Grow Your Own
ECBA offer a series of Grow Your Own courses through the year, see
here for more information.
The class notes for the course are provided below.
Lesson 1 The first day of the course will focus on soil - its structure and the properties of soil that make it ideal to work with as well as for optimal root growth, such as organic matter content, fertility, water holding capacity, acidity. We will also be looking at how warmer soils increase root growth and how soil temperature can be controlled.
The role of compost will be covered in this lesson, with a basic knowledge of the secrets to making good compost. Not as mysterious or hard as you may believe!
> Download Course NotesLesson 2 Will be about seeds. You will learn that seeds are living things, with a limited life span. You will learn how to sow seeds of different sizes, large ones like beans and peas and the very small like carrot, lettuce and brassica seeds. And how to plan your garden knowing the sizes of mature plants, sometimes many thousands of times bigger than the tiny seeds from which they come.
> Download Course NotesLesson 3 This lesson will concentrate on nurturing & protecting your vegetables as seedlings and as mature veg; particularly how to keep them protected from wind, frost, cold, weeds, pests and diseases and other stresses.
> Download Course NotesLesson 4 Will continue teaching how to care for growing produce, about thinning, reducing wastage, making the best use of limited space, growing vegetables in bags and other containers and about spreading out your harvests to minimise gluts.
> Download Course NotesLesson 5 Will cover harvesting vegetables; knowing when and how to take produce, how to keep it fresh, storage of root crops and how to cope with ‘too much’. You will learn about keeping production going throughout the year.
> Download Course NotesLesson 6 Will be one to learn about fruit growing, from strawberries & raspberries to orchard fruit. You will learn about the wide choice of varieties available, how to care for and get the most from soft fruit and fruit trees, and about the principles of pruning.
> Download Course Notes