Tucked between the wonderfully wild and sprawling Delta Park (home of a weekend Park Run and also a mountain biker’s delight) and Jan Smuts Avenue you’ll find something quite unexpected – an urban farm.

The REEA foundation’s complex in Craighall Park is a magical series of gardens within which are built a café, a winery, a horse riding school, and a number of shops that include a charity store, bookshop, and a nursery.

The complex supports a care facility for adults living with mild mental disorders and epilepsy on this property first given to the Rand Epilepsy Employment Agency (REEA) by the Johannesburg City Council in the late 1920s. At the time medical treatment for a condition such as epilepsy was almost unheard of and people afflicted by this condition were thought to be unemployable.

Today the care home houses about 40 residents and also offers a day-care facility serving adults with autism. Close to 100 years old, some of the properties dotted across the farm have been declared heritage buildings.

This is a great weekend outing spot with its rambling gardens, green spaces, and picturesque outdoor areas, complete with hay bales, the Colourful Splendour nursery and Straight from the Ground with its vegetable gardens tended to by residents of the REEA Foundation. 

If you are travelling with kids they’ll get to roam the place and go horse riding or take a pony ride with the Ranger Stables community-based Equestrian Center and horse riding school while on weekends Delta Café is abuz with activity as people (and their canine companions) stream in for breakfasts, pizzas, and refreshments after their walks in the park. It's a popular spot so best book in advance for large groups. 

There’s also Co2nutraceutics where you can shop a variety of mushroom and wellness products and Core Studios for a session of physiotherapy, pilates, and yoga, hip-hop dancing, and more. For some retail therapy, pop into Heart & Heritage, a local fashion label created Lesley Kellerman that specialises in ready-to-wear, artisanal women's fashion.

A much-loved spot for many who know it is the REEA Charity Bookshop where you can shop a great selection of second-hand books at bargain prices and the REEA Charity Shop with its unique bargain finds of everything from homeware to clothing and curiosities. All profits are in aid of the REEA foundation.

Very conveniently, you'll find the REEA Village Vet and Cedric's Car Wash on the propety as well.

Ditch the kids and you’ll get to taste the fruits of Gerakaris Family Wines, Joburg's first winery, where a New Zealand trained winemaker is using grapes farmed in the Western Cape to make Chenin Blancs and Syrah. Experience a taste of the Cape winelands and come through for a wine tasting Wed–Fri 12:30–17:00, Sat 11:00–16:00 and Sun 11:00–14:00.

The many projects and venues across the property, mostly in converted farm buildings, all sustain the Rand Epilepsy Employment Agency in one way or another to ensure the organisation can deliver much-needed care. While there are plenty of other reasons to visit, doing good while you enjoy a day out makes it all so much sweeter.