Half term Halloween happenings!

We're planning our biggest and most fun-packed Halloween event to date for this year's half term and the staff are all hard at work creating costumes and decorating the farm and barns ready for an action-packed week of spooky goings on. The cobwebs are gathering and the pumpkins harvested for carving and the fun will start on October 24, running through to November 2. There will be a wide range of family-friendly ghostly goings on with tractor rides through the specially created haunted woods, ghoulish gatherings in the spooky barns, a new creepy crypt and lots of wizardry and witches spells to get involved in. We'll have a trick or treat cauldron and scary gifts and spells plus Halloween lanterns and plenty of witchy games and crafts. So do pull on your own costumes, dust off your broomsticks and come along to join in the fun.

Holmbush gets a clean bill of health

Concerns about the risks of E-coli on farms have been dominating our thoughts over the past week but we are happy to let you all know that the Environmental Health Officers from Horsham District Council have been around to check on our operation and have given us a clean bill of health.

E coli lives in the gut of farm animals but causes them no ill-effects. We have always been clear that it is important for everyone to wash their hands carefully after handling animals and have always encouraged our visitors to do just that. We are pleased to report there have been no cases of E-coli linked to Holmbush Farm and would like to reassure visitors that we are taking all possible measures to ensure that continues to be the case. If you remain worried we would draw your attention to the Health and Safety Executive's advice on the risk of the bacterium on farms which reads: "The risks are readily controlled by simple everyday measures. Primary amongst these is the need for good personal hygiene. Infection can result from exposure to bacteria from animals or animal faeces and then eating, drinking or smoking without first thoroughly washing your hands." This is exactly the advice and guidance we have been giving our visitors for many years. For further information you can see the government Health and Safety Executive’s website at www.hse.gov.uk.

By coincidence we have recently moved our petting animals off the farm for a small holiday while we use their barn for our annual Halloween extravaganza. This is set to be the best yet with lots of spooky fun and games planned for during the October half term. Watch this space for more details!

Get steamed up in Rudgwick

Harvest is now underway at Holmbush but some of us will be taking a break from that this weekend to head off to the annual Rudgwick Steam and Country Show in Rudgwick on the West Sussex/Surrey border.  Running from Saturday through to the end of the Bank Holiday on Monday this is always a fun show and you can come and meet us and some of our animals as well as seeing a wide range of other interesting agricultural and country attractions too. There will be all kinds of steam engines on display plus a celebration of 50 years of the great British Triumph Bonneville and music from the New Forest Plonkers! The show is held on a 44 acre site and with craft marquees and children's entertainment alongside the steam attractions there really is something for all the family.  Poz our favourite magician, who regularly comes to the farm with his Punch and Judy show, will also be in Rudgwick. So, hope to see you there!

NEVER MIND THE WEATHER!

Never mind the weather - there is plenty to do down on the farm this month whatever the conditions outside.  July and August are fun months to visit as there are a number of special events running alongside our usual attractions.  Check out the craft corner activities with the kids on July 24 and July 31 or for something different visit us on July 29 when there will be snakes and reptiles visiting for the day; or on July 31 when a collection of amazing creepy crawlies will be our special guests for the day.

For full details of our events through the summer see our calendar of events, via the homepage.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION...

Keep watch on your TV screens this autumn as we’ve had film-crews and celebrities mingling with the pigs, goats and chickens for a BBC TV programme. Hosted by celebrity food fanatic Stefan Gates, the programme called Gastronuts sees intrepid kids go wild on culinary adventures as they discover the truth about what we eat and where it comes from. The 15-strong Objective Productions team and four city kids descended on the farm for a two-day shoot. The programme is aimed at 6-12 year olds and its goal is to help raise awareness of food and nutrition among the younger generation.  The host, Stefan Gates has previously written three foodie books: 101 Dishes to Eat Before You Die, Gastronaut – about the darker side of food from flatulence to cannibalism; and In the Danger Zone linked to the BBC Four programme looking at what’s on the menus in extreme locations around the world.

Sheep shearing

Make a date to pop down to the farm on June 6 or 7 and you can see some master sheep shearers in action. There are over 300 sheep on the farm and about this time of year it is time to give them all a major hair cut. Keeping them still and removing all their wool in a quick and painless way is quite a skill. The sheep shearers know their stuff and watching them in action will take your breath away! See you there.

Squeak piggy, squeak squeak

There are new additions at Holmbush Farm World this week with the arrival of our latest litter of piglets. Pictured here with Lesley Armstrong taking a break from working in our tea room, the piglets certainly love to squeak and squeal! The proud parents are Winston and Clementine - our famous rare woolly pigs - and their little piglets have certainly arrived full of energy and enthusiasm.  We have also adopted an additional woolly pig to be part of the Holmbush family and she's attracting plenty of attention too as, unusually, she is white!  

Come a visit soon and check them out.