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Where and when?

3rd - 4th May 2024
5-6th July 2024
​24-25th September 2024

Course content

This three part course series will run from Spring to Autumn. It will be broken down into themes relating to Spring, Summer and Autumn, and will involve visits to three market gardens. The course will be held over three lots of two day long get togethers. This lengthened version of the Introduction to Market Gardening course will go into more detail of what is covered through the introductory course. We will have more time to delve deeper into some of the practicalities of market gardening.

SPRING (May)
The first two days in May will start off at Trill Farm Garden and cover some of the following topics:

• rotations and crop planning for a box scheme and restaurant sales
• propagation
• Spring crops (including season extension)
• Spring cultivation techniques and bed preparation

The second day will involve a visit to Fresh and Green near Ottery St Mary. Ruth has been growing veg there since 2006 and will talk through her approach to running a box scheme on much sandier soil than at Trill. Fresh and Green is a twelve acre farm, six of which produce seasonal veg, year round for the veg box scheme that she runs. There is 600 m 2 of protected cropping, in the form of polytunnels. Most of the propagation is done on site, direct sown, or in the dedicated greenhouse, and with the exception of ware potatoes all of the vegetables marketed through the veg box scheme are produced by the business. Over fifty different types of vegetables and herbs are grown on a six year rotation, with egg laying chickens, and green manures incorporated into the rotation scheme.

SUMMER (July)
The first of the two days in July will return to Trill Farm Garden and cover some of the following topics:

• irrigation
• Summer polytunnel production
• harvests and sales
• Summer cultivation techniques and bed preparation

The second day will be a visit to Pitney Market Garden where Adi and Rita will run through the way that they run their market garden, producing for an onsite farm shop and cafe. They will go through the tools and machinery that they use for field scale production, alongside the protected cropping and more intensive area of the market garden.

AUTUMN (September)
The course will return to Trill Farm Garden again, this time to see how things work in autumn, the change over from summer crops to autumn crops and how we go about this, and a real in depth look at soil fertility and health and the techniques that we use to improve this. The focus will be on the following topics:

• the practical things that we do to balance soil health with vegetable production
• Winter polytunnel production
• Autumn bed preparation (main focus on tunnels)
• Growing for autumn crops

The second day of the autumn course will be at Trill Farm Garden focusing on the seed production that we do here and how we integrate that into our market garden to add diversity to what we do and the crops we grow, as well as the income that the business makes.

Course Cost

£180 for each block of two days.

There is a 10% discount available to Landworkers' Alliance and Organic Growers Alliance members and those living within 15 miles of the farm, please contact us with details of your LWA membership or your address to receive the discount code.

One bursary ticket (half price) will also be offered to those who cannot afford the full ticket price. To apply for this please email [email protected] with a little bit about yourself, what you would like to get from the course, and why you think you should be considered for the bursary.

MEET THE COURSE TEACHERS

ASHLEY WHEELER

TRILL FARM GARDEN
​@trillfarmgarden

Ashley Wheeler has run Trill Farm Garden with his partner Kate since 2010. Brought up on an organic smallholding, he learnt a huge amount from his parents who ran a box scheme in the 1990's. After his Horticulture degree at Reading University he and Kate came across the opportunity at Trill Farm to rent 2.5 acres to run their own market gardening business. They now sell salad and other vegetables and herbs to around 20 different restaurants, cafes and caterers almost all within 8 miles of the farm. In 2020 they also setup a veg bag scheme, now delivering around 70 bags of veg locally.
They have run traineeships at Trill Farm for the past few years, and these along with the courses are an integral part of the market garden in terms of helping others to access some of the opportunities that Ashley and Kate have been able to access.
Another important part of the market garden is the seed production which they have been doing for a few years now and alongside saving seed for their own use they also produce seed for small UK based seed companies such as the Real Seed Catalogue in Wales.

ADAM BEER & RITA OLDENBOURG

PITNEY FARM MARKET GARDEN
​@pitneyfarmmarketgarden

Pitney Market Garden is run by Adi & Rita; both are first generation farmers who have almost 20 years combined organic horticultural experience. Their ethos is to produce high quality, fresh vegetables for the local community whilst caring for the climate, biodiversity and the soil.

RUTH HANCOCK

FRESH AND GREEN
@vegetable_dalliance

Ruth Hancock is the lead grower at, and founder of, Fresh and Green Vegetables, established in 2003 in East Devon.
The market gardening business is run from a twelve acre farm, six of which produce seasonal veg, year round for the veg box scheme that she runs.
With 600 m 2 of protected cropping, in the form of polytunnels. 
Most of the propagation is done on site, direct sown, or in the dedicated greenhouse, and with the exception of ware potatoes all of the vegetables marketed through the veg box scheme are produced by the business.

Over fifty different types of vegetables and herbs are grown on a six year rotation, with egg laying chickens, and green manures incorporated into the rotation scheme. ​