Dear all – just to confirm we are still open for CAMPING. Please take all the usual hand washing precautions.
VISITING the GOATS – Please wash your hands BEFORE going in to see the goats. This will help us stay healthy so we can look after our animals (Ian is asthmatic so higher risk – I can’t build a house without him!!!)
PRODUCE – we still have meat for sale in the freezer, cheese and some milk now that the goats are well under way kidding. I can deliver to your doorstop if you live around here. email me on [email protected]
Finally – I’m going to cancel the children’s farm activity day.
House news…. at last
As you may know, we have been living here at Wookey Farm for 10 years in a ‘delightful’ mobile home. You may also know the planning permission route is a long and arduous one.
Finally, we have got the ‘approved’ stamp from Mendip Council and can start building a house later this year. A few bits and bobs to sort first and a shed load of work for Ian to get done and then we can start digging!
Our lovely house, designed by Graham Burgess, has a traditional farmhouse look with a large roof of beautiful reclaimed clay tiles. It has super thick walls and triple glazed windows and will be up to passive house standard, so a very low energy house with no heating bills. We will be installing more solar panels, probably on a barn roof rather than covering up the lovely tiles. It has a cheese cellar underneath so we can age the Burcott in a traditional way. This also means for the first year, all we may see is a very large hole in the ground but at least it will have started. Ian will be managing it all and we’re expecting it to be at least 2 years before we move in. We are very excited!
Not the best picture, but it will give you an idea
Happy New Year – 2020
So what have we got in store for the start of 2020?
January and February are always our quiet months – the goats dry off in the last two months of pregnancy so we all have a break from milking and processing. Our little farm shop is still open with a smaller variety of produce. Still in stock is Burcott – our hard goats cheese, all the soaps (please ask for them as I’m having to store them in another building), plenty of meat – lamb chops, joints, diced goat meat, leg joints and burgers and our local apple juice.
March should see the pitter patter of tiny hooves… over 100 expected this year so come and meet them on 29th March at our ‘Baby Goat Open Day’
Ian is busy building a new, larger farm shop
Look out for a channel 5 TV documentary called ‘Our Simple Life’ which we feature in.
And who knows… could this be the year we finally start building a house?
‘Solo’ the piglet
As you can probably guess from the name – we had just one piglet! 
Not sure why we only had one, the mother ‘Bubbles’ was healthy, possibly a little overweight and it was her first time, but a surprise. ‘Solo’, named for obvious reasons, had to come into our house as she was literally freezing the night she was born and hadn’t got the hang of feeding and then Bubbles’ milk didn’t come in so we’ve ended up bottle-feeding little Solo. She is very cute and very friendly. She lives with her Mum but is still fed by me.
‘Max’ the boar, is coming back today so we can have another go with Bubbles.
As Solo obviously isn’t going to keep us and our campers in bacon and sausages (and we’re possibly too attached to her now anyway), we bought some weaners to fatten up.
In the media…
So far 2019 has been an amazing year for media publicity. First, I (sarah) appeared on ‘Escape to the Country’ where a couple were looking to move to Somerset and keep a few goats. Shortly after that, I was the ‘meet the farmer’ slot on BBC radio somerset – a week of interviews in their evening show. I was then featured in Cornish Mutual’s Real Food Heroes campaign
http
s://www.somersetlive.co.uk/special-features/couple-realise-dream-owning-goat-2708166
which was featured on Somerset Live and in the Wells Journal. So obviously by this time its just all going to my head and I’m wondering if I need to contact an agent! But then the biggest is yet to come…. we have just had our first filming block for a new family farming series for channel 5. Probably not out til late 2019 or 2020 but watch this space…
Summer farm activity days
Holiday activity club – Summer holidays – we’re back with more dates
Help milk the goats, feed the goats, learn about taking care of farm animals, nature walks, outdoor art and crafts, games
“Farm and Outdoor activity days”
Date: August dates – 6th (spaces), 7th (spaces), 8th (full), 29th (full), 30th (spaces)
Time: 8.30am – 3pm
Where: Wookey Farm, Wookey, BA5 1DT
Cost: £25
Ages: most suited to 5 – 9 year olds (although up to 12 years is fine)
Notes: Please bring welly boots, old clothes, waterproofs and a PACKED LUNCH
Places are limited!
Leaders: Tasha Isaac (Sarah’s sister) who has 20 years’ experience working with children in sports, as an LSA and on forest school activities, and Lucy Neeve, art teacher and founder of BigArt.
Book 3 or more days for a 15% discount
Location: Wookey Farm, Monks Ford, Wookey BA5 1DT – 01749 671859 / 07779 145441 Info: email [email protected].
Farm and Forest School
Holiday activity club – fully booked. More to follow in the summer.
Help milk the goats, feed the goats and ‘kids’, learn about taking care of farm animals, nature walks, outdoor crafts, games
“Farm and Forest School”
Date: Friday 6th April 2018
Time: 8.30am – 3pm
Where: Wookey Farm, Wookey, BA5 1DT
Cost: £25
Ages: 5 – 11
Notes: Please bring welly boots, old clothes, waterproofs and a PACKED LUNCH
Places are limited!
Leader: Tasha Isaac (Sarah’s sister) who has 20 years’ experience working with children in sports, as an LSA and on forest school activities
INTRODUCTORY OFFER: Siblings half price
Location: Wookey Farm, Monks Ford, Wookey BA5 1DT – 01749 671859 / 07779 145441 Info: email [email protected].
How to become a pig farmer?
…. have a friend who needs to re-home some pigs!
2017 has seen us take on a new venture as pig farmers. Just 2 sows, which I think will be plenty on top of all the other animals. We are delighted to have re-homed Blossom and Bramley from New McDonalds Farm in Wiltshire. They were looking for a different breed but couldn’t bear the thought of these lovely, and still young, sows going for the chop.
They are both Gloucester Old Spots and have a lovely docile temperament, although don’t get in the way of Bramley and her food! We are borrowing a boar to do the business and then hopefully have our first piglets in summer 2017.
Meanwhile as we have pretty much run out of pork and sausages, we have done our usual thing of buying a couple of weaners to fatten up for meat.
Christmas Experience 2016
Following on from last year’s hugely successful Christmas Experience, its back! Come and join us on Tuesday 20th December at 4pm on a journey to Bethlehem, to a stable with a very special baby. And a few goats too! And hopefuly Mr Pickles if he’s behaving.
Followed by some warming mulled cider and mince pies – undercover this year so no one need get wet.
Building a house
Have realised I haven’t updated the earlier post of “hoping to build a house”…. all good news – We were given our full outline planning permission this summer. We’ve recently appointed an architect and are working with him on the design. This will then get submitted to the council for approval and then we can start building!