[Hannah Weller]

Hannah Weller

16/11/2023 at 11:45 am #84611

Market Garden Traineeship 2024 – Lovebrook, Kingston, East Sussex

Lovebrook is an ecological community wellbeing project, based in the beautiful South Downs village of Kingston. This ambitious, non-profit project includes market garden, orchard, farm shop, veg box scheme, volunteer days, therapeutic work, laying hens and seasonal camping.
The market garden is a thriving part of the project. We farm regeneratively, with no dig beds, zero chemical inputs, and we incorporate low impact and permaculture principles throughout. Since 2023 we have offered a more formalised traineeship, alongside our community volunteer days. This is for participants who wish to undertake a commitment to a full season on the land, and deepen their knowledge of market gardening. Participants will learn from our head trainer, following a weekly structured curriculum, plus invitations for home study, weekly reflections and a final project. This course will make an excellent preparation for taking the next steps into employment in regenerative agriculture, or for people wishing to apply the knowledge to their own community projects or land based work. We will be following the Future Farmers framework issued by The Landworkers Alliance, to inform our curriculum and guide our training.

Outline of traineeship:

*Weekly Fridays 9.30am-4pm. March 1st – Oct 25th 2024
*Optional once-monthly winter extension Nov, Dec 2024, Jan, Feb 2025
*Location: Lovebrook, The Street, Kingston, BN7 3NT
*6 trainee places available
*The training will be a blend of hands-on practical training, group discussion and trainer-led sessions, along with neighbouring farm visits, and signposts to home study, research, and other extended learning opportunities.
*Each participant will also be guided to complete a finishing project, to prepare a design for their own market garden.
*General topics we aim to cover, specific to our site are:
Site selection and suitability – Soil health and fertility building – Crop rotation – Cultivation – Propagation – Crop production – Green manures – Record keeping – Weeds – Business management – Pests and diseases – Harvesting/packing – Cropping plan

Applicants should have some degree of knowledge or experience of growing already. Perhaps you have done some Woofing or community volunteering, maybe you are a keen home grower, or have an allotment. Most importantly, you want to take the next step towards incorporating regenerative agriculture into your community.

On completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion, and a letter of recommendation, outlining what they have covered during the course

We have generously received funding from The Enjoolata Foundation, which means we can offer this traineeship at no/low cost. There will be an invitation to contribute if you can afford it, but there is no expectation if you cannot.

Application form available on request – closing date for applications 11th December

For more info, and to request an application form, contact Hannah Weller: hannah@lovebrook.org
http://www.lovebrook.org