It’s been a while since we’ve shared an update from the farm and such a lot has happened lately we thought it would be a good time to send an update.
The Cria
This summer we welcomed eight new members to our herd! Some of you may already have met them on your visits to the farm. It’s our fourth year of breeding, which means we’re up to D in the alphabet. If you haven’t already met them, do try to book onto one of our walks or events. Dandelion, Daisy, Dotty, Dancer, Deva, Domino, Duncan and Dolores are waiting to meet you!
New Team Members
As well as the eight new alpacas, we also welcomed two new human members to our team here on the farm.We welcomed the lovely Kierra at the end of summer and she’s been working incredibly hard across all areas of the farm, taking care of the animals, doing work in the ancient woodland and is currently preparing manure bricks as renewable energy for the farm and soon for sale!And we also welcomed Carly as Herd Manager & Farm Virtual Assistant. Carly spent the summer doing her ‘alpaca apprenticeship’ and since September has been my left hand woman, organising things behind the scenes for the herd and the farm business. It seems there's nothing this woman can't do!
Business Updates
Carly will soon be launching a new website for the farm including the return of Alpaca Adoptions and our shop (for the sale of manure bags, alpaca fleece products and gift cards). If you'd like to buy any manure for the garden (the perfect Christmas gift 🤣) in the meantime, or any raw alpaca fleece, do drop us a message!We’ve also been awarded some national lottery funding for our CIC (Community Interest Company), Thrive at Hideaway Wood Farm CIC, which will enable us to offer community based initiatives. More on this soon! A wonderful team from local business Cummins came out recently to help us give the ancient woodland some TLC in preparation for more community visits.
Volunteering Wednesdays
Our weekly Wednesday volunteering days are going from strength to strength. This week we had our busiest yet with eight of you coming to help us with all of the jobs that needed doing on the farm.
We got a huge amount done and even had time for a tea break! Thank you all so much. We ended the day with some halter training for the young boys so that everyone got a chance to spend some time with the alpacas. If you want to come and help us out on one of these days feel free to reply to this email and let us know - we can then get you added to our community group chat!
Natural Alpaca Care
We’re always looking for ways to increase the health and happiness of our herd and last week Carly and Kierra spent an afternoon trimming willow branches to offer them. Alpacas need woody fibres to help with their digestion and like to forage trees and hedges when given the chance. Willow is a particular favourite and has natural healing properties, so is a great addition to their diet. The branches were promptly stripped and the cria had a wonderful time rolling around in them!
The Return of Camping and Glamping
As many of you know we took a year out from glamping and camping and this year we return! We hope to have bookings up and running on our new website by January. We’ll send you another update to let you know when it’s live. If you're interested in booking the site exclusively for a special occasion or retreat, please do get in touch as we are already taking group bookings.
Upcoming Events
If you want to come and visit the farm and meet the alpacas you can join us for our monthly walks. Our next two walks on the 9th November and 14th December are filling up fast. Click here to book.
We also hold a monthly women’s meet up on the second Saturday of the month. Our next will be on the 9th November 10am-12pm. Click here to book.
If you’ve not been before, Wiped Out Women’s Club is somewhere between a women's meet up and a women's circle. It is our monthly community gathering here at Hideaway Wood Farm. We come together to share, be heard and connect with nature and the alpacas.
We hope to see you on the farm soon!
Amy x
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