Farm. It’s both an inexpensive

method to move water and smart way to lower

our carbon emissions by using wind-power.

For history aficionados, the ‘Southern Cross’

windmill brand emerged in Toowoomba in

1903. A familiar sight across country Australia,

our windmill was sourced second-hand from

country NSW.

One of the most exciting happenings for the

Farm this year was the invitation to speak at

the European Federation of City Farms (EFCF)

conference. From this invitation has come the

incredible honour of being the first city farm in

the Southern hemisphere to be admitted as a

member of the EFCF. This is a humbling and

important recognition of the important

positive social work that the Farm provides for

the benefit of the local community. The work

now begins to fully develop this relationship

for the benefit of both hemispheres!

With an increase in sunny days, Family Day in

November saw our annual sheep shearing take

its (timely) place. I’m sure the sheep are

happier without their heavy coats. To our long

-standing shearer Brian Harker and his wife

Helen, who make the long trip from north of

ask for a copy. The Farm also held its annual

Committee of Management meeting and

election, thanks to all those who attended and

congratulations to our new member, Lachlan.

After an extensive rebuild, renovations are

almost complete on the Farm Cafe; a recent

estimation of its reopening by Tom and Pip is

in late January 2013. Landscaping works are

now continuing and looking great. To all our

visitors and Farm Cafe regulars, thank you for

your patience. The wait will be well worth it.

December sees the conclusion of the 2012

Australian Year of the Farmer (YOF) program.

The Farm has proudly provided an activity

hub for Victorian YOF celebrations throughout

Above: The old Farm Café gets ready for its rebuild

Below: Our vintage windmill, about to earn its keep!

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vision is to hold a year of celebratory events

engaging the local and wider community, but

especially for children of all ages within the

City of Yarra.

Unbelievably, Christmas is fast approaching

and so I would like to take this opportunity to

thank all our Farm visitors and friends for

their support throughout the year. To all the

hardworking Farm staff and Committee of

Management, without your continued work

and skills the Farm would simply not operate

as well as it does on a daily, monthly and

yearly basis.

For all visitors, the Farm is open Christmas

Day, free of charge. So please come and help

the animals celebrate and unwrap their

presents (probably hay most likely).

Shepparton every year, thanks for your time

and skill. Farm visitors very much enjoy

watching this classic farming activity.

Over many years, small improvements on the

Farm continue to add to the enjoyment of our

visitors. These are often incremental and once

in place leave us wondering “why didn’t we

do this before?”. One recent example are the

wonderful new paddock signs located across

the Farm. Completed in an old-fashioned style

with a skilful hand by staff-member and

volunteer Roger, these signs have positively

added to the ‘old fashioned’ atmosphere of the

Farm. Great work Roger!

Planning for next year’s 175 of farming

celebrations on the Abbotsford Precinct

Heritage Farmlands has commenced. The

Above: Ewe 501 apparently having a laugh about being (mostly) wool-free now

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Your farm makes big splash in State Parliament!

The recent announcement that your Collingwood Children’s Farm has become

the first city farm in the Southern Hemisphere to be accepted as an associate

member of the European Federation of City Farms has become big news. The

following statement was made in the Victorian Parliament (Lower House) on

14 November 2012 by the Member for Richmond, Richard Wynne MP:

“I rise to acknowledge the magnificent achievement of the Collingwood Children's Farm

in becoming the first city farm in the Southern Hemisphere to become an associate

member of the European Federation of City Farms.

The Collingwood Children's Farm was recently invited to the federation's conference in

Germany, which is the first time a farm outside of Europe has been honoured with an

invitation. The federation promotes sustainable development practices while supporting

places where young people and adults can participate in educational programs focused

on urban and rural environments and their interrelationship with plants and animals.

Under the stewardship of manager Alex Walker, the Collingwood Children's Farm

promotes the philosophies of permaculture, land care and organic farming, which can be

enjoyed by the wider community at Australia's most popular farmers market, a

destination for more than 2,000 market goers a fortnight.

With over 30,000 families visiting the Abbotsford site yearly the Collingwood Children's

Farm plays an important role in our local and wider community in providing important

social programs. Next year it will celebrate the milestone of 175 years of farming on the

Abbotsford site. I commend to the house the Collingwood Children's Farm, and

of course the farm is a great legacy of John and Nancy Cain.”

Who is Richard Wynne MP?

Richard is the State Member for Richmond, whose electorate includes the

Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands.

How can Richard get involved and help secure the Farm’s future?

By lobbying (at State and local level) on your behalf for the permanent

preservation of the entire remaining APHF farmlands, which support the many

socially-positive activities and programs that the Farm provides for all local

and wider Victorian residents to benefit from.

COLLINGWOOD CHILDREN’S FARM

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What can I do to let Richard know his lobbying for the Farm is important

to me, my family and future generations?

Write, email, telephone or fax the following letter to Richard’s office at:

118 Smith Street, Collingwood 3066

(03) 9415 8901 phone

(03) 9415 8918 fax

[email protected]

To the Hon. Richard Wynne MP

Thank you for your recent Member Statement (14 November 2012) informing the Lower House of

the significant achievement of the Collingwood Children’s Farm (CCF) becoming the first city farm

in the Southern Hemisphere to be accepted as a member of the European Federation of City Farms

(EFCF). This is an achievement of which all Victorians should be rightly proud.

Supporting all the socially-positive works of the CCF are the Abbotsford Precinct Heritage

Farmlands (APHF), the oldest continually farmed land in Victoria. These unique farmlands are

contained within your Richmond electorate.

For 33 years the CCF has preserved, protected and farmed these lands for the benefit of all

residents in your electorate and the Victorian people. This forms one part of their unique world-

heritage value, 174-years of continual farming history.

A full 1/3rd of the APHF are under threat of development and have no legal protection for their

permanent preservation. Any loss of heritage APHF farmland available to the CCF would

permanently impact its socially-positive programs, financial viability and long-term survival. And

jeopardise its newly-obtained EFCF status. This is a wholly unacceptable outcome.

As Farm Members I/we request that as the Member for Richmond, you commit yourself to

obtaining permanent preservation for all the remaining APHF as working heritage farmland, with

the CCF as its caretaker. This can be achieved by your active lobbying for this outcome at a State

and local level, and by publicly stating this goal as your definitive position on the matter.

When successful you will be securing the future of the Farm, honouring your understandable

appreciation of its achievement for your electorate (and all Victorians) and your words stated for

public record in the Lower House.

Yours sincerely

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PHOTOS

1 New crop of colourful chicks!

2 New crop of farm t-shirts!

3 A ewe in the queue

4 Our horses on parade for Septem-

ber Horses Birthday day

5 And there was cake, specially

made for the occasion 5

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Chickens

There are baby chickens hatching again, and

each day sees a few new babies huddled

sleepily under the heat lamps, worn out by

their efforts to climb out of their shells. It’s

tiring being born! This year we have many

Scotts Greys hatching as well as our usual

breeds, which is good to see for this rather

delightful and very rare breed of chook. These

birds are quite calm and tame, but also very

curious about new things.

I find they are happy to sit on your hand when

moving them from cage to cage, they don’t

need to be firmly held as they don’t seem to

want to fly away. Mine also come when called!

They lay pale brown eggs, and start laying

very early in the year - some weeks before

most other breeds.

Compost and new worm farms

Our Compost Area is continuing its dramatic

facelift. Not only do we now have a long bay

for making the compost in, and a short bay for

storing green waste waiting to be processed;

but we also have two new worm farms. And

shortly, we will be in possession of our own

bobcat machine! Plus a new rain garden to

process food scraps washed out of bins.

Wow. That’s come a long way in five years.

Five years ago we had a huge pile of unturned,

slowly-rotting rubbish taking up most of the

paddock. Then we graduated to turning it by

hand, and thought we had it all under control.

Then we started using a machine - the height

of sophistication. Just look at us now! These

things have come about with the generous

support and help of the City of Yarra and

Cultivating Communities. A big thank you to

both these organisations.

Cultivating Communities is currently

organising local cafes to drop off their green

waste. When we finally have the bobcat onsite,

it’s all systems go to start processing as much

waste as quickly as possible, providing quality

compost that is currently being used on the

Farm and Community Garden Plots.

The bobcat will be small enough to be easily

trailered to other sites if needed by other

groups, and also able to fit into some of the

larger animal pens, making the back-breaking

chore of cleaning them out so much easier.

Bridget Bainbridge/Bridget Bainbridge/Bridget Bainbridge/

Nick KaravokirosNick KaravokirosNick Karavokiros Farm NewsFarm NewsFarm News

Below: Monica with one of the new worm farms

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New worm farms have also been purchased,

and while we are still in the process of

working out how they (fully) work, they seem

to be working very well indeed. Monica, our

long term worm farmer was delighted with

them and is now looking forwards to getting

the new worm drum sieve working, which

should make both harvesting worms and

castings a lot easier.

Sheep shearing

Many thanks to Brian Harker and his wife

Helen for travelling down from Benalla to

shear the sheep last family day. The sheep are

certainly much happier without all their wool,

and always behave like skittish lambs for a

little while once shorn! Our fleeces are

currently for sale for $25 each, and we have

both English Leicester and Shropshire

available. So for all you spinners, felters and

dyers, grab them while available.

Riding Develops Abilities (RDA)

RDA are in full swing again, with three days

of programs running through the term until

the end of the year.

Young Farmers

Our Young Farmers are busy, lately they have

making green nettle pasta, helping out with

pony rides, watering heaps of plants, riding

the horses, helping around the farm with

guinea pig cuddles and generally being useful.

Landcare

Anyone travelling down the river by boat will

be well aware that the Farm has had the

riverbanks sprayed. Not so obvious from the

banks, we have enlisted the help of the Merri

Creek Management Committee to help us with

the weed control. This marks the start of a very

large planting project that will take probably

the best part of three years to complete. Its

eventual aim is to have the banks well

established with bushy native understory

within five years.

Above: Jo from RDA feeding the worms her lunch scraps Below: A new kid nibbling (image: Sev Darwell)

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more astounding the more you learn. It has

definitely allowed me to appreciate horses

even more than I had before, and I would hope

that some of our Young Farmers will

eventually be lucky enough to learn this

method also.

Horse TailsHorse TailsHorse Tails Olivia KnowlesOlivia KnowlesOlivia Knowles

Term Four is in full swing for all the horses,

with RDA, Young Farmers, birthday parties

and events taking up most of their days from

week to week. On their days off, I have been

working with Teddy and Zac to at least

attempt to keep them fit, and Ainslie has been

teaching Brandy the pony some more riding

manners as she prepares to go to a new home.

Both Ainslie and myself have been trying out

bits and pieces of natural horsemanship with

them as well. Natural Horsemanship is

beginning to pick up a bigger following as

pioneers of the technique such as Ray hunt,

Buck Brannaman and Monty Roberts begin to

take more of a celebrity status in riding circles.

The technique aims to allow a rider to work

with their horse as gently and harmoniously as

possible, eliminating the need to force the

horse into submission. Natural horsemanship

is grounded on one’s understanding of horses’

use of language and their behavioural patterns

in the wild.

When you recognize the horse as an animal

that is born with the instinct to protect itself

from being preyed upon, many things that

previously seemed a little strange or annoying

about the horses immediately “click” in your

mind.

From a big slob (but loveable) like Zac, to

someone as fretful as Tyson or Charlie, all can

understand it and appreciate it. How

perceptive they are to humans’ emotions,

energy and presence around them becomes

Below: Zac and the other horses on Horses Birthday Day

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2013 Calendar Now available until sold out

Carefully created by one of our

volunteers, this is a perfect Christmas

gift for friends, family or you!

Limited print run, only available at

Farm Reception or at the

December 8th Farmers Market.

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ToniToniToni

PhillipsPhillipsPhillips Community Gardens NewsCommunity Gardens NewsCommunity Gardens News

Some plotters work so hard and enthusiasti-

cally at the working bees (the 4th Saturday of

every month from 1.30pm to 4.00pm) that they

don’t have time to stop and turn around. Don’t

forget to come to working bees, they can be

fun and it’s surprising what you can learn.

Below, (1): Working bee workers hard at work!

(2): Sara Lindsay is already harvesting from her

beautiful tapestry of a new plot

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Garden NewsGarden NewsGarden News Toni PhillipsToni PhillipsToni Phillips

Thank you to all the garden volunteers

The gardens at the Farm are as productive and

beautiful as they are only because of the all the

people who work so hard. Most volunteers at

the farm are involved in horticultural work

here at some stage, especially harvesting ‘wild

food’ for the animals.

There is also a band of volunteers who are

dedicated to the harder (or more tedious) and

skilled horticultural work on the Farm. Here

are photos of just a few; a huge THANK YOU

to all the wonderful garden vollies!

GARDEN VOLUNTEER PHOTOS

(Pages 10, 11)

1 Graeme the best compost turner

2 Josh, who does a bit of everything

3 Deb the harvester

4 Gary the irrigator

5 Australian Unity corporate volunteers

All photographs courtesy Toni Phillips

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Thank you to all the garden volunteers

The gardens at the Farm are as productive and

beautiful as they are only because of the all the

people who work so hard. Most volunteers at

the farm are involved in horticultural work

here at some stage, especially harvesting ‘wild

food’ for the animals.

There is also a band of volunteers who are

dedicated to the harder (or more tedious) and

skilled horticultural work on the Farm. Here

are photos of just a few; a huge THANK YOU

to all the wonderful garden vollies!

Below, left to right: The new sign for the Nursery Garden, and some of the things we’d like left on the vine please!

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Young Farmers are here for more than just

horses, there is much to do and find in the

garden ...

Above: Young Farmers gardening (images: Toni Phillips)

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Is nearly ready!

We are busy recruiting a friendly new team and plan to open on the 21st of January. We are looking forward to being back amongst the boks, bleets and oinks to serve yummy coffee,

breakfast lunch and of course a few treats!

Pip & Tom

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AndrewAndrewAndrew

PhillipsPhillipsPhillips Nature at ground levelNature at ground levelNature at ground level

In the Spring ‘Farm Yarns’ we covered some of

the owls that call the Farm and its surrounds

home. In this edition, I’d like to discuss

another sign of a healthy ecosystem, one of our

most well-known native skinks, the Blue-

Tongue. Or in this case the Eastern Blue-

Tongue (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides). There are

several subspecies of Blue-Tongue across

Australia, of which this is our local variety.

The inspiration came as I noticed a particularly

healthy example basking on the old bluestone

wall outside the old Farm offices. Not an easy

task either, as their camouflage makes them

very hard to spot. Which is good for them

when they can form a large part of some

predator’s diets! Check out the Page 19 photo

first, see if you can spot it at a quick glance.

Blue-Tongues are omnivores, eating a mixed

diet of insects, gastropods, flowers, fruits and

berries. Adults can grow up to 60cm in length.

Like us, they sleep at night. They are fully

protected in all Australian States. In Victoria,

they can only be kept domestically if their

owners obtain a special licence from the

Department of Sustainability and the

Environment (DSE).

They are great to have living in gardens,

especially vegetable patches, as they love

munching on slugs, snails and caterpillars. Did

you know that they are also territorial, and by

planting strawberries (which they also love

tucking into) they will keep away snakes?

Seems like a pretty fair trade-off.

Unfortunately they can become infected with

parasitic ticks that can blind or deafen a

healthy Blue-Tongue. Plus they have an

unfortunate habit of sun-baking on roads; so if

you can safely avoid them when driving,

please do! Blue-Tongues are a protected

species in Victoria, so remember it is illegal to

remove them from their natural environment.

Below, right: Spot the Blue-Tongue on the bluestone!

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Did you know? We are very proud of the fact that as well as allowing our visitors to see and interact with

animals that they (usually) don’t see in their modern daily lives, the Farm is doing the

important work of protecting genetic diversity in food production.

How? A large percentage of the national pig herd is

formed by the Large White/Landrace cross breed. The

commercial benefit of this breed is it’s quick growth

speed to full size and good mothering natures. The

downside of this? If a disease was to affect this key

working breed, it would cause a massive disruption to

the commercial food-supply network.

Specifically relating to agriculture, the more types of

animal (or plant) that are preserved, the better the

chance of the entire species surviving should a disease

outbreak occur. Older breeds, often slower growing to

full size (which means they are usually not considered

financially viable) are often hardier animals with

genetics that are less susceptible to disease (plus other positive attributes). And over time, the

public’s tastes do change ...

Which brings us back to our Berkshire pigs. In the late 1800’s—early 1900’s they were the

widest commercially farmed pig in the world. By the 1950’s (a brief fifty years later) they had

almost become extinct in their country of origin, the United Kingdom. Only now are they

starting to build up their numbers again.

Historically, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd farmed them on the Abbotsford Precinct

Heritage Farmlands (as recorded in James Stanley James’ December 1876 visit in ‘The

Vagabond Papers’):

“ ...In the styes (sic) we see some fine black Berkshire pigs ...”

So when you are visiting the Farm, make sure to stop and say hello to our resident

Berkshires; Maybelle, Moira, Greta and Jacob. Fine black pigs, indeed!

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Above: Computershare at work in the orchard

AnitaAnitaAnita

StecStecStec

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It’s nearly Christmas time and so that means it’s

time for our Melbourne University Vet students to

start their placement with us. There will be two

students per week helping out on the Farm during

December, January and February with all the

various farm chores. They are a big help, we really

enjoy having them here.

Our Tuesday gardening group has been going well

especially as the sun is showing itself more and

more now. Most of the things we enjoy eating

during the Summer like cucumbers, corn, tomatoes,

capsicums, eggplants, etc have already been

planted and will hopefully be ready to harvest

soon. Anyone is welcome to join us on Tuesday

afternoons from 1.30pm, although we will be

having a break from mid-December to the end of

January.

Good Shepherd and Quinn House have finished up

for the year. A big thank you to both of those

groups for helping us with lots of planting in the

orchards, animal husbandry and general

maintenance tasks.

Caulfield Community School have just started with

us in Term Four; 10-12 students are coming to

volunteer every Friday for three hours. Some of the

things we have done so far: planting pig and

chicken yards, pulling out stinging nettles from the

paddocks and feeding them to the pigs, moving the

animals around to different paddocks and also

harvesting fruit and veggies from the orchards.

Thank you to them and hopefully we will have

them back next year.

Corporate Volunteer groups

can come and help out on

the farm on Mondays,

Thursdays or Fridays. Our

volunteers help out with

various gardening jobs,

Farmers Market set-up,

bonfire set-up, fence

building and general

maintenance. We filled up

all our volunteer days by

September! Thank you to

NAB, Computershare,

ANZ, Elite and PWC we

couldn’t keep the farm

looking so good without

you.

Volunteers/Work ExperienceVolunteers/Work ExperienceVolunteers/Work Experience

Below: We’re Caulfield Community School, you dig that?

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PHOTOS

1 Jacob, our new boar saying hello to

Greta on his first day

2 Chickens too impatient to wait until

their nesting box is cleaned out!

3 Boss, the new farm kitten

4 Green, red and yellow delight

5 Maybelle and Moira bathing

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JuliaJuliaJulia

SmallwoodSmallwoodSmallwood Supported VolunteersSupported VolunteersSupported Volunteers

The Farm offers work experience tasks to suit

the vary abilities of our volunteers. Even a

short, half-hour visit contributes to the daily

running of the Farm.

Malparkinka clients, Olivia and Tony, clean up

after the cow milking each Friday. Tony

sweeps, then empties the poo wheelbarrow.

Olivia hoses the floor and puts the brushes

away. Sometimes the job is quick and easy ...

but not if Biddy has been to the toilet!

Thanks to two good workers!

Below, right: Spot the Blue-Tongue on the bluestone!

Clockwise (top to right): Biddy appreciates the clean

environment created by Olivia and Tony—by eating!

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FARM YARNS Next edition due out 1st day of Autumn

Family Fun Days

First Sunday of the month (no Family Fun Day in January)

Moo-ry Christmas

to all our visitors

Moo-ry Christmas

to all our visitors

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Where to find us St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

Melways Ref 44 G5

Open every day of the year

Entry: $16 Family

$8 Adult

$4 Child

Collingwood Children’s Farm PO Box 80 Abbotsford 3067

Farm phone: 9417 5806 Email: [email protected] Website: www.farm.org.au

PLACE STAMP HERE

The concept of a supported volunteer program is unique to our farm. Originally it was known as the Disability Pro-gram, but we prefer to focus on abilities rather than the lack of them … just like the renamed RDA riding program! You may ask why the program exists and what are the benefits of it to the participants and the farm. In the case of special school students, both in class groups

Farmer’s Market held the second Saturday of

every month for beautiful fresh, quality produce.

Farmland since 1838

Also enjoy hay rides and pony rides (when available), and other farm activities all for

price of standard entry.

Family Fun Days

First Sunday of the month (no Family Fun Day in January)