A generation ago gardening was something which everyone seemed to have learned without ever having been taught it. Now there are many people who would like to grow things but who have little or no experience of the practical aspects of gardening.
The local adult education centres and organisations like the Royal Horticultural Society provide excellent classroom theory instruction but there is a shortage of practical "hands on" training unless students are prepared to travel long distances.
Spa Hill Training exists to provide practical training in the basic skills of gardening and horticulture at a price which puts it within reach of most gardeners and allotment holders but which also covers all the costs involved.
Most of the instructors are experienced amateur gardeners who give their services voluntarily helping to keep costs as low as possible.
Spa Hill training concentrates on practice rather than theory. Students work in small groups with usually four or five and at most seven students to each instructor. As each task is explained students practice it under the supervision of their instructor. At the end of each course students are given printed notes of what they have done as an aid to memory. On the formal one day courses they also receive a certificate confirming that they have completed the course..
Spa Hill training is organised in modules each covering a single subject. This gives flexibility. One, two, three or more modules can be put together to provide a course to suit the season, the weather, the time available or the needs of a specific group of students. The use of detailed instructor notes for each module ensures a consistant teaching content even though several different instructors will be teaching the same module simultaneously.
Our publicly advertised training courses are open to anyone, you do not have to be a member to join one of our courses but you will become a member of Spa Hill Allotment Society automatically as soon as you enrol on any course held at Spa Hill. On some courses we give preference to students who have already completed an earlier course.
Course prices are slightly reduced for members of Spa Hill Allotment Society and of SHOGG.
Spa Hill Training is managed by the Spa Hill Training Board whose members are appointed by the Allotment Society and by SHOGG.
If you are an allotment or gardening society in South London who would be interested in a Spa Hill style modular training course being run on your site we will try to help you.
We might even be able to run one of our courses on your site for you or we can train some of your members as instructors and supply instructor and student notes for tried and tested training modules and information about course management.
Sunday 17 February 2008
content modules 1,2 & 4
see right hand column
cost £20.00 per student
9am start finishes at about 3pm.
All tools, equipment and seeds will be supplied. Trainees are advised to wear weatherproof clothing and stout footwear.
Sunday 6 April 2008
content modules 5,6 & 7
see right hand column
cost £20.00 per student
9am start finishes at about 3pm.
All tools, equipment and seeds will be supplied. Trainees are advised to wear weatherproof clothing and stout footwear.
Pictures below are from the Planting Course on 23 April 2006
The day was to say the least damp, light drizzle rather than rain but difficult conditions for seedbed preparation.
Planting Cabbages
Planting Leeks
Seed sowing. Despite the drizzle an adequate tilth was achieved
SPA HILL TRAINING gratefully acknowledges support from 'SHELL BETTER BRITAIN'
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The following modules have all been tried and tested, although we revise them continuously to improve them. We are also developing new modules on propagation from cuttings and on basic pruning skills which we hope to introduce during the coming year.
Why dig at all? Digging tools and their uses. The module demonstrates spades, forks, shovels, azadas(swing hoes) and auto-spades but concentrates on traditional spade digging. How to do it safely and with economy of effort, how to choose a spade which is the right size for you. Single digging, bastard trenching and double digging. Digging on slopes. Digging in manures.
Based round the large "New Zealand" pattern compost bin. How to fill it. What should and what should not go into it. Importance of carbon/nitogen ratio. getting the air/moisture balance right. Heating in compost bins. Turning compost. Each team of five students fills one bin and turns a bin of partly made compost.
Where to site plastic composters. How to fill them. What should and what should not go into them. Importance of carbon/nitogen ratio. getting the air/moisture balance right.What to do if the contents refuse to rot. Extracting the finished compost. Turning the contents.
Our only indoor module, usually done in a polytunnel. Students handle composts both organic and non organic and additives such as grit, sand, perlite and vermiculite. Some theory about how and why seeds germinate but mainly practice sowing different types and sizes of seed into pots, trays and cells as approptiate. Importance of labelling. Watering seeds and seedlings.
Each student uses three tined "cultivator" and rake to prepare a twelve square foot seed bed from rough dug ground then sows it with several different types and sizes of seeds. Row sowing, space sowing, depth, spacing, covering. Adding support or protection as appropriate. Marking and labelling, watering, feeding.
Usually done in the spring this module is normally mostly about potatoes, onions and garlic with only a passing mention of daffodils, dahlias and gladioli but the emphasis could easily be reversed. Students gain working experience of planting bulbs, corms and tubers.
Planting out of both container grown and bare root plants. Soil prepatation, adding nutrients, providing support and protection. Spacing and watering. The actual plants used will vary with the season but for the April course we use a brassica, leeks, lettuce and either sweetcorn or tomatoes unless the weather is very cold when we have to use hardier plants. Each student spends about forty five minutes planting as wide a variety of specimins as the weather permits.
©2007 London Allotments Network.