Questions about the course

It's an intensive, in-person three-day course here at Blaeneinion, for anyone who wants to grow more of their own food and live a little more self-sufficiently. You arrive the evening before, then we spend three full days together on the land, working through everything from choosing and reading a piece of land to sowing, planting, harvesting and storing. It's hands-on, friendly, and honest about the hard parts as well as the good.

Not at all. It's designed for people with little or no growing experience, the ones telling us they want to leave the city and don't know where to start. If you already grow a bit, you're welcome too, and you'll get plenty out of seeing how it all connects, from the soil right through to the full larder.

The course fee is £200 per person. Accommodation is separate, and there's a range of options on site for the three nights, from a bunk in the shared dormitory at £60 up to a cottage shared between a group. You bring your own food for the weekend.

There's no online shop or card machine. You email Sharon directly to arrange your place, the same friendly, no-middle-man way everything works at Blaeneinion. Tell her which date suits, how many of you are coming, and which accommodation you'd like, and she'll sort it out with you from there.

The course runs a few times a year. You arrive after 3pm on the first evening, and leave at 3pm on the final day. Dates are set with Sharon directly, so get in touch and she'll tell you the next one. It runs with eight people, up to a maximum of sixteen.

You stay on site for the three nights, in one of the cottages, the timber cabin, the dormitory, a caravan, a camper van, or your own tent. These are the same cottages you'll find on our Stays site. Everyone brings their own food for the weekend, plus something to share at the pot-luck BBQ on the first evening.

Children are warmly welcome on site, but the course itself is intensive and isn't really suitable for them to take part in. The Haven, Lavender, Narnia and the Rustic Cottage need at least two fee-paying adults to make a family booking work for a course weekend.

Your own groceries and something for the pot-luck BBQ, any photos and plans of your own project so we can talk them through, a notebook and a camera if you have one, and non-toxic, biodegradable soap and shampoo, to protect the good bacteria in our septic system and keep toxins out of the land and the beaver habitat. Come well rested. These are full days.

Just talk to us. We'd far rather sort things out kindly, as we would with anything else here. Get in touch and we'll help.