Winter Class of the Grow Your Own Cut Flowers is in the depths of cold in January. This class has the least hands on practical learning on the day but instead a deep dive into planning. At this time of the year we are the most in contact with each other, planning our own spaces and growing for the season to come.
In this session in particular we look at why we are growing and consider the space we have along with other mature planting that might be available to you to plan the planting for your growing season. This gives a shape and completely unique brief to each and every participant ensuring that they focus on their own what, why, where and when.
Only then can we plan the planting, combinations of plants at any given cutting time and seed sowing schedules to ensure the plants flower when we need to cut them. This is an intense and exciting optimistic time.
Once we have all our notes, spreadsheets and plans completed, the rest of the growing year concentrates on the practical tasks of completing our individual schedules for our own plot plans.
The session is a shorter one and a morning together before arranging 1.2.1's on individuals plots (or on the farm as appropriate) to work on plans or look at your own space and how it can be developed. It is your session to use how best for you - some clients look at permanent planting in other spaces of their plots to compliment their plot plans, others to get clear on what they want to grow and why with everything in between. I really love spending time with the group individually, hopefully in their space and see where they are growing cut flowers, from back gardens to huge fields and everything in between.
This handbook has a very clear step by step guide to planning your planting and successional sowing. It is supported by a planting calendar, flowering season inspiration lists (what plants flower when and with each other) together with planting distance metric for planning how many plants you need for space.
This session also has all the resources for supply lists for materials, sundries, seeds and plants for your growing and a huge glossary of terms to refer to as you come back to the handbooks year after year.
