See what's happening on the farm
As September arrives and autumn is in the air, we catch up with the team and volunteers to see what's happening on the farm. We've had a whirlwind summer with weddings, theatre, events and our most successful beer festival to date! So grab a cuppa, put your feet up, and read on...
We were blessed this year by wonderful weather for the 2024 Beer and Cider Festival. It was a hugely popular event with 1000+ visitors and volunteers, staff, Morris dancers and band members! I can’t begin to name everyone, there were so many people who helped on the day but thank you. We're now preparing for and looking forward to our autumn and winter events. Coming up, we have the Harvest Fayre & Food and Produce Show on 7 September. We're preparing the transformation for ‘The Witch's House‘ over half term, and the Christmas market in November and Santa's arrival (and Luke's lights!) in December. The benefits are already bearing fruit and we are able to re-invest in projects to help preserve and protect Cogges for the future. Thank you all.
Guy Reed, General Manager
Check out what's on here.
In spite of the erratic weather we have had a splendid crop of flowers for both drying and fresh cut flowers for bunches to sell in the shop, and we will be busy making up “posies” to sell at the Harvest Fayre. The café has been using the salads and veg from the garden – the tomato crop in the greenhouse is doing well, and the greenhouse vine grapes are delicious. The sweet corn is ready to harvest, runner & French beans are cropping well, and potatoes dug up as and when ready. The pumpkins are going to have a tremendous crop!
The herb garden is amazing this year, with many new varieties of herbs. The hollyhocks have never looked so gorgeous and the flower and shrub borders have put on tremendous growth. Roses have had mixed results, they don’t like the frequent winds. Apples have produced a surprisingly good crop from the espaliers, and the soft fruit has given us a good crop of strawberries, with blackberries and loganberries fruiting now. Autumn raspberries still to come!We are pleased with our harvest this year – growing produce is always a gamble. A lot of this couldn't be done without the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, sowing seeds at home and preparing plants to come to Cogges, for which we're very grateful.
Jen, garden volunteer
It's been great to see our visitors using our meadow area more over the summer. The edition of our new tractor has meant that paths have been able to be mown to make walking much easier. Luke and Flis produced a beautiful nature trail that has given visitors a reason to venture down to this previously, relatively unused corner of Cogges. We've completed some tree coppicing in order to open up the area and installed fencing to create some new paddocks. These will be used to home more livestock including a Dutch variety of sheep called Zwartbles, and will also enable us to rotate our current livestock giving the ground a chance to recover.
We have had a good year so far, hatching six groups of chicks which have brought great enjoyment, both being in the ox byre and at our popular 'meet the animals' sessions. Our latest chicks are a new breed to the farm, the Polish Bantam. Look out for their unusual head feathers! We welcomed three new Cherry Valley ducks, and also hatched ducklings – children have especially enjoyed helping them learn to swim in a little pool!
Billy and Max, the Royal Golden Guernsey goats, are continuing to love life at Cogges, greeting visitors on the walkway and enjoying a fuss. The lambs that joined us in March/April are doing very well and can be seen currently grazing with our own sheep to allow some of the other paddocks time to rest and re-grow.
Daisy, the Guinea pig I took home for breeding, had five babies – however it has been a little more complicated than expected, so she has not returned as soon as planned. They are now doing well and feeding themselves, so will be joining the farm very soon. We will now be making plans and adjustments to housing and animal locations in preparation for winter.
Kirsty, Farm Manager.
Meet the Animals sessions: 11am & 2pm at weekends
It has been a busy summer in the Cogges Shop. We have launched our new farm shop range on the back of the enduring success of our Cogges honey, fresh eggs and garden produce (a big thank you to the volunteers in the garden and animal teams for ensuring we have a steady supply!). Mrs Darlington preserves, Farmhouse pickles and chutneys, Franks biscuits and Cotswold fudge have all proved popular, and our cans of Cogges Giddy Goat IPA are selling fast. Buy yours now to avoid disappointment!
We have been incredibly supported by the Craft team who have sewn bunting, aprons and sun hats for us to sell. A special mention must go to Ilona for her amazing tote bags made from reclaimed denim, which sell out as fast as she can make them!
Shelley, retail volunteer.
Cogges Kitchen café and Shop are open daily, pop in! No ticket required.
Visitor feedback: "The boys had a wonderful time, particularly with the various tractor toys and playgrounds, and Cogges was a great day out that helped me keep them busy for a day during the holidays. We especially enjoyed listening to the trio playing their melodians in the orchard, who were all very friendly, chatty and patient with the children (not to mention talented musicians!). It was a really nice and unexpected addition to a fabulous day out."
Thanks to Cereta Drewett and volunteers for the lovely pictures.
