2023 has been a busy and rewarding year at Green Connect Farm! Going through some photos taken this year, it has been nice to reflect on how much has happened and everything the team has achieved.
At the start of the year, we completed our children’s garden redesign, planting a large bank of native grasses and turfing a play area. Now we also have a designated mud kitchen area too! We’ve introduced weekly Farm Playgroups and it’s been great to see little people getting dirty and having fun in the space.
The Saturday Farm Blitz events have been extremely productive, achieving some big tasks like removing invasive weeds around the farm and pulling down our old pig pen, whilst giving those wanting to volunteer on weekends an opportunity to get involved.
As well as the birth of many kid goats, our first Damara lambs were born on farm this year. These sheep are a breed of fat-tailed hair sheep from Namibia and are often mistaken for goats. The lambs are certainly better behaved though, not hell bent on escaping to feast in the veg beds like our young goats! We also recently welcomed two Damara lambs who we are bottle-feeding and hand-raising before they join our breeding herd. Meet Dot and Sully!
The walk behind tractor was a welcome addition to the farm as our staff and volunteers were wearing themselves out with bed preparation. It has certainly taken some of the pressure off and is allowing us to grow more veg for our boxes. We also now own the beehives at the farm; we were excited to taste the delicious honeycomb and offer our veg box customers honey again.
More recently, the completion Su Meh’s Flower Garden has been a highlight. The dream for this garden started many years ago and was only made possible with generous donations and help from staff, volunteers and UOW students. Although the plants are still young, Su Meh has already been able to harvest some for her bouquets and is absolutely delighted. We can’t wait to provide more people with sustainable, locally raised flowers next year!
Finally, one of our largest accomplishments this year was the creation of our new website and the introduction of ‘Pick Your Produce’ boxes. This was a huge change for us, but well worth it. I’m personally a ‘Pick Your Produce’ customer now and I really enjoy being able to choose the produce that I want each week.
We are looking forward to 2024 and can’t thank you enough. By buying our produce, you are making everything we do possible. We really appreciate you being part of our community!
Emily Henderson,
Fair Food and Farm Manager