A day in the countryside and an opportunity to ask a real farmer some of your burning questions, oh and it's FREE!
In early 2020, I remember telling my father that even though I had started doing a bit of work with LEAF Open Farm Sunday as their NE England Ambassador, "don't worry, I have no intention of opening our farm to the public!" Fast forward to 2023 and this will be our 3rd year hosting!
"What a fantastic morning at the LEAF farm open day! Thanks to the farm team for opening their doors and sharing their amazing place with us"
We started out with a small, invite only, self-guided farm walk. Our local Rugby Club were happy to oblige being our guinea pigs, so we invited our boys’minis section to bring a picnic and enjoy a few hours on the farm. We raised money for the club by asking for donations and running a raffle with prizes kindly donated by nearby businesses, it was a very low-key social day and an ideal way to "dip our toes" into the world of Open Farm Sunday. Hosting 60 familiar faces worked very well and definitely took the pressure off.
In 2022, and with Covid less to the fore, we thought about how we could offer more on the day. We still ran the same self-guided farm walk which takes in the stunning views from the highest point of the farm, but we also invited a local lady with her catering van and a nearby glamping/brewery business who happen to have some very friendly Alpacas to join us. Along with our penned sheep of various breeds, the open shearling ram shed and the farm classroom packed full of displays and information, the day was a brilliant success with 172 in total through our gates.
As we entered 2023, planning began a little quicker. Our lovely catering lady asked if she could return, as did the Alpacas and we are looking forward to being joined for the first time by some gentle giants from our nearest heavy horse centre and a fabulously crafty lady who'll be demonstrating the art of needle felting with some of our own wool. The weather is in the lap of the gods, but as fellow Scot Billy Connelly once said "there's no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes" and with just over 6 weeks to go, I'm hoping that the British weather pulls out all the stops and orders the sun to shine!
Our 2023 LEAF Open Farm Sunday tickets are now live, so keep Sunday the 11th June free or better yet, book your FREE tickets here https://www.trybooking.co.uk/CIYL
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