A Year Full of Veg with Sarah Raven at Thyme

This course encapsulates Sarah's veg philosophy - how to grow easily productive, long-producing and the tastiest crops from minimal space. The veg areas of Sarah's garden at Perch Hill are all about super-production, not just for the summer months, but throughout the spring, autumn and winter too. What are the plants you can grow through the cold, grey months of the year and which need more light and heat for late spring and summer harvests. We concentrate on cut-and-come-again crops - salad leaves, edible flowers, herbs and leafy greens plus the tastiest varieties (after much trialling) of tomatoes, peas, courgettes and beans. For Sarah, this is not the entire story — the veg garden needs to look beautiful year round too, so learn how to create patterns with different leaf shapes and colours of salad. And this is nature-and human-friendly gardening into the bargain. Arthur will demonstrate how to make the nicest looking veg supports and climbing frames.

Sarah will guide you on the edible crops relevant to the particular season, helping you turn your plot into a year-round productive and beautiful space. This afternoon session includes practical demonstrations showing you some key relevant skills for this course including an explanation of Perch Hill sowing and growing systems. You will also get a detailed course hand-out covering all the information.

This course is taught by Sarah with assistance from Arthur Parkinson and Caroline Nevile. It is a lecture with slides format, with some practical demos.

It is held at Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW. Nestled in the rolling Cotswold hills, Thyme is a 'Village within a Village'. The collection of restored historic buildings evoke a hamlet feel, enveloped by a series of classic country house gardens and orchards that supply flowers for the house, food for the kitchen, and herbs for the spa. At Thyme guests can stay in the botanically inspired bedrooms, dine in the restaurant situated in the old Ox Barn, or partake in classes and workshops from the Calendar of Happenings. Thyme is a place to slow down and reconnect with nature.

The day lasts from 9.30am until 3pm, including tea/coffee on arrival, (from 9.30am for 10am prompt start) morning tea/coffee break and a 2 course garden menu lunch served in the Ox Barn at Thyme (soft drinks, not wine served with lunch..... we find people tend to fall asleep after lunch if we serve wine........)

Itinerary

Arrival from 9.30am for a 10am start - coffee/tea and home-made biscuits served from 9.30am

Morning session 1: 10am - 11am

- Meet Sarah- Sarah will guide you through the principles of the veg, salad, edible flower and herb cut-and-come-again philosophy — how to get a lot of produce from minimal space, plus crops that you can almost chuck in and ignore. What are the crops you must grow, and which are best left to the field scale. And why.

11am - 11:20am - coffee/tea and home-made cake

Session 2: 11.20am - 12.20am

- There will be a quick tasting of winter/spring salad and herbs picked from Perch Hill. Sarah will give you guide you through the best varieties of salads, edible flower, herbs and other veg – the edible crops she recommends for growing now, plus guiding you on how to turn your plot into a year-round productive space. What are the plants you can grow through the cold, grey months of the year and which need more light and heat for late spring and summer harvests? Throughout the session Sarah will share some of her favourite recipes.

Lunch group 1: 12.20pm - 1pm : A 2 course garden lunch in the Ox Barn Restaurant. There will be time for shopping after lunch, we’ll have a good range of bulbs, seeds, floristry, and gardening kit

Lunch group 2: 12.40pm - 1.20pm : A 2 course garden lunch in the Ox Barn Restaurant. There will be time for shopping after lunch, we’ll have a good range of bulbs, seeds, floristry, and gardening kit

Session 3. Practical Demo: 1.45pm - 2.45pm

- This session includes practical demonstrations showing you some key relevant skills for this course including an explanation of the sowing and propagating systems used at Sarah's garden, Perch Hill. Sarah will finish up with a Q&A to clear up any queries you might still have.

2.45pm - 3pm: The pop-up shop will be open for any last minute shopping.Directions: Thyme ask that guests arrive via the Estate Drive. You can find directions here - Find Us (Link: https://www.thyme.co.uk/find-us)

Cancellations and refunds

If you are unable to attend a course/event you have booked and paid for:A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. You will need to provide us with their name, dietary requirements and contact email address/phone number as soon as possible prior to the course/event date.

If we receive 8 weeks notice or more:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will refund the full cost of your course/event.

If we receive more than 4 weeks notice:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will transfer you to another suitable course/event of the same value. In this instance this must be a straight swap onto another course we have availability on within the same season. I,e no more than 6 weeks from the original course date booked. Furthermore, we are unable to carry course credits over to the following calendar year. Please note, we cannot issue vouchers to spend on other products at sarahraven.com.

If we receive less than 4 weeks notice:We are unable to offer a refund or transfer as we have inadequate time to re-sell the place. A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. If you find you are unable to attend a Course with less than 4 weeks’ notice, please call us so we may advise further. A course/event place purchased as a gift carries the same cancellation policy. The course value cannot be transferred over to use on Sarah Raven products.

If we need to cancel a course/event:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd may cancel any course/event due to illness or very low numbers, and you will then have the option of a transfer to another course/event of the same value or a full refund of your payment.

Contacting us

For all enquiries contact events_srcg@thecuttinggarden.com.