I was born and grew up in cities, so ‘farming’ has never been a word that pops out of my daily conversations. Been living in Singapore for the last 15 years, it is a different concept and usually associated with ‘urban’. Even in Australia today, farming has become an aging profession and not that many young kids get to see farms up close, especially in big cities like Melbourne.

It was quite a surprise then when I came across the Collingwood Children’s Farm, which is not far from central Melbourne. It consists of several hectares of paddocks, rustic structures, gardens and orchards, forming a contrast to the surrounding Abbotsford community, which has got all the inner-city trappings of Melbourne with plenty of hip cafés and bars.

A ticket for our family of three for a whole-day visit is AUD20, which bought the most fun for my four-year-old son Francis. He wandered around, walked along with the sheep and goats, chased after chickens, ran wild in the clearing, fed the horses, goats and cows himself. It was the first time he got so close to the farm animals and he was clearly very excited.

There was a guinea pig-cuddling session, in which the enthusiastic farm worker explained the living habits of the animal to the kids and showed them how to pet them properly.

A group of little kids were asked to sit in a circle and a few guinea pigs were passed around them. The cute little furry balls are a perfect choice for the kids to learn how to bond with nature. Francis has never had a pet before and got a little possessive of the rodent.

There was also a cow-milking session, but we didn’t have the time to go. I’m sure that will be a rare experience for the kids.

For lunch, we headed to the Farm Café in the middle of the farm. It has a paddock-to-plate policy: everything is made with the ingredients sourced locally.

The visit to the Collingwood Children’s Farm has definitely become a different kind of adventure for my son Francis. It was also a great bonding experience for us as a family. A city farm has never been on my radar before, but I will look forward to visiting this farm again.