Gardening Workshops and Courses with ‘Seed2Plate’
Supporting your gardening skills through introductory workshops and beginners gardening courses (Level 1 Award in Horticulture). Others choose us because of our informal, flexible training, delivered at a range of community venues and projects within the heart of your communities.
You can also train as part of our Seed2Plate project, working with other volunteers in friendly and safe environments, growing fresh fruit and vegetables to help feed and give back to the community. while also earning an accredited qualification and helping others.
As a member of the National Open College Network (NOCN), our training is nationally accredited and we work to the common training and quality standards set by NOCN.
The project has been designed to fill the gap of entry level training qualifications in gardening, which is currently unavailable in Dorset by providing an accredited Level 1 Award in Horticulture.
Please note: We run courses on request and are not restricted to college academic years for our accredited training. Please contact us for more information on Lydia.Harvey@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk
We offer a range of options to develop your gardening skills from our Bite sized courses to get you started, our Seed2Plate experiences where you can make your own home made products, our volunteering as seen below, to our fully accredited Level 1 Award in Horticulture. The choice is yours.
Our Level 1 Award is delivered as a twelve week course, with two four-hour sessions a week including:
- Understanding soil and growing media
- Plant propagation – sowing seeds, taking cuttings, pricking out and potting up
- Plant Selection – Characteristics and uses of plants, maintenance of plants, identifying plants for specific locations.
Sessions will be a mix of onsite practical sessions at our growing plots, with some online teaching. Our accredited training will enable learners to progress onto more advanced courses (Levels 2 and 3) and potentially work as a gardener or horticulturalist.
We are supported by The Royal Horticultural Society’s Flourish Fund, which enables us to provide courses free of charge to young people with special educational needs.
Volunteer with Seed2Plate:
These FREE sessions will involve helping us to finish the redesign of the garden, planting it up and growing and harvesting food for the community lounge and fridge and will help set you up as Seed2Plate volunteer.
We run Seed2Plate sessions at the following plots:
Wimborne Community Centre – Wimborne Community courtyard kitchen garden on Friday’s from 10.00am – 12pm.
Littlemoor – St Francis Church on Monday’s 10am – 1pm. This plot supplies fresh produce for the local community and the Foodbank at the Church.
Ferndown – The Centre on Monday’s 10.00am -12.30pm. Ferndown will be having Seed2Plate sessions to get the local community involved in outdoor horticulture activities, exploring different land-based themes, learning about plants and how to maintain them, biodiversity and connecting them to Ferndown Common through horticulture.
If you would like to get involved in any of these free opportunities or for more information, email lydia.harvey@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk
Nationally Recognised
Gain a nationally recognised Level 1 qualification whilst developing practical skills
Informal & Supportive
Learn in an informal and supportive environment with other learners
Affordable
Range of affordable introductory level workshops and courses to choose from.
FAQs
Use the dropdowns to find the answers to popular questions regarding the courses.
Training is delivered from sites in Weymouth, Dorchester, Kingston Lacy, and Wimborne.
For organisations we can deliver at your own site as required.
We run courses on request and are not restricted to college academic years for our accredited training. Please contact us for more information on Lydia.Harvey@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk
Our workshops and courses require no prior education or qualifications, just an interest in gardening.
Groups typically vary from six to ten people, with training held in an informal environment.
No, our courses are based on developing practical skills, with no examinations required to complete the course.
The answer is yes. We like to think though that practical skills are best learnt in a group setting where you can also learn from each other.
