It’s been a great month in Bath with some lovely visits. Our art room was bursting with creativity when Lambeth Academy visited with some incredible Jackson Pollock-esque decorations, now a much-admired feature of the room. The level of enthusiasm from our Carew Academy group was contagious, with a fantastic mix of newcomers and returners who impressed us with how much they had progressed since their last visit. The young people of Sedgehill Academy showed a real willingness to work hard and discover new things about themselves. Â
It’s also been an exciting time in the garden seeing some of our amazing autumn-ready crops making it straight from the garden to our plates. Our garden would not look this good without the help of our volunteers who generously give their time to help maintain this lovely environment which we all get to enjoy. It is at this time of year that, due to the colder weather, our busy bees retire from their role of teaching young people where honey comes from. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Laura, our wonderful beekeeper, who volunteers her time to share her love of bees with young people on the farm, something that always generates a lot of intrigue.
Out on the farm, there has been a lot going on with continuous animal moves as part of our mob grazing and bale grazing practices. Our cows are looking very healthy and happy as a result of these techniques. This is always something our young people enjoy being involved in and it gives our Farm Managers, Doug and Nia, an opportunity to share some of the thinking behind our regenerative farming practices. There will also be some exciting news coming up for the lambing season in Spring, with the rams mixing with the ewes this week. The ewes will be getting scanned next week to find out how many lambs they are each carrying. Watch this space!
What is unique about our Bath site is that it is also home to Jamie’s Farm headquarters team, meaning it is wonderfully multi-functional. Last week, for example, we supported a young person for the day, as well as welcoming our trustees for a strategy day, and before hosting a fantastic dinner for our supporters. It is always great to see all facets of Jamie’s Farm reflected in our days here, reminding us of all the important work that goes on behind the scenes that helps enable us to support groups of young people on our farms each week.
