Please note that this site is here for historical reasons
Charles' new website is available here
Courses with Charles Dowding in the house and gardens at Lower Farm.
Course Dates
The courses run from 10:30am - 4pm.
Most of the course and lunch are outside in fine, warm weather. Otherwise indoors with a view of the gardens, in polytunnels and a wide ranging slide show. Ground covered to include:
- clearing grass and weeds in different ways - mulching rather than digging
- keeping soil clean of weeds - a prerequisite to having time for creative work
- different composts/manures and how to use them on different crops
- different ways of making compost and using compost/manure of different qualities
- sowing and propagation - in modules (greenhouse) or direct in the soil
- seasonality and timing of sowings for strong, healthy growth
- influences of the moon
- uses of fleece and mesh to speed growth and protect from insects
- understanding slugs and how to lessen them
- best ways to pick crops and at what stage, especially salads
- advice on polytunnels - size to use, orientation, what to grow in them
- advice on fruit, especially apples in the new orchard
Accommodation is available at Lower Farm - please click here for further details.
Gift vouchers are also available to purchase. Please enquire by phone (01749 812253) or by email enquiries@charlesdowding.co.uk
Click here for contact details and directions.
Some of the many responses to my course days:
“Thanks very much and I feel very inspired. Your system is the most comprehensive development of a no-till principle for British conditions that I know of.”
Patrick Whitefield
“I found the whole day utterly inspiring and the lunch was delicious!”
Julia Sawhala
“Thank you so much for such a fascinating day on October 4th. Martin, Sharon and myself came back totally inspired. Just amazed at the amount of production from so little energy input and such an efficient use of space and of everything produced. In a world of ever increasing pressure on land resources this has to offer an alternative.”
Martyn Bragg at Shillingford, Exeter
“Dear Charles,
I just wanted to say thank you for the course on the 1st of October it was a revelation to see such a variety of produce, which looked so healthy on a relatively small
site. It was inspirational and has made me rethink the way I am working my own garden.
You might be interested to know that an organic veg garden I visit regularly which has terrible weed problems is rotavated every year.
Thanks again
Debbie”
“Just a quick note to say thank you for Wednesday and how much I enjoyed the day. It was so relaxed and easy going and incredibly informative. I think your style is great and we all could all learn from both the gardening approach and the general 'way to live' approach. It was a very nice group of people, but again largely helped by your style – and lunch was delicious!”
Laura Cowan
"We had a lovely and inspiring day, and the lunch too, please thank Susie - maybe you set us too high goals that we cannot reach?"
from Penelope Hobhouse
"I would like to book my dad on your next course...we really enjoyed the day and I know he will too."
from Ludovic Blackburn
"Charles I just wanted to write and thank you for the excellent day at Lower Farm. Your holistic and respectful approach rang very true and although a relative newcomer to growing veg I actually found this an advantage as your revolutionary techniques made complete sense."
from Angus Hill
“Charles I came down to your course in early November of last year. You may possibly remember - I was the one who motored down from Scotland and drove back immediately it was over.
The day proved to be invaluable and we have made enormous strides over the last 12 months to the extent that a lot of people are saying a lot of positive things about the range and quality of the salad leaves - so much so that it is our intention to begin selling locally next spring/early summer.”
Phil Howarth
Responses to my talks:
"Thankyou most sincerely for such an informative and interesting presentation, the members would like you to speak again."
from Liz Lockwood, The Donheads Gardening Club, November 2006
"My thanks to you for giving us such an interesting talk last night, it ended our season a really high note."
from Peter Firmlin, Drayton Probus Group, May 2007
"It is a great pleasure to write to thank you for such an inspirational talk last night. Judging by the questions you were asked and in conversation with folk afterwards, many are keen to try out your recommended methods of vegetable growing."
from Eliaine Northam, Henton Gardening Club, January 2008
"Your talk was very interesting and most enlightening, and the slides of your produce were wonderful, we are all returning to our gardens with renewed enthusiasm."
from Daphne Jones, Duncliffe Garden Club, January 2009
"You sent us all away full of enthusiasm and several members spent the following weekend building raised beds, ready to plant out and using your excellent books as reference."
from Jane Evans, East Pennard Gardening Group, February 2009
A recently received recommendation from Richard Webber of Cambridge:
"I bought your "Salad Leaves for all seasons" book. While I don't claim to have read it all, nor followed everything you say (through laziness and lack of time not disagreement), we have had the most consistent supply of salad leaves this year. Far better than many previous years of glut and famine. And all this is down to the simple avenue of just picking the outer leaves as needed."