The Veg Course is taking a year off but, particularly if you are a beginner, you may wish to follow the course on-line, using the Veg Course Calendar 2024 as a guide. The guide gives detailed instructions for each week.
There is a list of seeds that we use in the Veg Course menu. We also used a 24 cell module tray.
“I am a total beginner; I have never grown anything before but have managed to keep some house plants alive for a couple of years!” Mel's application letter.
"I have enjoyed doing the course SO MUCH this year and, while it's exciting to have our own plots to look forward to next year, I'm really going to miss the weekly social aspect of all learning together." Jess at the end of the course.
The original aim of the Course, now in its sixth year, was to provide tuition in growing a dozen basic vegetables, such as lettuces, beans and potatoes. Each student has a bench in the communal polytunnel for seed sowing and potting on their seedlings, and their own mini-plot, 25m² in size, for planting out their crops. We meet weekly on Sunday mornings but students are free to visit their mini-plots at any time. Due to the enthusiasm of both the leaders and students, we have increased our list to twenty-five vegetables including celeriac, sweetcorn and melons.
Our team of leaders has a great enthusiasm for allotment gardening, and we all embrace the no-dig approach popularised by Charles Dowding. Simply put, we don’t dig the soil but add muck and compost to the surface, thereby encouraging soil life to develop below with minimal disturbance. We encourage organic gardening with the emphasis on feeding and improving the soil structure. We feed the soil, which will feed the plants, which will feed us.
As part of our organic approach, we avoid the use of chemical fertilizers, weedkillers and insecticides. There was some discussion about whether to use slug pellets when the students were frustrated by the loss of some early plantings to slugs but one of the leaders suggested sowing back-ups and this has worked well for us in previous years. 2024 has been the Year of the Slug so we have found this year more challenging.
Much has been written about the benefits of allotment growing in terms of physical and mental health, but the Course has shown not only these benefits but also the camaraderie brought about by working together to a common purpose. Although each student has a dedicated area to garden we have found that they are using their particular skills and interests for the benefit of all and this includes propagating the more difficult seeds, developing the polytunnel area for indoor crops, a cookery demo, a lesson on sketching the allotment and building a scarecrow!
The leadership team, including graduates from the Course, has a variety of experience, skills and interests so we have added a range of extra activities such as cookery demonstrations and a Christmas wreath making workshop, as well as converting a derelict plot to a usable growing space, making compost and comfrey tea, and visiting last year’s graduates on their own plots.
We advertise the course in the autumn to Exmouth residents who are on the allotment waiting list or have their own plot but would like some guidance. The course runs from late February until the end of October and costs £50.00 with everything, from seeds to muck and canes to netting, provided. I am sure that all those who have graduated would not now classify themselves as expert growers as there is always so much to learn. However, they do feel confident about progressing to looking after their own allotments next season.
The end of year highlight was a graduation ceremony where we were presented with a certificate, designed by one of the students, and we celebrated the great success of our growing season.
The article started with the content of one beginner’s application to join the course. You can see the progress made via the Instagram links in the menu - @my_mini_plot, @beginners_plot_162 and @plot_162
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"It's almost the end of the veg course - every Sunday 10 of us have met up to grow veg under the expert guidance of our 4 course leaders. Not only have we grown some amazing crops and learnt LOADS, we've had a lot of laughs, eaten a lot of cake and made some great friends. I've enjoyed every minute of it, even spreading many barrows of manure on our now empty plots, readying it for next year." Candice, October '23