Animal husbandry and small holding skills courses, craft kits and handcrafted gifts

An intensive course to get you started, explaining all about the honey bee, helping you choose your hive and equipment, how and where to set up your apiary, the bees management and pests and diseases. Not forgetting when and how to extract that lovely honey. An informal couple of days spent with others looking to keep bees. A wealth of information from a highly experienced beekeeper and a chance to see the different equipment available, along with a useful pack of course notes to take away. Where the bees and...

Introduction There are many reasons why people want to start keeping bees. It may be an ambition that you have had for a long time and now you have the time and space to do something about it. Others want to do something positive about the decline in pollinators or they fancy the idea of producing honey and other hive products. However, beekeeping is an activity that is not successfully learnt from books and the internet alone. A successful start to what may become a fulfilling, lifelong interest depends on...

Are you and your family considering a new way of life? Thinking 'The Good Life'? Struggling to find somewhere for all the family to experience smallholding life? Well, look no further. We offer an introduction to smallholding for all the family. We will run through the things you need to consider when buying a property and choosing livestock. You will have the chance to get hands on with the animals too. Learn how to trim the hooves of goats or sheep, check the teats of a sow by making her...

This three-day residential course will introduce you to new tools to help quieten the mind and bring you more present. This helps you to have a clearer channel for communication. Learn the Body Scan technique to help you notice any physical symptoms an animal is experiencing. There will be opportunities to address and work with whatever blocks or obstacles have been arising for you. We will also examine the Code of Ethics for animal communicators. Throughout the weekend deepen your capacity to be fully present in each moment through: meditation,...

A 3 hour morning course discussing chicken keeping. Learn about the pleasures and perils of keeping hens in your garden, their suitability as pets and the joys of having your own fresh free-range eggs. What you need to know if you are just setting up. A follow-on course is held in the afternoon, covering caring for and handling your chickens. Course Programme: 3 hours, 9.30am - 12.30pm Course Tutor: Jason Weller Jason is the co-owner of Mantel Farm and our expert in chicken care, he has written many articles for...

A 3 hour afternoon course - both a practical and theory session. The more you handle your chickens the more friendly they become. Some people plan to spend a lot of time with their hens and others simply like to know how to handle them should it become necessary. This course is aimed at all chicken keepers wishing to feel confident that they can carry out a basic health check, caring for and handling their hens in the correct way. A beginners course is also held in the morning, "beginning...

A relaxed day in the countrside discussing the basics of how to design your own growing space. Showing you the tips and techniques to take home your own garden plan. We will cover planting systems; growing efficiently and sustainably; creating a productive space whilst considering the wildlife that shares your plot with you. 1. Assess and map your own space: Come with the basic measurements of your space and we will help you to plot the best places to grow the produce that you want. Teking home your own garden...

This course introduces you to keeping pigs for either meat or as pets. Pigs make a fantastic addition to a garden farm; Aside from the simple pleasures of keeping pigs they also help to clear and improve a patch of land for future planting and will clear your surplus veg and cuttings. You will learn how much space you need and what is involved in small scale pig keeping to ensure you go away feeling confident to start keeping pigs yourself in a back garden or smallholding type set up....