The Agroecological Way is a five day course that aims to introduce participants to the key principles of agroecology and grant first-hand insight to a broad range of agroecological enterprises in order to understand the key opportunities and challenges within the sector.
The course aims to get participants thinking like agroecological farmers, weighing up complex interactions within agro-ecosystems and considering their influence on farm management to balance productivity with regeneration.
Who is the course for?
Whether you’re a young person looking for the opportunity to do meaningful work, someone tired of their job and seeking a career change, or you simply care about the decisions that are taken about Britain’s farmland and countryside, then this course will provide you with tools to take action and contribute to the agroecological transition.
Where will the course take place?
The course will take place at Tamarisk Farm, on the coast of West Dorset. Tamarisk is an organic mixed farm operating on 600 acres, much of which is rented from the National Trust. The farm has 25 Red Devon beef cattle and a flock of 200 ewes which are a mixture of Dorset Down, Jacob, Shetland, Herdwick and Klun. There are 90 acres in arable rotation, growing wheat, rye, barley and drying peas and a one acre market garden that provides salads and vegetables for local wholesale and restaurants. The farm also sells sheepskins and a range of woollen yarns, free range eggs from pastured hens supplemented with home-grown cereal, and grain and flour which they mill on-site.
The farm is home to a number of unusual plants, including nine species of orchid, grass vetchling and dyers greenweed, and also provides habitat for both resident and migratory birds including kestrels, barn owls, hobby, merlin and corn bunting, as well as dormice and great crested newts. The land is managed to protect this biodiversity and to provide valuable scrubland and wetland habitats through careful grazing and crop rotations.
For more information about the farm, visit our website or find us on instagram.
Course content
The following topics will be explored through a mixture of theoretical classroom sessions, on-farm tours and activities, and the opportunity to learn from the farmers and growers at Tamarisk Farm, together with guest teachers from Landworkers’ Alliance, The Gaia Foundation and Fibreshed UK:
- Key ecological principles applied in agroecology
- Introduction to common agroecological methods
- Mixed arable and livestock farming
- Fibre and sustainable textiles
- Horticulture
- Political agroecology
- Seed sovereignty
- Introduction to soil microbiology
- Animal Husbandry
- Business skills for agroecological enterprises
- Opportunities for new entrants
There will also be optional activities such as birdwatching, fermentation and wool spinning so that participants can get a taste of the practices and relationships with nature and food that agroecology can inform.
Accommodation
Included within the cost of the course price is a tent pitch at Two Wings Camping within the village of West Bexington, where the farm is located. The campsite has access to compost toilets and hot showers.
For the possibility of renting a shepherd’s hut, yurt or cottage on the campsite for an additional cost, please get in touch at theagroecologicalway@gmail.com
If you would like to arrive the evening before the course starts it is possible to book an extra night camping for £10.
Food
Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided and as much of the produce as possible will be sourced from Tamarisk Farm. The menu will be primarily vegetarian with the occasional option for meat, prepared by our brilliant cook Anna Vogel. Please inform us if you have any allergies.
Teaching Space
The theoretical sessions are taught in a beautiful old threshing barn which is in the heart of the farm. It’s kitted out with sofas and a projector so makes a comfortable learning space, but please be advised that there is not much natural light. The practical sessions will be held across the fields of Tamarisk Farm.
How to get here
Tamarisk Farm is located in the village of West Bexington, Beach Road, DT2 9DF. We are 15 minutes drive away from the town of Bridport. The nearest train stations are in Weymouth and Axminster, which are both on the X53 bus route.
Forthcoming course dates
5th-9th July 2024
Course prices
Early Bird (available until midnight on March 1st 2024): £395
Standard: £425
Solidarity: £500
Concession: Two fully funded places and three places for the reduced price of £325– more information below)
We have successfully obtained funding to be able to offer two fully funded places and three subsidised places (at the cost of £325), for those either underrepresented in the farming sector (See our homepage for more information on the demographic crisis in UK farming), or for who meeting the full cost of the course is a barrier.
As the funding has been granted by the Dorset AONB, priority will be given to applicants from Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon. If you live outside of these counties then please contact us anyway as if the places have not been filled by applicants from these counties by May 24th then you will become eligible for a place.
If you would like to apply for one of the funded or subsidised places please write to us at theagroecologicalway.com with the following information:
– A brief outline of your interest in farming
– Which county you live in (if you’re outside of the stated catchment areas I will automatically add you to the waiting list and contact you after May 24th regarding whether any places have come available)
– Which bursary type you would like to apply for. (We ask that each person takes careful consideration to apply for the bursary type which is most appropriate to their circumstances (i.e. either a fully funded place or a £325 subsidised place) so that we can ensure that the fully funded places go to those who have no disposable income to spend on the course.)
Booking
Bookings can be made via our eventbrite page.
For more information please contact Chloe at theagroecologicalway@gmail.com
Farmer-teachers
Chloe Broadfield
Chloe has been working as a grower for six years, and has been on the market garden at Tamarisk Farm for the past three. She has an MSc in Sustainable Food and Natural Resources from the Centre for Alternative Technology, where her research focussed on the human-nature relationships and cultural shifts produced through agroecological farming. Chloe is passionate about inspiring others onto the land and will be the lead facilitator on the course.
Rosie Gilchrist
Rosie took on the running of the market garden at Tamarisk in 2016. After finishing a degree in anthropology with a focus on food and farming she decided she needed to engage practically in sustainable agriculture and has never looked back. She believes wholeheartedly in the necessity and urgency of agroecological farming, and particularly enjoys the interconnected approach at Tamarisk.
Ellen Simon
Ellen absorbed the principles and practice of organic farming growing up on Tamarisk Farm. She always had a love of the wild environment, which developed as she studied botany, worked for the Dorset Wildlife Trust and then lived in the fells of the Lake District. From the time they returned to Tamarisk with their young family in 1984, she and her husband Adam worked alongside Ellen’s parents on the farm and eventually took on overall responsibility.
For Ellen, one of the key motivations in developing the farm is her wish to be largely self sufficient. Day-to-day, she does much of the animal supervision and has a particular interest in the arable rotations, as well as using the sheep’s wool as knitting yarn. She has experience in education and has facilitated numerous events and open days at Tamarisk, always feeling that the privilege of being able to work on the land leads to a responsibility to enable others to access and learn there too. She also finds it a pleasure.
Adam Simon
Adam grew up in South London and as soon as he was able he escaped and went to Exeter to study the then new discipline of Ecology. After university he came for a week to help at Tamarisk and stayed for a year and a half. The rest is history.
After various jobs he trained as a teacher in Snowdonia and spent three years challenging children and adults in the mountains, woods and rivers of the Lake District. Returning with Ellen and a young family to Tamarisk in 1984 he set up a small workshop making furniture, but gradualy got more involved in the farm until he and Ellen became fully responsible for it.
Passionate about conservation and the loss of biodiversity, and with an equal interest in feeding everyone on simple, wholesome and ethically produced food, he coined the strap-line for Tamarisk “Farming and wildlife side-by-side”. As well as chief maker and mender of tools and machinery his particular contribution has included the growing and processing of arable crops.
Rebecca Laughton
Rebecca has been working on organic farms and market gardens for 25 years, including for ten years at Tamarisk Farm. She has woven practical work with being a researcher, campaigner and teacher on matters relating to agroecology, since completing a masters in Sustainable Agriculture at Wye College in 1999. For the last ten years she has worked for Landworkers Alliance, as a Campaigns Researcher and now Horticulture Campaign Co-ordinator. In this role she advocates to policy makers on behalf of agroecological growers and runs a horticulture Test and Trial for the new Environmental Land Management Scheme, among other things. She still loves to get her hands in the soil, though!
Sophie Holt
Sophie is the founder of social enterprise Pigment Organic Dyes which grows high quality, Organic dye plants alongside supporting adults with additional needs into training and employment. PIGMENT considers its trainees integral to the business, which supplies artists, dyers and the wider textile industry. Sophie’s passion to grow dyes stems from her Organic horticultural background and love for natural textiles. PIGMENT sells dyes, dye kits, and dyed fabric. Sophie lives in South Devon, is part of the South West England Fibreshed and is a member of the Baddaford Collective, at Baddaford Farm.
Ellen Rignell
Ellen coordinates the Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty programme in Southern England, (working alongside Robyn Minogue) to nurture connections across the vibrant network. She has worked in horticulture for her whole professional career, from plant pathology trials at NIAB to organic market gardening at Trill Farm Garden to now running her own business growing seeds. She has a particular interest in vegetables and herb varieties with strong culinary value and cultural connections. She also has a soft spot for cut flowers. Ellen has been training professional and community growers in seed production for the last 5 years.
The Agroecological Way 