Organic Small Holding with Richard Mee, featuring Mick Kelly. Weekend Course 6/7 July 2024

Ready to get started on your journey towards sustainable, organic smallholding success? Of course you are! Join our Growing Guru, Richard Mee, for this brand new course for 2024. From planning your holding to livestock care, he'll cover it all! There'll even be a guest feature from GIY Founder Mick Kelly, so you get double the knowledge. 

Here's what you'll learn over the two-day course.

• Planning Your Holding
  Learn how to design and plan your smallholding for maximum efficiency and sustainability. Understand the importance of layout, crop rotation, and livestock integration to create a harmonious and productive space
  
  
• Managing Soil Fertility, Composting, and Nutrient Cycling
  Healthy soil is the foundation of a successful smallholding. Discover the secrets to nurturing your soil's fertility organically, using composting techniques and nutrient cycling to enrich the land and support healthy plant growth
  
  
• Organic Crop Production:
  Richard will teach you how to choose the right crops for your smallholding, create effective crop timetables, and implement eco-friendly pest and disease control strategies. He'll also teach you about harvesting and proper storage to ensure your harvest is of the highest quality
  
  
• Organic Livestock Management:
  If that wasn't enough Richard will also cover livestock management Including feeding, housing, animal welfare, as well as legal requirements surrounding livestock care
  
  
• Integrating Crop and Livestock Management:
  Learn crop and livestock management to create a sustainable and symbiotic system on your smallholding

On each day, you'll enjoy a delicious plot-to-plate mezze lunch overlooking the HQ Gardens (or in the garden if weather permits) and get the chance to meet and learn from fellow home growers. There will be coffee, tea and scones on arrival each day and a seasonal cordial for an afternoon pick-me-up.

About Our Head Grower, Richard Mee:
Richard started growing at only 3 years old with his dad and since then has accumulated over 40 years of growing experience. He studied for a BSc in Horticulture at Reading University and an MSc in Organic Farming at the Scottish Agricultural College. In addition to the UK and Ireland, Richard has grown veg all over the world, including Central America and Africa.

About Mick Kelly:
Mick is founder of GIY, a social entrepreneur, author, TV presenter and hacker grower.  He worked in the IT industry for 10 years before starting GIY in 2008 after a chance encounter with a bulb of Chinese garlic in a supermarket.  He co-presented/produced 3 series of Grow Cook Eat for RTE which is now watched around the world on Amazon Prime. He also presents and co-produced the 6-part series Food Matters on RTE 1.

Cancellation Policy
We operate a 48-hour cancellation policy. If you cancel your booking at least 48 hours prior to event you will be refunded. Cancellations made less than 48 hours prior to the date will not be refunded. 

Allergies
Please advise us of any dietary requirements and allergens when booking (email: allen@giy.ie) - we are unable to change the menu on the day.