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Home – Take action – Learning – Organic farm school – Seasonal and special courses
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Seasonal and special courses

Hedgelaying

Come and learn to lay hedges 

  • Magdalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 17th March
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday 13th November

For more information on the wildlife and environmental benefits of hedgerows, and on their management, see Hedgelink web site:

  • Hedgelink website

Growing organic apples and pears including pruning

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Friday 14th May
  • Wortley Hall Walled Garden, Yorkshire, Saturday 21st August
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday 17th November  
     

Willow garden sculpture and decorations

  • Abbey Home Farm, Gloucestershire, Thursday 18th March
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Thursday-Friday 22nd-23rd April 
  • Madgalen Project, Somerset, Thursday 6th May

Living Nutrition

These four seasonal weekends are led by renowned chef Daphne Lambert, guest speakers and friends. Each weekend will focus on the foods growing or harvested at Trill Farm. Learn about foods and your health and become inspired to change how you feel by the way you eat - enjoy discovering the foods around you.
 

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 4th - Sunday 6th July (Summer)
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 17th - Sunday 19th September (Autumn)
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 3rd - 5th December (Winter)


Integrated Conservation Seminar

with Iain Tolhurst. An opportunity to learn more about utilising conservation management as a whole farm/garden policy.

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Tuesday 16th March

Easter plant ups and decorations

Be inspired and join our creative team for a tutorial and demonstration in creating your own plant-ups and arrangements to decorate this Easter.
 

  • Daylesford Organic Farm, Gloucestershire, Saturday 27th March
  • Daylesford Organic Farm, Gloucestershire, Monday 29th March

Edible Gardens Walk, discovering local food production

  • Apricot Centre, North Essex, Saturday 20th March

Make your own skep to catch a swarm

Skeps are not often used for hives these days, but they are a wonderful container for collecting a swarm. The Natural Beekeeping Trust is offering two dates for a whole day master class in skep making with expert Martin Newton.

  • Plaw Hatch Farm, Sussex, Sunday 21st March
  • Plaw Hatch Farm, Sussex, Saturday 17th April
     

Sustainable Building Techniques Workshop

  • Apricot Centre, North Essex, Thursday 25th March
     

Food for free

Identify, learn about, gather and cook edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of our common plants.

  • Daylesford Organic Farm, Gloucestershire, Friday 16th April
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 16th May 
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 17th October

 Herbal medicine-making: hedgerow herbalism

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday April 17th
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday-Sunday September 18th-19th

Ways and Means, a demonstration of local transport systems

  • Apricot Centre, North Essex, Saturday 3rd April
     

Eco-textiles

with Gail Bryson. This course is aimed at young people with an interest in eco textiles, design and the world around them. The course is split into four day long workshops, which are held once a month at Trill farm. They can be attended individually or as a group of four.

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Tuesday 13th April - What is an eco textile?
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Tuesday 18th May - Organic wool
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Tuesday 15th June - Natural dyes
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Tuesday 13th July - Designing and making an eco textile product 

Stonewalling

Come and learn the traditional skills of making and repairing a stone wall
  • Magdalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 21st April
  • Magdalen Project, Somerset,Wednesday 23rd June

Rag rugging

Turn unwanted clothes and material into decorative and useful rugs

  • Madgalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 21st April
     

Making Spring Paper Flower Decorations

Create long lasting floral and cake decorations using crepe paper for christmas, weddings or any season

  • Magdalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 28th April

Lime renders & plasters for strawbale buildings

  • Magdalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 28th April
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Friday-Sunday 9th-11th July

Soap making

  • Magdalen Project, Somerset, Thursday 29th April

Clay/cob oven making

  • Madgalen Project, Somerset, Saturday 8th May
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday 5th June
  • Occombe Farm, Devon, Saturday 19th-Sunday 20th June


Local food, local people: A guide to Community Supported Agriculture

The course will explore Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a new economic model for farms and communities. What is CSA? And in what forms can it be found? How can we secure a healthy local food supply? During the course we will explore existing and alternative economic models, discuss new solutions for small agricultural enterprises and ways to setup a CSA.

  • Emerson College, East Sussex, Saturday 17th May - 22nd May

Herbs in the Home

A practical hands-on course taking herbs from the garden to create ointments and potions for health, beauty and the home

  • Madgalen Project, Somerset, Wednesday 26th May
     

Straw Bale Building

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Friday-Sunday 11th-13th June

Charcoal Burning Workshop

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday June 19th

Chairs (cane & rush-seating) & Baskets

Learn how to renew cane & rush seating using natural materials cane, and rush, under the supervision of a professional.  Also traditional basket-making.

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Friday-Sunday 2nd-4th July

Sustainable Sewage Systems

This one-day course will introduce you to the range of reed beds that exist for treating a whole variety of wastewater types, explaining where and when they are appropriate

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 9th July
     

Eco-textiles weekend

Our weekend course is aimed at adults with an interest in eco textiles, design and the world around them including an introduction to eco textiles, what are they and why do we need them, natural dyes, including making dyes from plants found on the farm and making your own eco textile product.

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 9th - Sunday 11th July

Bush craft day

This one-day course is a great opportunity to learn skills in bush-craft and wild food. Reconnect to a time gone by, where people depended on mother-nature and themselves to provide their shelter, fire, water and food.

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Saturday 17th July

     

Herbal Medicine

These weekends will immerse us in the delights of medicinal plants.Using the resources of Trill Farm, the hedgerows and meadows, we will discover how plants grow, their traditional uses and how we can best use them as powerful and effective remedies.
 

  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th July
  • Trill Farm, Devon, Friday 15th - Sunday 17th October

Felt-making

Felt making is an ancient textile process. Come and learn, in one day, how to transform washed and combed sheep's fleece into beautiful, tactile, durable felt; using nothing more than soap, water and friction.
 

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 12th September

Cyder making

This one-day course is suitable for beginners, for those interested in making cider or perry at home and for anyone with an interest in these unique, versatile and tasty products.

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday 25th September
  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 26th September

Spin a yarn - from fleece to fabric

This day workshop aims to cover the basics of woollen spinning including suitable sheep fleeces, preparation for spinning, how to use a wheel and other equipment involved. There will be a demonstration of the processes ranging from carding the raw fleece to knitted samples.

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Saturday 23rd October

Woodwork for beginners

This course is designed for enthusiastic but inexperienced amateurs

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 24th October

Coppicing - traditional woodland management

This course is aimed at beginner. We will spend some time inside learning about various aspects of this traditional management technique and why it is so important. We will spend the majority of the day outside coppicing in a nearby woodland.

  • Assington Mill, Suffolk, Sunday 14th November


Supported by the Daylesford Foundation

Daylesford Foundation

Chicken keeping

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