Local food is popular on menus across Greater Manchester. Many local people would love to know how to make a career as a grower.
Already a rising number of young (and not so young) people in and around Greater Manchester are opting for more physical life away from a computer and a desk, a chance to get their hands dirty and supply restaurants, pubs and schools across Greater Manchester with good, healthy, fresh food.
The Kindling Trust has brought together three local organic growers to run a 4-day Commercial Organic Veg production Course which is unique to the UK. The course is taught on the farms and covers varied aspects of a growing business, from setting up a Market Garden to field-scale vegetable production (including pests and diseases and machinery maintenance), from soil maintenance to financial management.
What previous participants have said about the course
- “Really well organised course and very inspiring. Really well paced plus one day a week means it sinks in.”
- “I’ve loved it, loved visiting four different sites, loved being on four different working farms. Not fake only facts based – hands on is how I learn best. Nice people who are like minded. Quite inspiring.”
- “It was great, would do it again any time. Very relaxed but intensive approach to a very large topic. Dealt with in a really good way repeating bits in different ways (e.g. the rotations and common place veg). Maybe we could have done a little exam on these at the end. Jenny is really passionate and that makes it easy to do and we will consolidate our knowledge by doing subsequent volunteering.”
- “Jenny is great and she has created something really valuable.
The Kindling Trust is working to change Manchester’s food system for the better and are in the unusual position of having a great network of people and organisations to work with - from existing local organic growers to buyers such as Manchester Veg People and Unicorn Grocery.
Helen Woodcock from the Kindling Trust says:
“We are now looking to support and grow more commercial organic growers to supply these buyers, as well as local Farmers Markets, box schemes etc., and this course seems the best way to do that - taught by the experts themselves on their farms: Jenny Griggs of Climate Friendly Food at Fir Tree Farm, Glebelands City Growers and Moss Brook Growers.”
This spring the course will run on 4 Saturdays starting on the 29th of March and ending on the 3rd of May. It also involves 2 additional placement days at the farms, so that you practice what you learn during the course and get a taste of working at a commercial scale.
“We are really serious about getting more people into commercial-scale growing, and we are looking to support people who are serious about doing it too!” added Helen.
This course is one part of a wider model to try and create a fairer and more sustainable food system for Greater Manchester. Kindling have also set up FarmStart, the first incubator farm in the UK to support new entrants to organic farming, and work very closely with Manchester Veg People, a pioneering co-op of organic growers and buyers.
The course covers the key areas for setting up and running a food growing enterprise, including:
- Running a food growing business (including finances, legal issues, record-keeping, Health & Safety, managing volunteers) and co-operative business models.
- Understanding and maintaining soil fertility
- Small-scale market gardening – focusing on plant propagation and salad leaf production
- Field-scale vegetable production, including pests and diseases and machinery maintenance
- Saturday 29th March
- Saturday 5th April (TBC)
- Saturday 26th April &
- Saturday 3rd May