After all the planning and preparation, the day finally arrived to welcome our feathery companions to the Edible Yard at St Luke's! On 10^th May our community welcomed five chickens – Karen, Deborah, Elizabeth, Georgia and Andrea. If you haven’t met the newly arrived St Luke’s hens, please pay them a visit in the Edible Yard behind the Centre (newly signposted from the gate). You'll find them pottering about happily in their run, kindly funded and constructed with Allianz, and with support, training and advice from @HenCorner.

   

So lots of volunteers, staff and local nursery children joined in the party to welcome the chickens - we're all really excited having them here at St Luke's. It really brings the Edible Yard alive, and gives another aspect to our food growing area. The hens will provide eggs for our Cookery School (and volunteers) and fertilizer for the growing area. They will also be great for local children (and grown ups!) to benefit from learning about their lifecycle and how to take care of an animal - many children don't have outdoor space at home. 

LATEST NEWS - the eggs have started arriving, with five laid so far!  

If you are interested in taking part in St Luke’s Hen Project by offering some of your time to look after them (a 10-minute shift, in the morning, twice a month would be enough) just let Marco know. You will be rewarded with two freshly-laid eggs for each visit, provided that they have laid them for you!

There's lots going on in the Edible Yard this year - it's really taking shape as a functioning urban growing area and relaxing outdoor space. Plans are afoot for further improvements too following approval of recent plans, so we'll keep you posted on what develops.