Introduction to Market Gardening (Autumn)

Description

Join us for this exciting 3 day Introduction to Market Gardening course, with a chance to see three different approaches to vegetable growing and marketing from three different market gardens. 

How you choose to market garden may depend on soil types, area of land available, local markets and personal preferences such as whether you want to grow veg all year round, whether you want to use only hand tools or larger machinery and the like. This course will show how all of these variables must be taken into consideration and how they lead to different techniques in market gardening from crop planning to cultivation techniques.

The course will show that there is not one simple way of growing vegetables, but it can be approached using many different techniques depending on soil type, proximity to market, scale and personal preference.

DAY ONE will be based at Trill Farm Garden, a 2.5 acre market garden started by Ashley Wheeler and Kate Norman. Ashley will lead the day and focus on crop plans, soil fertility, propagation, tools, bed prep, weed control and much more. We will spend some time in the classroom looking at crop plans and rotation, but much of the day will be in the garden looking at how we implement our crop plans to grow vegetables for restaurants, cafes, shops and a box scheme. 

DAY TWO will be based at nearby Springtail Farm, run by Lally Owen and Tomas Carolsfeld. They have run the market garden for three seasons and will give an insight from new entrants into a newly established market garden business. 

DAY THREE will return to Trill Farm Garden to focus on polytunnel production and selling to both restaurants and through their box scheme. In the afternoon you will then drive up to Pitney Market Garden (near Langport), which is about an hour from Trill. Rita and Adi run the market garden here and will give a farm tour in the afternoon to show you the market garden and more field scale approach to veg growing that they do, as well as talking through selling through the on site farmshop and cafe. 

If you need accommodation there are plenty of B&Bs locally to us and we can recommend Monkton Wyld Court for simple, but comfortable accommodation with good food (dinner is also available if needed).

£240 for three days including lunch on each day. Please contact ashley@trillfarmgarden.co.uk if you wish to book on only one or two days.

There is a 10% discount available to Landworkers' Alliance members and those living within 15 miles of Trill Farm, please contact us with details of your membership 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 ashley@trillfarmgarden.co.uk 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.