2024 Upcoming Courses

All courses are delivered by experienced educators who practice what they teach. Informal education is inclusive being learner-centred and experiential.

If you have any questions about how the course is delivered, please don’t hesitate to ask in advance.

We price on a sliding scale, meaning you can pick a price that feels right for you. If cost is a barrier to your participating, please get in touch to ask for a bursary place.


Soil Health Club – How to Bokashi Green Waste

£25*

*Bursary places available please email    

Bokashi Demo: Using effective microbes to ferment food and garden surplus. No need to turn your garden pile. A pest-proof way of dealing with food waste. Location Belper TBC.

Saturday May 18th

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM


Discover Perennial Edibles – What is available in summer?

Belper Lane End DE56 2DL

£15 – space for just 3 more people   

What perennial plants are available to harvest in summer? Learn about some new plants to diversify your garden and diet.

Saturday June 1st

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM


Introduction to Permaculture – 2 morning sessions

Belper Lane End DE56 2DL

£52-£77    

Across 2 morning sessions in our garden. Get stuck into the ethics and principles of permaculture and learn about some practical applications, in a small group.

Wednesdays July 10th & 17th

09:30 AM – 12:30 PM


Introduction to Permaculture

Belper Lane End DE56 2DL     

Full day course. Get stuck into the ethics and principles of permaculture and learn about some practical applications, in a small group.

Saturday September 14th

09:30 AM – 16:30 PM


Plants to dye for

Belper Lane End DE56 2DL

£52-£77    

Workshop: All about how to grow, harvest and use dye plants for natural craft and making

Saturday September 28th

10:00 AM – 16:30PM


Soil Health Club

Belper Lane End DE56 2DL

£25   

Details To Be Confirmed to meet need.

Date TBA October


Please email us if you need a bursary place or if you have an idea for a course that we aren’t currently offering.

Upcoming Events


Gardeners Fair Loughborough

Loughborough town centre

We will be at this bustling new monthly market

Sun June 2nd

Belper Goes Green

Belper Meadows Cricket Club

Three days packed with community spirit, live music, insightful talks, delicious food, and eco-conscious activities. We will have a stall

7th-9th June

Hellens Garden Festival

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

We will have a stall & Ryan is giving a talk on the main stage

Sat & Sun June 8-9th


Timber Festival

Fearnedock, The National Forest, Leicestershire

Ryan is running a workshop & giving a talk!

Friday – Sun July 5th – 7th


Midlands Permaculture Festival

Belper, Derbyshire      

Celebrating permaculture projects in the Midlands with talks and practical workshops. And of course good food!

Saturday September 21st 2024

Services

Garden consultation

We are a team of experienced gardeners, growers and permaculture designers. One of us will visit your space and give you pointers to help advance towards a more thriving garden, following ecological principles.

We will suggest ways to take on the design yourself and talk through which edible and useful plants might fit in your space.

From £100 for 1.5 hours. Contact us to discuss possibilities and availability.

Gift voucher for garden consultation

Would you like to give a gift of an ecological garden consultation? We now have a e-gift voucher you can buy in our online shop. Valid on consultations until 31st December 2024.


Talks

Ryan Sandford-Blackburn gives talks to garden clubs and community groups. Perennial edible plants, introducing permaculture, and composting 101 are popular choices. We like to bring plants and seeds along for you to discover.

In 2024, we will be with:

  • U3A Natural History group, Belper
  • Dethick, Lea and Holloway Horticultural Society
  • Parwich and District Horticultural Society
  • Holbrook Garden Group
  • Orston Garden Club
  • Belper and Duffield Rotary Club

As well as at talking at festivals and events.

Contact us to discuss talk options for your group or event.

Bespoke sessions

If you, your family or your group would like to learn from us, please get in touch to see what we can offer.

Testimonials

“Have really enjoyed the sessions, and have learnt a lot about the various ways of making compost, sowing seeds in different mediums and plant feeds, enabling me to choose which methods I can implement at home using available materials in my garden or locally.

Ryan, Carol and Cristina are also great ambassadors for the natural environment and their small but productive allotment plot is very inspiring and shows what can be achieved from a gentle approach to growing using natural techniques . They are clearly very knowledgeable on all the scientific aspects but also experienced gardeners and growers. 

I would recommend this course to both young and old as I believe the Earthed Up! project is innovative and also challenges long held conventions that compost comes from the supermarket and our food waste goes to landfill.”

— Jane Walker, about the Soil Health Club

“Quite simply our flowers, vegetables and plants would not survive without the role of worms and their successful breakdown of vegetation in our soil. On the compost workshop Ryan explained how you too can create a healthy composting system and all about the worms cycle in that process. What a fascinating day! Great to get your hands dirty and learn such valuable information, which I will incorporate into my own garden. Who needs fertilisers and harmful chemicals when we have our own heroes – worms!” Julie Marshall, Holbrook Green Team.