Collingwood Children's Farm was established in 1979 by the local community with the support of the former City of Collingwood and the former Department of Education to give city children "a taste of country life". It is located next to the grounds of the Abbotsford Convent Arts Precinct and a Steiner School, on a bend in the Yarra River. It is a small-holding, fully functioning working farm with Rare Breeds livestock, vegetable gardens and fruit orchards. Community Garden Plots are also a part of the Farm. Eggs and seasonal produce are for sale, and visitors are encouraged to interact with farm animals through activities such as cow milking (daily at 10am and 4pm). The Collingwood Children's Farm is sited on the Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands, the oldest continually farmland in the state of Victoria; farming commenced in 1838 (although anecdotal evidence suggests farming commenced as early as 1836) and has continued uninterrupted since that time. The former convent itself was also home to the Lincoln Early Childhood Studies Institute and a campus of La Trobe University for a while, but is now the site of a community and arts precinct use after protracted negotiations between developers, the state government and the Yarra City Council.
