London Harvest Festival 2022

Well done to all our students, volunteers and staff, we came third overall and scooped several first prizes in the Horticulture Show!

We came 1st place for our beautiful Display of Seasonal Fruit & Vegetables. We also gained 1st place in ‘Pollinator-Friendly Plant’ category and 3rd Place in the ‘Prettiest Pumpkin’ category.

Thanks to the Greenagers who picked flowers and herbs on the morning of the Show and made two arrangements to enter.

Our honey gained 1st place overall. If you’d like to try some of our ‘award-winning’ honey, jars will soon be on sale in the Farm Shop!

We were thrilled to come second overall in the animal show! Congratulations to Lambourne End team who gained a worthy first place.

We took part in a range of categories that focused on the handlers and then the animals themselves. We’re so proud of all our Young Farmers, Greenagers, Volunteers, Apprentice and Staff who work hard caring for our animals all year round and to those who attended on the day and displayed their excellent knowledge and handling skills!

Well done to Sophie, who gained a 1st place in the 12-14 year old large animal handler category leading one of our lambs. She went on to complete against the other age ranges (including adults) and came second overall in the Young Handler Competition!

A special mention also goes to Karl, one of our volunteers. He not only gained 2nd place in the 18+ handler category showing one of our goats, but he was also recognised with the annual award for a young volunteer who has shown particular dedication and commitment – chosen from all the city farms! Karl is 19 and joined the Farm as a livestock volunteer back in May 2019. He’s attended consistently for two days a week and has proved himself to be a reliable, dedicated and committed volunteer. Karl is happy to help with any tasks in addition to his animal care role (including helping with tours for older people’s groups and lots of maintenance tasks). He also successfully completed his Level One Animal Care diploma at the Farm.

After the handler showing it was our animals turn for attention. We entered the goat, sheep, equine and guinea pig classes, followed by the native breed and veteran classes and gained even more rosettes! Highlights were the equine and goat classes. Kiera stole the show, winning 1st place in Best Equine, 1st place for Best Native and 2nd in Best Veteran. Yin and Yang our Anglo Nubian nannies came 1st and 2nd in the Best Goat class.

The animal showing was completed in the morning. After lunch we enjoyed an afternoon exploring Lambourne End’s farm while the Young Farmers and Greenagers took part in a range of activities including a high speed pony and cart ride then braving the zip wire!

We came back together to cheer on the Tug of War teams. Our Young Farmers and Greenagers took 1st Place in the under 16 category, they were given a trophy made by the mobile forge that day. Well done also to our adult team who put a fantastic effort in!

Thanks to the London City Farms & Community Garden Association and their funders for their hard work putting on the London Harvest Festival.

Thanks to our own funders who made the day possible, including Southwark Council’s Neighbourhood Fund and Jack Petchey Foundation’s Educational Trip Fund which enabled us to cover the cost of a coach to take as many of our young people and volunteers as possible.

We had a fantastic time! Here’s what some of our participants said: