Growing a vegetable garden is a great opportunity to have a positive impact on your own health, increase biodiversity and reduce the negative impact that food production can have on the environment, all whilst putting food on your table.

You don't have to have a big garden or allotment, veg can grow in all spaces of all sizes, including vertically. You need healthy soil, good seed, know when to sow, how to nurture and the best harvesting techniques.

Join us for a full day, hands-on workshop with our Head Gardener Penny Hemming. Penny grows 100% organic, flavoursome veg for our chefs to work with in the restaurant. She grows everything from beetroot, salad and sweetcorn to the more unusual crops of tropea onions, heritage tomatoes and tromboncino squash. All slow grown for flavour, not yield or appearance.

You will learn the fundamentals of how to get started with your own growing patch including; ground preparation, crop rotation, seed sowing, weeding / hoeing and harvesting.

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and get advice from Penny on any gardening subject throughout the day to ensure you get as much out of it as possible. You will sow some of your own seeds and you will also take home some seedlings which Penny has grown on in advance.

Of course, no visit would be complete without a lunch full of freshly picked, seasonal produce from the fields around us.

When: Thursday 25th April / Weds 1st May / Thurs 2nd May 2024

Time: 9.30am - 4pm

Cost: £150 pp

Please read our terms and conditions before booking. By completing the booking process you are confirming you agree and understand the terms and conditions, including the cancellation policy.

About your host: Penny Hemming

Penny is the head gardener at Riverford HQ. She can usually be found in 'Penny's Polytunnel', an Aladdin's Cave of unusual veg and herbs, used to supply the Field Kitchen restaurant. She also runs guided tours and farm walks, takes workshops and is a fount of knowledge about the history of Riverford and its land.