Goats in armchair. Relaxed. Photos by Terry Alan Jones.
Our new Farmers’ Market
Hundreds of people, loads of stalls, piles of cakes and cheese and heritage loaves of bread, litres of fine coffee and juices, tonnes of sausages… our first Farmers’ market opened today.
Stepney Green City Farm. In the foreground: cows grazing. In the background: construction of Crossrail and Canary Wharf.
This is under our feet, paws, hooves, claws, trotters etc etc. Brilliant picture.
Now that’s a proper job.
“40 metres below ground in Stepney Green, our tunnellers mark 4 years since start of Crossrail construction
(Source: itswillstuff)
Beautiful Bengali vegetable seed packets ready to sow for our Local Food growing project.
Twin lambs born this lovely sunny morning with their mother Rosemary. Cousins to the lovely pair born last Monday to Aunt Marjoram. Thanks to our in-house potter Jessica Joslin for the gorgeous photo.
st:
The Sky Today • in Lofi • ⛅ & 6°C • Early this morning • #mudchutefarm #isleofdogs #eastlondon #londondocklands #london #england #greatbritain #unitedkingdom #cityfarm #greentrees #evergreen #barebranches #nocloud #bluesky #greengrass #blue #green #panpeninsula #landscape #northwestward #earlymorning #spring #morning #2ndApril #2013 #lofi #lux #st #thest • Hello! • (at Mudchute Kitchens)
Lovely sun hurrah.
Gorgeously gift-wrapped: pretty pottery from our new resident woman at the wheel: Jessica Joslin. Join her on on Saturday mornings to try your hand.
Raekha Merner, Social Media Intern writes:
The snow has finally fallen in London and I can’t help but curse the transit system along with the rest of this city’s millions of commuters. Delayed trains, rammed buses - I’m wishing now I’d opted for the house in the outskirts instead of my East London flat where I can’t call in with the excuse “I’m snowed-in”.
But even while standing in the freezing cold watching the third bus in a row pass me by, I can’t help but admire the beautiful coat of glistening powdery white that’s covered London’s otherwise dreary grey.
Apart from the transformations of the less pleasant sights of our everyday (my local offy now looks like a posh Shoreditch cafe with its dripping icicles and cushioned snowbanks), our already beautiful parks and green spaces are looking like winter wonderlands in themselves.
So in the midsts of my early morning typical-half-hour-but-today-one-hour commute to the Farm, I calmed myself down with images of this…
Ahhhh beautiful.
‘It is a donkey, isn’t it?’ a passerby asks as we saunter out of the gate, donkeys ‘n’ all. Do donkeys saunter? Perhaps they amble. Or strut. Either way, their appearance in the middle of the East End creates some rather bemused expressions on the faces of nearby pedestrians. Which surprises me. Not because I wouldn’t be surprised by the sight of two donkeys taking some volunteers for a walk round Mile End, but because I’d assumed these were locals and it strikes me as odd that, not only have they not heard of Stepney City Farm, but they haven’t even seen a donkey before… I guess that’s city living for you.
‘It’s a cow!!!’ a boy yells at us moments later, before running off down the street - in fear or exultation I’m not entirely sure. It seems such a shame that some children grow up without ever meeting farm animals. It becomes quite worrying when you consider that some of them won’t have seen in real life the animals whose meat they eat every week. So it’s great that Stepney City Farm is here to rectify that, and it’s a pleasure to see the responses people have once we stop and talk to them. For some, it takes some encouraging for them to come and stroke George and Dunstan, while others are only too pleased. What is consistent is the joy the two donkeys seem to bring to people’s afternoons. It gives us a chance to promote the farm and encourage adults and children alike to pay us a visit. More importantly, it gives the public a chance to see how wonderful these animals are and what mood-lifters they can be.
As we walk along the canal and pass a group of young lads standing around smoking, I overhear a comment that, I feel, sums it all up: ‘Donkeys are heavy, man’. Indeed. Not just an insightful comment, but a factual one too, as I can confirm after having Dunstan tread on my toe during one of his more enthusiastic nuzzles.
It’s a brilliant introduction to volunteering at the farm and a perfect way to spend an afternoon in the Big Smoke. Bring on more donkey walks!
