To address the grower skills training gap, we have spent time asking new entrant growers what would have helped them to better launch their careers as they grow their own businesses.
We have collected that hindsight and are now in the process of developing an in depth, intensive, practical / theory based one year grower course on a dynamic growing project Nr. Bristol. The aim is to equip you with the knowledge and hands on skills to take a real step forward into the growing world.
ABOUT THE COURSE
The course will run for a calendar year, 3 days / week, and we are planning a 70/30 practical / classroom learning divide.
There will be skilled, experienced tutors on farm and in class, as well as field trips to exciting projects in the area. In addition, we have forged links with local farms and are building a grower community for work placements and further opportunities.
Teaching will include:
- Hands on growing a wide range of crops, field and protected veg. We’ll learn crop planning, rotations, green manures, weed control techniques, pest and disease, companion planting and marketing. We'll also look at orchard management, soft fruit and flowers.
- Machinery for scale, hand tools, two wheeled tractors as well as field scale tractor and cultivation implements.
- Business - we'll look at real time farm accounts to understand how to budget and forecast for your project. We’ll look at planning permissions, Organic Certification, Environmental Health legislation, VAT, PAYE and DEFRA payments to enable you to confidently navigate the legal world.
- Practical skills that we need to hold it all together. Tractor won’t start? Lets fix that :) Need a compost loo? We can build that too. We’ll learn the skills to keep our farms running sweetly.
- People management and community. No one’s an island right? We’ll discover best practice and learn great ways to involve the community, manage volunteers and key things like safeguarding.
- And it’s not all work! Let's join up to enjoy the fruits of our learning and celebrate the changing seasons and bountiful harvest.
WE NEED YOUR INPUT
We need you to help decide the shape of this course, how it would work for you and what you want to get out of it. Even if you aren’t ready to join at this stage, will take a different path or are already in a growing business it would be invaluable to us to capture your thoughts.
Please help us create and up-skill a more equal, food secure, human scale, agricultural movement that has the wisdom and resilience to face the challenges ahead!
If you have any further comments or questions, please email us on bristolfoodproducers@gmail.com
