An urban farm in the heart of South London
Tickets now available!
Come and meet Santa Claus and tell him what you want for Christmas before his friendly elf guides you to where he keeps his presents!
Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th December
Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th December
Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th December
Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th December
10am to 4pm, booking is highly recommended
A farm visit is included so no need to book one.
£6 per child, gift included.
Thank you so much for your kind donations to get the playground open.
The work is now complete and the playground has reopened with a brand new surface and new equipment to play on.
Oscars playground was built in memory of Oscar Ashton, a little boy from Wimbledon who passed away in 2012 from an undiagnosed heart defect. Oscar was a frequent visitor to the farm with his family, who helped to raise £10,000 to transform an underused part of the farm into a fun and educational area for children to enjoy.
We are open from 10am-4:30, last admission is at 4pm, the playground will be open during these times.
Can you help?
Early last year our beloved cows retired from Farm life, they are sorely missed but are enjoying their new home.
This year we are hoping to bring cows back by rehoming two young Shetland Cows, half sisters, Brie and Meg.
Shetland cows are rare breeds and have been classified as a minority by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. This year there has been a 5% decrease in registered breeding females in the UK. In bringing these beautiful young ladies to the farm we hope to help the breed thrive!
Please share or donate if you can: Fundraiser by Maria Day : Fundraising for cows (gofundme.com)
Thank you so much for your support.
We are excited to be able to offer Christmas Trees this year. If you haven’t already bought yours why not help support a local charity and purchase your tree from Deen City Farm!
All trees are 6ft Nordmann Firs
£45 each
Pre-Order here:
Collection is available from Thursday 3rd December between 10:00 and 16:00. However if you need to collect your tree outside these hours it may be possible, call 02085435858 to double check.
Deen City Farm and Riding School
General Manager
Salary: c£35,000 plus pension
Location: Merton, SW19
Hours: Full time 40 hours per week with options for flexible working. Occasional weekend and evening working
Deen City Farm and Riding School is a successful community resource comprising a city farm, riding school, café and garden project based in the London Borough of Merton.
Our mission is to be an oasis providing urban communities with the opportunity to connect with animals and nature.
Our founding charitable objectives include promoting education in agriculture, horticulture, home-crafts, country life and animal care and providing facilities for members of our local communities, in particular those considered the most vulnerable.
We seek a new General Manager to work closely with the board and management team to develop and deliver innovative business, fundraising and communication/publicity strategies and work to ensure the long-term sustainability of the farm.
A positive attitude, ability to identify imaginative and productive ways of utilising the farm’s many assets, and the drive to deliver on those plans will be essential as the farm moves through one of its most challenging and potentially exciting periods in its history.
We are looking for an inspiring and inclusive leader with brilliant communication and relationship building skills and the ability to work with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. It is likely you have worked for a charity and must have a real interest in community, youth and environmental issues.
Financially literate you must have a commercial mindset and ability to work with a dedicated board of trustees in the development of new ideas for the farm.
To Apply please send a CV and Cover letter to: chair@deencityfarm.co.uk
The successful appointee will be subject to a DBS check.
Closing date for application: 31st May 2020
Click here for application pack
More animal care courses at Deen City Farm! On three Saturdays in August, 2pm to 4pm, we’ll be running three short courses on How to Keep… Guinea Pigs, Rabbits and Ferrets. Two hours covering all aspects of caring for these small furries, with plenty of contact time. Oh alright then, cuddles. August 4th– Guinea Pigs. August 11th – Rabbits. August 18th – Ferrets. Just £15 a place, 10 places per course. Everyone over 7 welcome. Suitable for prospective and current owners.
Book here
On Saturday July 28th, 1pm to 4pm, right here on the Farm, we’ll be running an “Introduction to Keeping Chickens” course for anyone thinking of getting their own chickens. No existing knowledge required. We’ll cover everything you need to think about and plan for, with advice on choosing breeds, on what equipment you’ll need to buy, and how to look after your chickens. The three-hour course will include plenty of hands-on time learning how to handle chickens safely and confidently. It’ll be a hen party, but you’ll be left with a great feeling (and handouts) instead of a hangover. £25 per person, children over 7 welcome. Includes refreshments. To make sure everyone has lots of chicken-time, there’ll be just 8 places. Book early!
The course will be run by Nick Golson, Farm Manager, RAU graduate and chicken-liker.
What the course will cover:
Thinking it all through: reasons to keep chickens, commonly asked questions
What you need in terms of housing and equipment, how to deal with foxes, what to feed
How to choose and buy the chickens: hybrids, pure breeds, bantams
How to get them home and settle them in
The daily, weekly and monthly routine
Pest control and predators
Seasonal care
Behaviour
Eggs
Basic anatomy, general health and health problems
When to call the vet
As if the coming summer wasn’t busy enough, we’ve had a troop of new arrivals at the farm. If you’ve popped down in the past couple of weeks, you might have noticed a rather handsome looking group of goats has turned up! They are currently in isolation in one of our large pens on the farmyard, but hopefully it won’t be long before they can go out and join the other livestock grazing in the paddocks.
There’s more to these goats than meets the eye though! These are Cheviot Landrace Goats, a truly Old English breed. Without getting too complicated, if you were to go back in time these are the goats you would find roaming feral across the English countryside. They were deemed a pest, and bought very close to extinction. The 9 goats we’ve got at Deen City Farm have come from a Thorndon Country Park in Essex, and will form the start of our breeding group!
Even though these goats have been used to living without much human contact, it’s amazing how fast they can settle in! The kids are still a bit shy, but the adults are very happy to come over and check out any hands for tasty grass nuts. Did you know that goats are the second fastest animal to adjust to living feral? (Cats being the fastest!), it seems the opposite is true too, and they’re very quick to get used to people as well!
The goats that were chosen from the herd to come to Deen City Farm were picked out with the assistance of our colleague (and master of all things goat!) Ray Werner, an expert on all things Cheviot Goat. When it comes to picking the ideal goats, it’s not just about picking out the ones that you like the look of, you need to know what to look for (hence Ray’s expert input!). The one male and three females were picked out from the crowd based on their colour patterns, good conformation and movement as well as meeting the breed standards devised by the Cheviot Landrace Goat society.
After a nervous few days, it wasn’t long before the goats have settled well into city farm life, generally minding their own business unless there’s any tasty snacks on offer! The kids are a little bit nervous, but we’re getting there! Come down and say hello to them during the summer!
Barry looks like he’s still recovering from our busy Easter.
With that in mind, please be aware that we will be closed this coming May Day bank holiday (Monday 1st May).
Apologies for any inconvenience caused, have a lovely long weekend!
Hello all!
We’re sorry about the short notice, but Oscar’s Playground next to the picnic area will be closed for the remainder of today and much of tomorrow. This will give us time to complete the extension of the seating area before the weekend.
We’re sorry to cause any inconvenience or disappointment – there’s still lots to see and do at the Farm, so don’t let it put you off visiting!