There is a world of difference between growing delicious and cost-saving fruits and vegetables on the balcony or in the garden and creating enough food to sustain you 12 months of the year. ​

Come and learn with us in 4 weekends over 4 seasons how we doing it at The Barracks

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This series of four weekends over the four seasons of growing can be enjoyed one at a time, or book all four at a generous discount and truly immerse yourself in nearly 100 hours of practical and taught instruction. 

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No matter which course you take, or all four, you will learn about:

• The Pirate 6 year crop rotation

• Making compost the slow way

• Water and energy management

• The importance of mulching

• Care of crops, and weed control

• Making the best of limited time. 

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Book tickets for all four weekends 

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Or mix and match any number of weekends by season:

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Growing 1 - Spring

April 25th - 27th

Making your own potting compost, sowing seeds for maximum germination, preparing the ground, planning a year of growing. The first vegetable plantings and tending to germinating seeds. The annual care of the soft fruit beds and how to chit and plant potatoes for the earliest crop possible.

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Growing 2 - Early Summer

June 13th - 15th

Early Spring. How to judge the last frost, warming the ground for early main bed sowing. The seed bed, late and successional sowings, raising seedlings in modules. Planning companion planting and getting the grains going.

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Growing 3 - Late Summer

August 8th - 10th

Late Summer. How to maintain a growing vegetable garden. Taking care of pests biologically

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Growing 4 - Autumn

Sept 26th - 28th

Early Autumn. Was it all worth it? We have been nursing our seedlings, tending our plants and watering and weeding constantly. Now, at the point of bottling, drying, preserving, we find out if we have enough to last us until summer next year. Come and learn the most important parts of self sufficiency - the bits that are done in the kitchen!

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What to bring with you

Stout, waterproof shoes

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And every evening, our amazing chef will present us with his interpretation of the day's love aspect on our plates as we eat together the fantastic food he creates for us from the food grown at the barracks, outside your window.

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• Full board accommodation at the Barracks

• All discussion groups and workshops

• Daily events based on the theme of the day

• Use of the extensive library and free roaming of the Barracks

• Morning yoga and Karma Yoga

• Pigs and philosophy!

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