Tag Archives: learning

WORKSHOP: Intro to Permaculture

Next course is Saturday 9 December.
Thinking of coming?
Please fill out our online form to reserve a space.

Permaculture is a powerful set of ideas that we have used to help us establish the farm. Would you like to know more about it? Come and find out in our introductory workshop that sets a foundation for your ongoing learning and application of permaculture principles.

The workshop will be led by Richard Pitt, Farm Manager. Using the farm itself as a story-book I will mix story-telling with activities designed to allow participants to relate the Aldermoor story to their own.

I will be explaining how permaculture principles have informed our practices. I include consideration of our regrets – the things along the way we wish we’d done (or not done!). 

I will offer suggestions for answers to the following:

  • What is permaculture?
  • How can it be useful in my garden?
  • How can it be useful in my life?

I will highlight some favourite aspects of permaculture and share knowledge that we have found helpful at Aldermoor. I will also make a bit of time for attendees to reflect on what to take away and put into practice.

After the workshop you are invited to stay for a bring and share lunch, allowing time for further conversations.

Event details

Venue: Aldermoor Community Farm, Aldermoor Road, Southampton, SO16 5NN
[we will be in our compost-heated polytunnel!!]
Date: Saturday 9 December 2023
Time: 09:30 – 12:30
Speaker: Richard Pitt (Farm Manager)
Capacity: 10 people. Please fill out our online form to reserve a space.
Cost: It is £15 per person. Payable on the day by cash or card.

Agenda

0930 – 1000 Welcome and refreshments
1000 – 1115 Session 1
1115 – 1130 Break
1130 – 1230 Session 2
1230 – 1400 [optional] Bring and share lunch

Feedback from previous workshops

We had a great time at the permaculture course and felt inspired when we left so thank you again.

Thank you so much for running the permaculture workshop I really enjoyed it. It was lovely to spend that time with you and learning about the farm and your own journey, very informative and great to get some reference material too. 

I love what you and your community have done with Aldermoor it is inspiring, and sharing how you achieved it is very generous and helping achieve a better view on the way I use my garden.

About the farm

Aldermoor Community Farm was started in 2014 by Richard Pitt and friends, who set up a cooperative to begin restoring an overgrown acre of land into a sustainable and productive small holding. Over the years since then the farm has become an example of how to grow veg without harmful chemicals, with other features like chickens, ducks, compost making and off-grid toilets. Now a project of Southampton charity Alder Trust, the farm is well established with a community of volunteers working the land and a community of customers frequenting the farm shop which sells a range of produce and homewares.

Winter Salad Leaves

What are they?

Forget the taste-free zone of Iceberg lettuce, or the blandness of summer salad lettuces flown in from overseas. Greens you grow and eat in the winter are zingy and flavoursome, designed to wake up the taste buds in the darkest, coldest days of the year.

Our bags of winter salad have a host of different leaves, and will be a mix such beauties as:

  • Little Gem and Winter Density (crisp and fresh)
  • Batavia (fresh green with a slightly sweet taste)
  • Lollo rosso (a red, frilly-edged leaf with a lightly bitter flavour)

We also include a small amount of mizuna and pak choi to give a small kick of pepper and some lovely crunch.  They all have plenty of flavour, as well as varied textures and colours.

Eat your greens

Our salad greens are washed in spring water to remove any soil; just give them another quick wash at home before eating them.

If quiche and salad feels a bit too summery when there’s frost on the ground, maybe serve the greens in a side salad, topped with a tasty dressing and toasted seeds, alongside a pizza or hearty Cornish pasty.

Want to grow it yourself?

We grow our salad greens in an unheated polytunnel, which protects them from the worst that winter can bring. The lower light levels and cooler temperatures make them slower to grow, but that only enhances the flavour.

Some types can be hardy enough to withstand even being covered in frost so can be grown outside, but you’ll get a more reliable result if you’re able to grow your greens somewhere protected.

Plant the seeds or small plants in the autumn and make sure they get some warmth, light and water and you should start to see a crop in a few weeks. Keep picking the leaves and the plant will keep on growing more for you. If planting outside, you’ll need to protect the lettuce plants from birds – pigeons in particular love salad. One good thing about the cold weather though – lettuce-loving slugs should have gone to earth until the spring!

Need to know more?

Drop us a line with any questions or ask at the shop counter and we’ll do our best to answer them.