Information for our 2025 Young Growers Course

About the course:

Give Two Figs and Eve’s Hill Veg Co have received grants from the National Lottery to support this exciting new hands-on program, specifically designed for local teenagers aged 13-17. We are looking to welcome individuals who may have no prior experience working with plants but are eager to learn and give it a try, as well as those who already have some experience growing at home or school and want to expand their knowledge and connect with other like-minded teens. This program may even inspire future career aspirations in horticulture or food growing.

The course will run over eight sessions from March to October 2025. The first session, an extended one, will be held at Eve’s Hill Veg Co in Aylsham, at their productive community market garden. After that, the remaining sessions will be shorter (10am-11:30am) and hosted in the Community Garden at Hevingham Village Hall, with the option to visit Eve’s Hill Veg Co at other points during the course if desired. The sessions will be led by Becky Rolf, a community gardener, educator, and sustainability consultant from Give Two Figs.

Each session will include both theoretical learning and practical work in the community garden. Participants will explore topics such as organic growing, soil health, crop rotation, year-round growing, managing weeds, pest control, plant reproduction and propagation, and harvesting techniques.

The course content meets and exceeds the core curriculum of the AQA Level One Organic Growing course. Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate from Give Two Figs and Eve’s Hill Veg Co. For a one-time administration fee of £50, participants can also receive an AQA Level One Organic Growing certificate. There are a few spaces available for those who need financial support to cover this fee.

This course is also suitable for those completing their Duke of Edinburgh Award and meets the requirements of Volunteering Unit for Bronze and Silver levels when combined with optional additional free activities. Please contact us for more information on this.

Although the first session at Eve’s Hill Veg Co is being offered as a ‘taster session’ for individuals who may not wish to continue with the full course, those wanting to reserve a spot for the full course are strongly encouraged to attend this session in order to receive the certification at the end of the program. Full course spaces will be confirmed after the taster session, ensuring it’s a good fit for the young growers.

Course Dates

Session 1: Sunday the 16^th of March @Eves Hill Veg co 10am-1pm. Bushey Place, Old Cromer Rd, Aylsham, NR11 6HF

Sessions 2-8: every second Sunday of the month 10am – 11:30am @Hevingham Community Garden. Hevingham Community Garden – Hevingham Village Hall, Brick Kiln Rd, Hevingham, Norwich NR10 5NL.

Sunday 13^th April, 11th May, 8th June, 13th July, 10th August, 14th September, 12th 0ctober

Participants should be available to attend as many sessions as possible.

FAQs

Q. Can the course be used for the volunteering or skills section of D of E (Duke of Edinburgh) award?

A. Yes the course can contribute towards either the skills or volunteering section of DofE awards, but to make sure that enough hours are complete there will be extra time needed beyond the core young growers course hours. We can help guide this additional time either in joining additional volunteering time in the the garden or allotment space (i.e. after the session each monthly Sunday, joining a Wednesday volunteering session or undertaking linked volunteering in these spaces or similar in your own time) or in additional research time for learning a new skill (i.e. we can provide additional reading material and self guided activity sheets to complete between each session in your own time.) Please get in touch with us to confirm how we can support you with this.

Q. As a parent or guardian can I stay on site during the session?

A. For the first session at Eve’s Hill Veg Co. in Alysham we are asking parents or guardians to stay onsite (unless otherwise agreed) we will set up an outdoor activity onsite for you so you can stay close by but allow the group some independent working, after this we will work out a plan that works best for the Young grower for future sessions.

Q. What should I wear?

A. Please come dressed for the weather. We will be spending time both indoors and outdoors. Please make sure you wear closed toe shoes with a sturdy sole at all times. If you already have some gardening gloves at home that are comfortable please bring these, we will have spares if not. Please note that as we will be working outside it is likely that clothing may become dirty.

Q. How do I get to Eve’s Hill Veg Co? & Where should I park?

A. The site address is Bushey Place, Old Cromer Rd, Aylsham, NR11 6HF.

The normal entrance to the site can be found along Cromer road at the what three words location of ///glorious.deduced.conspired

You can see a google street view picture of the entrance below.

Eve’s Hill Veg Co site is at the top of the track on the left but parking here may be a squeeze, so for the taster session from Cromer road please follow signs that will be out on the road side on the day ( a little further down the road outside signed ‘Bushey Place’ on a brick pillar- see pics below) and go to the car park marked on the aerial view map. And use the path marked to make your way to the classroom. (Please note that the car park is linked to a residential home so please be mindful to stick to the path).