Assington Mill

Assington Mill lies in one of Suffolk's secret valleys. The farm consists of nine buildings around the farmyard, and 86 acres of farmland. The buildings are being restored one by one and the land is being managed as a private nature reserve. The farm has an unusually wide range of diverse habitats: arable land, unimproved pasture, woodland, wetland and scrub. A new eleven acre woodland was planted in December 2004 to join nature reserve Spouses Grove with another private nature reserve, Tiger Hill. It contains a high proportion of hazel for the benefit of the local dormice. The craft courses started at the end of February 2005.

Visit Assington Mill's website

Courses

 

Goat husbandry

12 February 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

A one day course covering all aspects of goat keeping from how to select your goat to caring for it through the lifecycle. This new one-day course will help you to find out whether you want to keep g...

Beekeeping for Beginners

19 February 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

This course is an introduction to the subject, with the emphasis on the practical aspects of bee-keeping and is designed for beginners. We will have a look at some beehives but not the inhabitants on...

Pig-Keeping - introduction

26 February 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ

This one-day course aims to cover all the things you need to know before starting to keep a few pigs on your land. It will not be looking at commercial pig-keeping. Topics to be discussed in the morn...

Felt-making for beginners and returners

03 March 2012

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!

Course outline

We will start the day learning the secrets behind the felting process, why some breeds of sheep felt better and faster than others, and why felt shrinks so much. The morning session will be spent learning and doing the "how to" of felt making; using pre-dyed combed and carded wool fibres. We will go through making up felting soap solutions, laying out the wool, wetting out, creating pre-felts (half felt) and fulling (shrinking) the finished felt. There will be plenty of opportunity for experimentation and we will make at least one roughly A3 sized sheet of flat felt before lunch. There will be a selection of books provided to get the creativity flowing if you get stuck for inspiration. Those who have the basic knowledge of felt-making will have the opportunity of creating something more complicated.

In the afternoon session we will build on the skills learnt earlier in the day and each make a felted bowl or vessel using a seamless three dimensional felt making technique.

Neither piece of felt will be totally dry at the end of the day, so some plastic to wrap the felt in to transport it home is advised. Also please wear comfortable, sturdy non slip shoes as you will be up on your feet and someone always spills a little bit of soapy water!

Cost: £75 including lunch - materials will cost £20, to be paid on the day.

Contact: T: 01787 229955

Plumbing Basics for Amateurs

04 March 2012

Be prepared for winter plumbing problems: learn to change taps and washers, cure leaking showers, radiators, ball valves etc. You will be amazed at what you can achieve. For those who like DIY.

Cost: £80 including home-made lunch & other refreshments.

Contact: T: 01787 229955

Organic vegetables - how to grow your own

10 March 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

This one-day course, for beginners and improvers, aims to help you to get the best from your organic vegetable growing – whatever ‘best’ means for you. It will cover a short overview of what ‘organic...

Beekeeping for Beginners

18 March 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

This course is an introduction to the subject, with the emphasis on the practical aspects of bee-keeping and is designed for beginners. We will have a look at some beehives but not the inhabitants on...

Scything for beginners

24 March 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

Course content: Scythe components Sharpening using jig, hammer & stone Peening Technique - body movement Practical work on nettles etc. and grass You will mainly be using Austrian scythes (a superior...

Cooking for Health - the Cuisine Vivante approach with Jane Sen

25 March 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

Cooking for Health – The Cuisine Vivante approach – the mind, body and spirit of food and its preparation. The Cuisine Vivante workshop has been designed for those of us who - - Want to eat more whol...

Hen Keeping in Your Garden

01 April 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

This one-day course is designed for those who want to keep a few hens in the garden. In the morning, Francine will tell you about the merits of different breeds, the life-cycle, how best to house the...

Sheep for Smallholders

21 April 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

A one-day course on everything you need to know to start keeping a few sheep: breeds, methods of enclosure, feed, on-going car & pests and diseases. In the afternoon there will be individual tuition ...

Wild medicine: harvesting & using the hedgerow

22 April 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

Wild Medicine This is an unusual chance to forage and make your own medicines. We offer a very practical workshop where you walk the land, get to know the plants, harvest your own ingredients and mak...

Fly fishing for absolute beginners

28 April 2012

This course is designed for absolute beginners and includes :

a breakdown of basic equipment to get started, i.e. rod, reel, line, fly choice, clothing and accessories;
still water and river techniques/species, which would include dry fly, nymph and lure fishing;
a practical demonstration of tackle assembly including basic knots and fly presentation'
fly casting tuition either on the mill pond or in a nearby meadow.

There will be an opportunity to catch and release some of the fish in the millpond at the end of the day. We have rainbow trout, rudd, roach and bream.

Cost: £80 including home-made lunch, biscuits and cakes.

Contact: T: 01787 229955
 

Food for Free

29 April 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

Identify, learn about, forage for and cook edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of our common plants. In the autumn, we will focus mainly on mushrooms. The SPRING course will be led by Nic...

Fruit Tree Pruning

05 May 2012

Assington Mill, Assington, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 5LZ.

A one-day course to explain the principles of fruit tree pruning, the use of tools and how to sharpen them. This will be followed by a practical demonstration in Chris's commercial orchard on how to ...

Clay Ovens - how to make one

21 July 2012

Learn to make a clay oven for baking bread or pizzas just in time for the summer holidays. We can promise you a very enjoyable day playing around with mud, in beautiful surroundings!

Jon will explain about the dimensions of the oven and why they are important. We will then dig the clay from a small pit near the mill pond and barrow it back to the concrete hardstanding where the work is to be done. Jon will show you the techniques involved in constructing a clay oven.

Before lunch, everyone will make their own pizza, to be cooked in the existing clay oven here at Assington Mill. One of Jon's many sidelines is running a very popular pizza stand at festivals and fairs where the pizzas are hand-made to order by an Italian chef.

After lunch, the main work of construction will be done. You have a choice here: if you make it small enough, and bring a strong piece of board (3/4" or 20mm thick) that will fit flat in the back of your car, you could take the oven away. On the other hand, you may prefer to practice and then take away enough clay to work at home, in which case you need to bring some very strong plastic sacks.

Cost: £80 including home-made lunch, biscuits & cakes.

Contact: T: 01787 229955

Clay Ovens - how to make one

22 July 2012

A one-day course learning to make a clay oven for baking bread or pizzas just in time for the summer holidays. We can promise you a very enjoyable day playing around with mud!

Jon will explain about the dimensions of the oven and why they are important. We will then dig the clay from a small pit near the mill pond and barrow it back to the concrete hardstanding where the work is to be done. Jon will show you the techniques involved in constructing a clay oven.

Before lunch, everyone will make their own pizza, to be cooked in the existing clay oven here at Assington Mill. One of Jon's many sidelines is running a very popular pizza stand at festivals and fairs where the pizzas are hand-made to order by an Italian chef.

After lunch, the main work of construction will be done. You have a choice here: if you make it small enough, and bring a strong piece of board (3/4" or 20mm thick) that will fit flat in the back of your car, you could take the oven away. On the other hand, you may prefer to practice and then take away enough clay to work at home, in which case you need to bring some very strong plastic sacks.

Cost: £80 including home-made lunch, biscuits & cakes.

Contact: T: 01787 229955

How to book

Contact the farm on 01787 229955 to check availability on the Organic Farm School courses above.

Supported by the Daylesford Foundation

Daylesford Foundation
Bookmark and Share