Thursday 6 June 2013

Deptford Goats

I keep going on about those goats. I really must write about them now. I saw them one day recently when we found ourselves cycling past just exploring Deptford, (which was well worth exploring).  We were struck by how incongruous the farm-like scenes were against the backdrop of Canary Wharf - the contrast between big, glossy, corporate and grown-up life, and domestic,child-friendly and human (and animal) scale life.

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Some happy ducks and their ducklings.

Ther farm has the usual cattle and larger animals


(including the goats).  Oh, and there was a particularly interesting cow (below) which s a fake one.  The man man stayed there for a couple of hours, painting it :) .

There was a lot of artwork around the farm including some striking and artistic decorative railings made by a local blacksmith, Kevin Boys. He has a forge actually AT the farm, (click this link for more info) which must intrigue the kids when they get the chance to see him at work.  He wasn't working during our visit, and I wondered if perhaps that was him turning his hand to something different and painting the cow. .

I fell for the smaller animals and fowls. I wouldn't normally call a turkey. "handsome" but this one was in his own way and HE obviously thought so too, as he strutted around.



There were some charming ducks, rather hard to photograph because of their duck proof wire fence, but I got this one rooting in his plastic pond


And I got the babies all curled up together


Even the baby pigs were nice, and certainly very clean


The farm's offices and admin, cafe and people centre is a little wooden structure with a turf roof..  You'll see the wooden railings are decorated with great big cut out animals.   The leaders have their offices there and there seemed to be lots of people milling about - mums and toddlers, some kids on an outing from a local school, and a couple of people with learning difficulties who love to help on the farm.


I was touched and amused by the display of rosettes and prizes won by various animals, and also it seems by children who visit the farm regularly.  Here's a small selection which is kept behind glass in a display cabinet.

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There's also a cafe that is very casual (though clean) and it serves the most WONDERFUL wholefood at budget prices, as much as possible of it is home produced.  I had this delicious salad, with home made bread  that got me wanting to be more creative with the bread I make. There was also some spectacular cake afterwards, which I didn't photograph - maybe it got eaten too fast :)


You can see T's smoked salmon and egg bagel in the background, and he reckoned there were at least four eggs in it.    I had some mint tea made with a huge bunch of fresh mint and some lemon, like they do in the Middle East.  We ate in a kind of a greenhouse structure, which was just right for the weather, and I decided I would make a detour to go here for a meal if I was anywhere in the Deptford area again (postcode: SE16)

Apart from the food, it is great to be somewhere tucked away in the middle of the corporate, money-making world, which celebrates a more down to earth life.
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43 comments:

  1. The photos are great - and it's amazing to see such a wonderfully rural setting in the middle of an industrialized area. I've never seen a white turkey before. Since he's actually red, white, & blue he must be a patriotic American turkey (just jesting, of course.....).
    That salad looks good!

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  2. That salad looks delicious. It's always fun to discover a new cafe.

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  3. City farms are so important - the only way most children learn that food doesn't appear my magic in tins and packets.

    (And obviously fun for the grown-ups too!)

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  4. What a fun place! It sounds like you had a really fun day. I just love that duck with his head stuck down in the water too.

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  5. Your photos really bring it to life Jenny. I love city farms. They give a wholesome perspective to an otherwise artificial world. Really lovely for local children too. It's a fascinating area of London, isn't it?

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  6. Jenny, I loved every photo in this post -- oh, those ducks and foul! But really, all of them. I would simply adore a visit there! (And that salad looks mighty fine to a woman who hasn't had lunch yet -- and it's after 2!)

    Thanks for stopping by Marmelade Gypsy -- I love it when you visit!

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  7. What a great place to visit and have lunch! I like that they combine art and the farm animals. :)

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  8. I went there shortly after it was set up...I'm so pleased to see how it has developed!

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  9. I must find this place on my next trip down your way. i know of a few city farms, but it would be good for every major city to have at least one.

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  10. Used to live in London. Always struck by how much greenery and "nature" there is there for a big city. Sounds like a good place to go!

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  11. Hi Jenny, What a fun ramble around. Goats are so cute and fearless. They will go anywhere and do/eat anything. Their self-confidence is boundless. I was at a street festival last weekend and walked about in their petting zoo area that had set up and made friends with llamas, a burrow, small sheep, two fawns (who liked to chew on shirts), a wallaby, a couple of potbelly pigs, and . . . yes . . . GOATS. There were even a couple of ducks in there and one laid an egg right in front of us. There's nothing like the feeling of a warm, just laid egg.

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  12. Sounds like a fun day trip for you! You can't go wrong when animals and food are involved ;o)

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  13. It looks like a great place to visit and spend the day. Animals are always fun to watch and they always bring a smile to people's faces..

    We all want to know what is in the salad, and did you eat the whole thing? It sure looks yummy.

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  14. Beautiful photos! I've never seen a white turkey before or pigs as clean as those!

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  15. Jennie, I would love to visit the farm. Don't you just love whole food? If we only ate seasonally and what is grown in our areas we would be so much healthier. Love the roof....I have to wonder if the goats ever jump up on it and graze. It would seem so natural. Thanks for the introduction. Have a fabulous weekend. Bonnie

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  16. Looks like a great place! Very cute animals :)

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  17. What a wonderful adventure! I thought the goats quite fetching. apart from seeing goats milk at the supermarket and having read the Billy Goats Gruff as a kid, I know nothing about them.

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  18. This sounds similar to a community farm in the southern English town where my son lives, complete with a rustic cafe that serves mostly farm grown, delicious food! That salad had me salivating!

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  19. So much life among the concrete.

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  20. Oh Jenny what a fun trip this was for me too! I just adore all the darling critters you captured, live in their own little worlds. Great post, thank you.

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  21. This looks like a great place to visit and to work at, and I am glad it is there! One wouldn't expect to find it, like you said, between the glassy corporate towers etc.

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  22. What a lovely place - I went into Awwww overload looking at your pictures. And the food looks wonderful :-) x

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  23. Yes, it's good to have a reminder of nature and small-scale existence alongside the brash corporate skyscrapers. And a reminder to kids of where their food comes from, that it isn't just something out of a can or a cardboard box.

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  24. Yes, it's good to have a reminder of nature and small-scale existence alongside the brash corporate skyscrapers. And a reminder to kids of where their food comes from, that it isn't just something out of a can or a cardboard box.

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  25. What a fabulous place to visit. I would be in my element there. I absolutely love the baby animals.

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  26. I love these city farms which give kids who never get to the country a chance to experience a wee bit of country life

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  27. This looks like a great place to visit and have a bite to eat. I'll bet the local school kids really enjoy it too. Fun to find it tucked in against the skyscrapers.

    Darla

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  28. You're right. That this is taking place right in urban London is great and
    miraculous! :-) Many thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  29. Jenny, you've found an interesting place, the farm near the city!
    I'm afraid of turkeys, they are angry I think. But I like to eat turkey at Christmas.
    Those goats are very colorful: white stripes on heads and white legs.
    Happy weekend!

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  30. Wow this amazing. Love the shot showing the office blocks in the background. That painted cow looks like it should be part of the Cow Parade.

    The pigs do look very clean! :D

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  31. What an amazing spot! We stayed near Golders Green when we went to see the Mousetrap a couple of weeks ago and were amazed to see a farm in the middle of the shops and houses and suchlike. It's great, and I've love to go back and visit properly. Thanks for showing us the goats and their pals.

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  32. A bit of country in the city, how unexpected and delightful! Not what I'd go to London to see, but I would definitely take a detour to visit it for a bucolic break from city life...and some of that yummy fresh food you described. Fun!

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  33. Love the pictures!!!!!!
    Sounds a great place to visit/eat!

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  34. I think your background is so nice. Draws you to look the second time.

    I think it is the whole bussiness of the people as well. The smiles, the

    rocks. Alott of happiness going on. Very,very nice.

    I enjoyed your pictures.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Happy Saturday!

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  35. Looks like a great place to visit, and one which would be fun for our nephew (age 6) and his sister (age 7). We'll have to add it to our "to do" list -- especially since the lunches available look scrumptious!! xoxox

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  36. I love when little establishments fight the norm. This looks like a little place we have by us called Apple Holler. My kids loved it when they were little. And I suspect they still do like it.

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  37. I love this post but I am hungry so the photos of the food are very appealing!

    I just did a link to you in my last post, Jenny. I am still wondering when your book about the Victorians will be coming out!

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  38. I love the fact that you can see Canary Wharf from the farm! So funny! I totallly need to visit the farm with my children!

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  39. I've now caught up and read (though not commented upon) all the posts since my temporary partial absence from Blogland.

    I'm always rather bemused by urban farms. I do appreciate their educational worth but despite being brought up in suburbia I've always either lived in or had access to the countryside and the reality of farm life. Somehow urban farms just seem peculiarly twee.

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  40. That sounds so cute :) And a great cafe is always a bonus. By the by, I loved the cafe in the converted railway carriage in Deptford, when I was there - well worth dropping in for a sandwich or a cake.

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  41. Thanks for the brilliant comments. GB, I think the crucial point is that you've always had access to the countryside. Believe it or lot many of the local kids have never been at all. But most kids are interested in animals. I think we have probably evolved to be. Thanks for the link, Kay. I have another couple of projects on the go at present, so the Victorians book has taken a back seat for now. Oh, Chickadee, I think your young relatives will love it! Molly, I think that the whole community urban farm idea is spreading. In the countryside there are so many great farm attractions with more space of course.

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  42. Wow, those meals look really yummy and Deptford isn't far from me at all! It looks like a good day out.

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  43. This is remarkably incongruous, to have this rural set-up against the steel towers of banks!

    I took a double take on the photo of the man with the cow. I thought he was MILKING it! Sort of like performance art. Stranger things have happened. I just recently read about Tilda Swinton sleeping as part of an art exhibit at the MoMA.

    All the creatures you photographed look adorable -- from the ducklings to the piglets. Even the strutting turkey. It reminds me of when I was around 10 yrs. old and really into Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" books. I declared to my family that I wanted to live on a farm. It earned a round of hoots and snorts around the dinner table. None of them could imagine me shoveling horse dung or milking a cow before dawn. Turns out they were right! But I do love being surrounded by wildlife, as long as I don't have to take care of them.

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