Introduction to Market Gardening Workshop w/ Clarrie Smith

Always wanted to scale up your vegetable growing? Maybe you want to feed yourself and/or your family year round? 

Join Common Ground Project Farmer Clarence Smith for a half day on the farm. In this workshop, discover how to considerably increase your vegetable production, and get hands-on skills in market gardening with place-based learnings from the South West region of Victoria. It will be a great opportunity to have all your questions answered.

Whether you're looking to get into farming, or simply curious about what you can do with scaled up food production, this workshop is the perfect opportunity to deepen your knowledge, refine your skills, and develop a deeper appreciation for growing food in our region - it's a precious skill! 

Whats Covered in this Workshop:

- Methods of soil care

- Appropriate tillage

- Efficient seeding and transplanting

- Propagation techniques 

- Tool selection  

- Bed preparation 

- Efficient watering/irrigation

What's Included 

• A half day workshop led by Clarence Smith
• All materials for demonstrations included
• Tea/Coffee
• Shared Farm Harvest Lunch 
  
• Snacks and fruit

What to Wear & Bring 

• Come dressed for any weather – rain, hail or shine! We suggest wearing waterproof and sun-smart clothing, including; a rain jacket, hat, sunscreen, closed-toe shoes, pants and comfortable clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty.  
• Please note: to protect yourself on the farm, you must wear closed-toed shoes. Flat boots or gumboots are suitable, especially when it rains.  
• Please bring a water bottle and your own materials for note taking. 
• If you are attached to your own gardening gloves, bring those!

Clarrie Smith 

Clarence (Clarrie) is passionate about plants, the soil and farming. He’s been looking after the farm since the beginning of 2022 after a period of intense learning on a local biodynamic farm. Clarrie loves everything about growing food and the exciting world of farming. His role at the farm requires him to create a vibrant farm ecosystem and place for people to come and learn all about market gardening and ecological farming practices. Growing quality produce in this way is a challenge but extremely rewarding. Clarrie hopes Common Ground Project exists for years to come and is a source of inspiration for young people to get involved with farming. 

Please note this workshop is weather-dependent. If the event can’t go ahead, we’ll seek an alternative date and offer refunds.

There are a number of options for payment at checkout, please email programs@commongroundproject.com.au to discuss an accessible option for you or with any questions about the workshop.