Future

Farmers
A guide to running an urban
food growing traineeship

Apprenticeships and traineeships

have the potential to play a key
role in the urban agriculture scene
in London. The task of imparting
horticulture knowledge and related
skills is reciprocated by the work
that the trainee contributes to the
food growing site. This mutually
beneficial work and learning
relationship helps productive food
growing sites to increase their
capacity, while producing a new
generation of urban farmers.
London is seeing an increasing
number of urban and patchwork
farms, looking to sell produce and
in need of the regular committed
workforce that trainees and
apprentices can provide above ad
hoc volunteers. The existing urban
farming traineeships are often
oversubscribed, with these urban
farms unable to meet the demand
of Londoners that want to learn the
practicalities of urban agriculture
and explore a future career in the
sector.
In response to this, Capital Growth
Is encouraging food growing
projects to generate income
and also to take on trainees or
apprentices. We have teamed up
with Paul Bradbury, Head Grower
at Growing Communities, a social
enterprise running a community-led
box scheme based in Hackney, to
produce this document.

Written by Paul Bradbury and Eloise Dey

The guide is for growing spaces

who are considering taking on a
trainee or apprentice and covers
setting up and running a successful
traineeship to ensure that both
the trainer and trainee get the
most out of it. The main focus
of the document is on informal
traineeships rather than accredited
formal apprenticeships and also is
centred on Growing Communities
experience of growing high
yielding, high value crops. The
guidelines can be adapted to run
traineeships that are set up with
broader objectives encompassed
in many community urban food
growing projects.
Future Farmers also covers the
minimum requirements needed for
a growing project to be able to offer
a good traineeship, information
on finding the right trainee, useful
templates and a season to season
practical syllabus. Plus we have
included case studies from food
growing projects that are running
traineeships and apprenticeships to
give a real example of the benefits
for both the project and the trainee.
We do hope that this document
is useful and we look forward to
hearing your feedback.

The Capital Growth team

Contents
4

The benefits of running an apprenticeship or traineeship

For the organisation
For the individual
For the food and farming sector

Definitions: apprenticeship versus traineeship?

Minimum requirements of having a traineeship programme

Finding the right trainee

Qualities to look for in your trainee
The selection process
Advertising the post
Application form
Scoresheet
Interviews
Timeline

11

Practical syllabus

17

Tutorials
Overview
Subjects to cover

21

Next steps

21

Useful links

23
24
26
26

Appendix 1 - Sample advert

Appendix 2 - Sample application form and description
Appendix 3 - Sample scoresheet
Appendix 4 - Sample interview questions

Case studies
6
8
10
16
20
22

Growing Communities traineeship

Food from the Sky traineeship
Organiclea traineeship
Sutton Community Farm apprenticeship
Cultivate London apprenticeship
Castle Climbing Centre traineeship

The benefits of running an

apprenticeship or traineeship

For the
organisation

For the
individual

For the food and

farming sector

Trainees learn while they work,

so taking on a trainee is highly
beneficial to the head grower;
during the height of the season,
experienced trainees who can
carry out tasks efficiently on their
own are invaluable. Having to
teach others also helps the grower
consolidate their own knowledge
and skills base.

Urban gardening is all about

honing practical skills. This is best
achieved with a long term practical
traineeship rather than short term
courses or equivalent training.
Skills such as harvesting and
planting out correctly (and quickly)
are only mastered over a period of
time, with regular repetitions, and
a six month to two year traineeship
is a great way of doing this.

Running a good traineeship with

the proper support both during
and after, will introduce people
to the potential of working in
this important sector. London
has profited from a rise in urban
agriculture with many Londoners
seeing the physical and mental
health benefits, environmental
gain of reducing food miles and
increasing biodiversity within the
city, community cohesion and
localised economic activity.

This prolonged training also gives

trainees a real taste of what it is
like to be a urban farmer. They will
experience long hours, lots of rain
and repetitive jobs. If they come
through this and are still keen and
still love it, then they will probably
go on to be good gardeners.

The assets of urban food growing

combined with the concern over
fewer young people seeing farming
as a viable career option, make
the availability of traineeships vital
to the development of the urban
farming movement. This is one
of the things that Capital Growth
seeks to address: connecting
enthusiastic food growers with
land, skills and community, to
help them establish thriving food
enterprises for the future.

Definitions: apprenticeship
versus traineeship?
In urban agriculture the terms
traineeship and apprenticeship
are often used to describe the
same or similar exchange of work
and knowledge. However, the UK
government defines an apprentice
as working for someone to
learn a trade; the apprentice is
remunerated for their working
hours which are a minimum of 30
hours per week including training.
This official definition leads to
a confusion over the correct
terminology for the apprenticeship
schemes commonly practiced
by Londons urban agriculture
projects. In order to differentiate
from the Governments
apprenticeship structure some
urban growing projects use the
term traineeship.
This document will refer to trainees
doing traineeships to cover all
forms of the long-term exchange
of work for knowledge that takes
place on the urban farms. We will
only use the term apprenticeship
when referring to the official
apprenticeship programme.

Some key elements of a traineeship:

For the trainee, it is a

commitment to attend regular
work sessions on site over a
period of time.

For the head grower, it is a

commitment to guide a trainee
all the way through their journey
from novice to professional
gardener.

A traineeship should be
long enough to give trainees
experience of a full growing
season, covering all the tasks
they are likely to need to run
their own site (six months
minimum).

A trainee should have fulfilled

the objectives set out at the start
of the programme whether that
is to be fully able to run their
own urban farm or developing
their skills and confidence for
future employment.

Most of the learning should

be through practice, but there
should also be classroom
tutorials where trainees can
learn specific techniques and
theory.

Growing Communities
traineeship
Growing Communities is a
social enterprise working to
change the food system through
community-led trade. They run a
weekly Organic Fruit and Veg Box
Scheme, the all-organic Stoke
Newington Farmers Market,
three urban market gardens, a
patchwork farm in Hackney and
the Starter Farm in Dagenham.
They take on four trainees per year

to learn market gardening with a

focus on salad production. The
aim is to increase the number
of skilled organic growers and
to encourage more people into
sustainable food production. Since
the programme started in 2007,
most have gone on to take on
Patchwork Farm plots and/or jobs
in community food growing.

Each traineeship
Runs 1-1.5 days per week for 26
weeks from April to September.
Includes six tutorials.
Is voluntary and trainees take
home surplus fruit and veg.
Works alongside the grower and
assistant grower on each site.
Receives support in looking for
work and further training, during
and after their traineeship.

Emma Broderick completed

the programme and now is a
Patchwork Farmer producing
salad which is sold into Growing
Communities community led box
scheme.

The Growing Communities apprenticeship was the best way to gain experience in order
to totally change my career. Learning on the job meant that once I had finished the
apprenticeship I felt confident enough to start growing salad for the box scheme the
following year. I now grow with another ex-apprentice and, as well as the box scheme,
we supply to local restaurants and cafes and started our own catering company called
Hackney Growers Kitchen.This is our fourth growing season and for the first time we
are now taking on our own apprentices to learn about organic food production. I would
recommend the scheme to anyone interested in urban food growing - nothing beats
learning by working on site, absorbing the knowledge and skills of someone experienced.

Minimum requirements of
having a traineeship programme
This section sets out some of the basics you should have in place before embarking on a traineeship. It is laid
out as a ticklist so you can go through and check you have these elements in place or identify the gaps you need
to address.
A growing site which can be used as the basis for teaching and practical work. The site should preferably
be a working site rather than a display or model garden.
One or more experienced growers (preferably paid) who can provide tutorials, give instruction in practical
sessions and can create a list of tasks to be done on each working day. To take on trainees you must have
a thorough knowledge of the plants you are growing. Trainees will be asking many questions and although
you dont need to know all the answers, you should have a wide enough knowledge base to maximise the
learning experience.
An indoor space (which can be hired on an occasional basis if necessary) for tutorials.
A decent set of tools: Hoes, rakes, trowels, secateurs, harvest knives, scissors (also for harvesting),
battery operated drill for making and repairing wooden structures such as raised beds and compost bins,
rubber padded gloves, spades and forks (in a no dig garden these are mainly used for digging in green
manures and turning compost).
Understanding of health and safety requirements:
Public liability insurance to cover trainees and the people they work with in case of accident.
An up-to-date health and safety policy including risk assessment.
Any issues regarding health and safety should be written out and given to trainees as a hand out.
Full instruction for using dangerous tools (in particular power tools and sharp items such as scythes).
Full instruction for lifting heavy objects.
A system to document any health issues that trainees have and any specific measures necessary to
make sure they are safe on site.
A learning pathway: a document showing what will be covered in tutorials and practical sessions and what
the trainees can expect to know by the end of the traineeship.
For a traineeship that is aimed at training people in Grow to Sell, there must be an element geared to this,
including correct labelling, packing and distribution.

A clear final objective for trainees: e.g. to run their own urban farm or community food growing project.
Support for graduate trainees: helping them to get work or further experience in growing after the
traineeship has finished.

Food from the Sky

traineeship
Food from the Sky was set up
in collaboration with Thorntons
Budgen supermarket in North
London as a community garden
also growing food to sell in the
supermarket below. It also
provided learning space for the
different part of the communities.

The roof garden was removed

in 2014 due to rooftop repairs,
but the traineeship scheme has
ensured that the legacy of the
project continues to make a
difference to urban agriculture in
London.

Each traineeship
Ran for 2 days per week for 9
months.
Was voluntary but growers
received surplus fruit and
vegetables.
Included access to Growing
Communities tutorials
subsidised by Capital Growth.
Specialised in rooftop
growing but covered technical
knowledge for all types of land.

The project ran four traineeships,

with trainees going on to start up
their own urban farms including
Grown in Peckham and Keats
Community Organics.

Ed Harkness did the Food from the

Sky traineeship in 2013 /14.

The traineeship has been a very important time for me personally and professionally. It
has allowed me to segue successfully into paid employment as an urban food grower; to
consolidate my interest in horticulture, community work and ethical business practices
in one job and enter an area of work that I have a genuine passion for. On a personal
level I have learned a huge amount and cultivated very important relationships with all
involved and am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. Committing to two days a week
was a huge sacrifice but there has been no point at which I have regretted the decision.
The trade has been very fair and I feel I have benefited hugely from my time at Food from
the Sky. I would recommend this type of training to anyone interested in working in urban
food growing as I feel confident that it will change their life as it has mine.

Finding the right trainee

Qualities to look
for in your trainee

The selection
process

Urban Farmers can come in all

shapes and sizes but there are
some qualities that it might be
good to look for, particulary in a
voluntary post. These inlcude:

Advertising the post

Application form

Working out where you advertise

is dependent on whether you want
to get the most eager gardeners or
would like to bring in people from
as many different backgrounds
as possible. If you are looking
for a wide range of people then
advertise in local shops, library,
community centre or job centre.
Other places to adverstise include
the following networks or mailing
lists:

The application form should

contain the following:

Someone who can get on with

others (the most important!).
Someone who is reliable and
committed to the opportunity.
Someone who will benefit from
the traineeship: applicants
might already have a wealth of
experience and knowledge and
therefore may not gain as much
as others.
Someone with a demonstrable
interest in hands on gardening:
if someone applies for a growing
traineeship but has never set
foot in a garden then it is fair to
ask the question - is this really
something they know they want
to do?
Someone with an idea of what
they would like to do after the
traineeship e.g. run their own
growing space or get involved
in other gardening projects. Do
they want to garden as part of
their regular working week even
if it is not going to be their sole
source of income?
Enthusiasm, which is crucial, as
completeing a traineeship and
becoming an urban farmer is a
big commitment!

Capital Growth enewsletter

(capitalgrowth@sustainweb.org)
Permaculture Association
(admin@permaculture.org.uk)
Project Dirt
(www.projectdirt.com/events)

A description of what the

traineeship involves.
A person specification.
All times and dates such as
closing date for applications,
interview dates and the dates
and times of the traineeship
itself.
An equal opportunities
monitoring form.

The advert should be tailored

to your situation, and should
clearly state the closing date for
applications, interviews and dates
of the traineeship. See Appendix 1
for a sample advert.

See Appendix 2 for a sample

application form and descriptions.

Scoresheet
After the closing date, applicants
should be judged on how well they
meet your criteria. The easiest way
to do this is by using a score sheet
(see Appendix 3 for an example).
Make sure the criteria you use
here is exactly the same as the
one you have used in your person
specification.
The score sheet will help you
to decide who is suitable to
interview and select the best if
oversubscribed.

10

Interviews
Write open questions as opposed
to yes/no questions to encourage
candidates to tell you about
themselves. You will need to
tailor your questions to your own
particular circumstance, see
Appendix 4 for some sample
questions. Avoid spending too
much time writing in the interview
as it can stifle the conversation
if the interviewers are scribbling
away the whole time. The interview
itself need only be 20 to 25
minutes but it is good to leave ten

minutes discussion or reflection

time after each interviewee. You
can make your initial decision
before conferring with the other
interviewers so you are not
influenced by them.

Timeline
Leave at least three weeks from
the day you first advertise to
the closing date for applications
so enough people will see your
advert and have time to fill in the
application form. Give at least a

week between this closing date

and the interviews themselves so
you can sort out any problems,
such as people you have selected
not being able to make the
interview. Leave at least one
calendar month between the
interviews and the start of the
traineeship so that people can give
a months notice to jobs or other
commitments that they will have to
stop in order to do the traineeship.

Organiclea traineeship
Organiclea is a workers
cooperative growing food on
Londons edge in the Lea Valley.
Their trainee programme is
now in its fourth year and took
on nine trainees in 2014. Each
trainee takes on a specific area of
responsibility and develops skills
and experience in community food
growing, community outreach
work, local food distribution or
horticulture training. They prioritise
people who are trying to move into
employment in the community food
sector, who have not had previous
opportunities to undertake trainee
roles, apprenticeship roles, or paid
work in this sector.

Of the seven trainees taken on

in 2013, all are now engaged
in further training or have found
employment in this sector,
including: paid apprenticeships,
developing their own sustainable
fishing project, working with a
farmers coop in Spain, becoming
a full-time Grower for a Primary
School, Coordinator of the
Community Food Growing Network
and two of them are now working
at Organiclea.

Each traineeship
Runs 1 - 1.5 days per week for
nine months.
Is voluntary.
Is supported by a mentor who
meets with them monthly to
check-in on the role and support
them in developing their plans.
Includes monthly tutorials for the
trainees to share experiences
and suggest subjects they
would like to learn more about.

My nine months at Organiclea, doing the Community

and Outreach Gardens traineeship was a brilliant
learning experience- from being part of the production
team at the 12-acre Hawkwood nursery, to supporting
new garden projects around Waltham Forest, and
understanding the workings of a successful workers
co-operative. I felt very supported in the role and
especially to explore the areas in which I had particular
interest to build skills and knowledge. I cant recommend
it enough!
Rob Logan was one of
the seven trainees.

11

Practical syllabus
The table below covers key elements that should be covered during practical work.
This can be used as a checklist at the end or during the traineeship.

Date
covered

Spring practical work

April - May
Seed sowing in
modules

Making up sowing compost: a base of leaf mould or coir, sand and slow
release nutrients (Growing Communites sowing compost is 5 part leaf
mould, 1 part sand and 100 grams of dried seaweed meal for every bucket
of compost made up).
Look at different sizes of modular tray small cells for single sowing (77
cells per tray), larger for multi-sowing (40 cells per tray) and larger still for
potting on (15 cells per tray). These figures are based on trays that are
215mm by 350mm.
Filling modules, creating the right density of growing medium by packing
down; making sure the growing medium is wet enough; covering trays with
see-through plastic covers during germination.
Special requirements: ie getting germination temperatures correct and not
covering seeds that require light to germinate such as celery.
Bedding the seeds down firmly fixing them in growing medium so they
have a firm anchor when they start sending out roots and shoots.

Preparing nursery
beds

Creating a finely tilled weed free soil.

Preparing main
beds

Digging in green manures if you have them growing, weeding and covering
beds with 5cm compost.

Direct sowing

In situ or pre-prepared nursery beds.

Weeding

Catch weeds early before they grow large roots and especially before they
start seeding down. A look at weeding techniques: hand weeding and use of
hoe.

Tending
overwintering crop

Removing damaged leaves, looking for diseased leaves in particular.

Replacing dead or
dying plants

Keep a few seedlings in trays undercover in winter to replace any victims of

bad weather.

Protection

Using fleeces when weather is cold but remove them if snow is forecast as
when snow falls on fleeces it will flatten plants.

Harvesting

Give detailed instructions about harvest techniques explore harvesting with

different implements such as hands, scissors, secateurs and harvest knives.
The lettuce family needs particular attention to detail when being harvested
as a cut and come again crop. Leaves need to be picked cleanly off the
growing head leaving no leaf stubs and working from the outside of the plant
inwards. This should be done by hand as metal tools will leave nasty stubs
on the plant and discolour leaves. Harvest knives can be used when cutting
whole head lettuce.

Predicting harvest

Estimating how much crop will come from each bed. This is a difficult skill to
master and will continue throughout the traineeship.

Other

Looking at irrigation systems, repairing and renewing where necessary.

Making up proprietary compost with added comfrey leaves for heavy feeding.

12

Date
covered

Date
covered

Late Spring - early Summer

Planting out

Getting used to spacing the plants correctly either in rows or equal distance
planting. This is quite a skill so will need plenty of guidance and monitoring.
Make sure there is plenty of repetition so trainees can get this right.

Preparing nursery
beds

Creating a finely tilled weed free soil.

Correct hand
watering

Making an effort to keep the watering can or hose low down so they are
watering soil and not the plants (plants can be damaged by a stream of
water from a hose or can).

Direct sowing

In situ or pre-prepared nursery beds.

Look at irrigation
systems

Making sure that the irrigation system is up to scratch ready for the summer
and that you understand how it works. Understanding different systems and
different attachments which are needed for each is important.

Late Summer - early Autumn

Harvesting
continues

Getting used to spacing the plants correctly either in rows or equal distance
planting. This is quite a skill so will need plenty of guidance and monitoring.
Make sure there is plenty of repetition so trainees can get this right.

Planning and
executing
Autumn sowing

Getting the sowing dates right for Autumn sowing requires careful thought.
Different plants will bolt if planted too soon in the season, especially
brassicas (although Kale is the exception).
You are looking for a smooth succession: succession is all about making
sure that when one plant is taken out of a bed, there is another waiting to
take its place. Close observation of plants to check for bolting, plus looking
back at sowing records from previous years plus a knowledge of correct
planting times for different varieties all come in to play to guide you.

Taking out plants

Removing those that have reached the end of their productive life and
applying compost to beds.

Planting out

Planting out seedlings that will overwinter.

Cutting

Making soft and hardwood cuttings of your perennial herbs.

Summer pruning

Summer pruning of dwarf top fruit.

13

Date
covered

Autumn and Winter

Planning a
seed sowing
programme

Planning a seed sowing programme for the next year (as you wont have
time for this once spring comes).

Harvesting

Harvesting slows and then stops in November or early December.

Overwintering crops should be left reasonably big as they will have a better
chance of coming through the winter.

Preparing beds
for winter

Use different methods for protecting crops such as fleece, mesh and net.

Leaf Mould

Collecting and stacking autumn fallen leaves if you are making your own leaf
mould sowing compost.
Sieving last years leave mould through a riddle sieve to make next years
seed sowing compost. Observe how well rotted the leaves are, making sure
they are ready to be sieved. The resultant compost should be light, in small
pieces with little or no sticks in it and should be homogenous in appearance.
If the riddle gets bunged up with leaf matter very quickly then the leaf mould
is not ready to be sieved.

Making repairs

A good chance for trainees to get some basic woodworking experience:

Mending raised beds.
Making new beds.
Repairing compost bins.
General site tidying.

Wildlife

Sowing wild flowers in wild areas and beetle banks. Some wild flowers need
a cold period to break their dormancy so need to be sown in autumn.

Pruning and
potting

Pruning soft fruit and semi dwarfing, or standard, top fruit.

Potting strawberry runners and hardwood cuttings of soft fruit.

14

Date
covered

Ongoing throughout traineeship

Observation

Trainees should be taught to closely observe plant characteristics:

Looking for signs of bolting such as thickening of stems, changes in leaf
shape and taste, and flower heads forming.
Looking for pests and diseases: this involves close observation for spotting
small insects and signs of disease such as leaf discolouration (sometimes
mineral deficiencies, but could be mosaic virus or red spider mite), white or
brown patches (rusts).
Monitoring conditions: chiefly keeping a record of rainfall so that you
know when to water and monitoring greenhouse temperatures so seeds
germinate at the correct temperature (you need a min/max thermometer
for this).

Good garden
hygiene

Clean hands for harvesting, or thin gloves.

Keeping diseased leaves out of compost bins.
Clean tools: make sure tools dont pick up and spread diseases such as
rust, while harvesting.

Composting
techniques

Using a three bay system (inbox, pending, outbox)

Balancing greens and browns.
Turning heap and breaking up.
Testing compost to see when it is ready.
Identifying and tackling problems: mushy compost with too much green
(add browns) or compost that burns too hot and produces fireblight, a white
fungus growing on the heap (add water if dry or turn and aerate).
Using compost starters such as QR or biodynamic preparations such as
Mausdorf Starter.
Using wormeries (if you have them): feeding, keeping at the right
temperature, harvesting worm castings and using worm tea as fertilisers.

Exploring plant
treatments

To counter pests (such as garlic for aphids, feverfew for caterpillars) plus feeds
(such as nettle, seaweed meal and comfrey): emphasis should be placed on
making these treatments up on site rather than buying them in when possible.

Record keeping

Some of this is best covered in tutorials but on-site written records are
invaluable as you have them to hand which may not be the case with computer
based records:
How to record crop details: when they are sown, when they are planted out,
date of first harvest, date of last harvest, total harvested, area planted out,
productivity (kilos per sqm per week).
Sales records (probably better covered in tutorials) - see page 17.
Inputs records: organically certified gardens must keep a record of all
external inputs, such as compost and manure (again, maybe better done at
tutorials).

15

Date
covered

Ongoing throughout traineeship

Tools

A detailed look at the different tools used, looking at:

What tools for what job.
Safety issues related to any of the tools.
Maintenance of tools, including cleaning, oiling and sharpening.
What to look for when buying a good quality tool.

Studying soil:

Carrying out various tests including

Sausage test: more clay heavy soils will form a sausage when rolled.
Sandy and loamy soils will just crumble.
Water test: mix soil thoroughly into a jar of water and leave to stand for
at least a day. The soil will settle out into various constituents with the
heavy elements such as sand falling to the bottom, the finer elements
such as clay higher up and the organic matter floating in the water.
Testing kit: using a simple NPK test kit to establish nutrient content of
soil.
Analysing and recording changes in soil structure over season, how well
plants are growing and how well the soil is holding water.
Analysing changes in soil structure particular to container growing where
soil is more stressed. In containers, explore the effects of using a gravel
substrate in order to promote free drainage.
Soil remediation: using lime to bring up the pH and rock phosphate for
adding phosphorous.

Rainwater
collection

An exploration of any systems you have for collecting rainwater.

Maintaining
wild areas

These will bring in all kinds of wild life which means that if you have a pest
problem you will have the predators to deal with them. Having a pond area
to encourage wild life into the garden to drink and give a breeding area for
amphibians who will eat your slugs. Birds can be encouraged into the garden
with seed tables and hanging feeders but care should be taken to provide the
right kind of food and replace often so that it doesnt rot.

Companion
planting

This is to benefit crops and wildlife. They can also be used to deter pests:
planting garlic will deter aphids; planting beans or nasturtiums will attract
blackfly which means the blackfly are less likely to attack your food crop;
pennyroyal will deter ants (some species of ants farm aphids, protecting them
on the plants they eat).

Running the
garden

To ensure trainees get the chance to be in charge of the garden. This will mean
creating a list of tasks for the day and managing volunteers. It is important that
they get this opportunity so that when they finish the traineeship they will feel
confident that they are able to manage their own site.

16

Sutton Community
Farm apprenticeship
Sutton Community Farm is one
of Londons largest community
farms and is a not-for-profit
social enterprise growing
fresh vegetables using organic
principles, as well as providing
a shared space for the local
community to cultivate skills.

Sutton Community Farms

Apprenticeship Programme is an
official accredited apprenticeship
linked to the National
Apprenticeship Scheme. It offers
practical, work-based learning and
a recognised qualification of City
& Guilds Level 2 Horticulture from

Capel Manor College. Apprentices

learn about organic vegetable
production on a community project
as well as receiving mentoring and
support from an experienced team.
The post has been developed
for someone looking to start a
career as an organic grower
in a community setting on a
small-scale commercial farm.
Apprenticeships are open to
anyone aged 16 and above and
if they do not have a degree level
qualification they can benefit from
a fully funded place on the course
at Capel Manor College. Otherwise
they have to fund the course costs.
Each apprenticeship
Runs for 20 months.
Includes one day per week
completing City & Guilds Level 2
Horticulture.
Includes four days at Sutton
Community Farm paid 6.31/
hour from April 2014 to March
2015.

Charlotte Steel photographed

right, has almost completed the 20
month apprenticeship

I often tell people that I think I have the best job in London, and I honestly believe
that is true! As an apprentice at Sutton Community Farm I have helped to grow and
sell over eight tonnes of organic vegetables in the last year. We couldnt have achieved
this without the input of our many volunteers and I feel privileged to have been able to
share knowledge and skills with a diverse community of people that come to the farm
for all sorts of reasons. I hope to manage a community farm in the future and recruit my
own apprentices. Passing on small-scale organic farming skills is very important to me
and I really want to offer people a similar opportunity to the one I have had at Sutton
Community Farm.

17

Tutorial
Overview
Tutorials are classroom based and
address the more theory based
elements as well as providing
chance for discussion. Make
sure you have a structured plan
for each of your tutorials. These
should include:
Subjects to be covered.
How long each subject will take
(try to stick to this).
How the subject will be covered
(ie slideshow, whiteboard, group
work etc).
Any materials you need (eg
paper, picture cards, powerpoint
files etc).

This sort of preparation may seem

arduous, but you will be thankful
you did it as it will make the tutorial
much easier for you and much
more interesting for trainees. Once
you have prepared one seasons
tutorials, you will have a blueprint
that you can use for all subsequent
years.

You and the trainees will get more

out of the tutorials if there is plenty
of trainee participation. If you are
covering composting for instance,
dont just list all the factors
involved in making good compost;
ask trainees what they think are
the important factors and write
them up on a white board. You
can then discuss their responses.
Also provide a reading list for
further study.

Subjects to cover
Below is a simple structure which covers the necessary ground through a series of five tutorials.

Main theme

Sub-theme

Detail to cover

Tutorial 1
Organic
growing

What is organic growing?

Four main principles: Health, Ecology,

Fairness and Care

Keeping the garden healthy

Healthy soil
Healthy plants
Diversity of habitat and plants

Soil association guidelines on

growing

Rotation
Converting land to organic production
Record keeping
Guidelines on Use of Compost
Guidelines on Use of Manure
Conservation
Good use of water

Beyond Organic a brief overview

of some other methodologies

Permaculture
Biodynamics
Veganics ie stockfree farming

18

Main theme

Sub-theme

Tutorial 2
Soil

What is soil?

Detail to cover

Soil types

Textures
Structure and how structure is improved and
maintained

Looking after microbes

Aeration, moisture levels, organic matter, and pH

Soil indicators: Assessing

a new growing space

What plants naturally grow in the space. ie

mosses indicate wetness and lack of light,
legumes indicate low nitrogen
Texture and structure

Plant nutrients in the soil

What the main nutrients are

What their use is to the plants
Signs of deficiency
Remediation for deficiencies

Composting

Techniques for making good compost

Designing the compost system
Starter treatments

Main theme

Sub-theme

Detail to cover

Tutorial 3
Sowing,
propagation,
rotation and
planning

Seed sowing

Modules
Single/multi sowing
Hardening off
Planting out from modules
Sowing direct
Planning your sowing schedule
Sowing times
Sowing records

Propagation from cuttings

Softwood, greenwood, hardwood, dividing.

Rotation

What is it
Why rotate
Alternatives to rotation (polyveg, perennial beds)

19

Main theme

Sub-theme

Detail to cover

Tutorial 4
Pests and
diseases

Systemic Controls

Raising healthy plants

Keeping garden tidy
Observation
Wild areas
Garden hygiene
Watering correctly

Barrier methods

Nets, cloches etc

Active pest controls

Herbal sprays, nutrient feeds etc

Biological control

Get to know your pests and predators

Buying in predators

Natural remedies
Brief look at some specific
common pests

Main theme

Sub-theme

Detail to cover

Tutorial 5
Running
your
own site

Planning a garden

Raised beds
Propagation area
Hardening off area

Running a work day in the garden

Managing volunteers
Task lists
Troubleshooting problems

What to sell
How to sell
Who to sell to

Harvesting, labelling, and packing

Creating a market

20

Cultivate London
apprenticeship
Cultivate London is an urban
farm and social enterprise based
across multiple sites in West
London, and has a primary aim
of providing work experience
and employment opportunities
for long term unemployed youth
(NEET) between the ages of
16 and 24. They offer both
volunteer traineeships and paid
apprenticeships.

The organisation aims to

help the young people with
whom they work develop their
employability by engaging them
in valuable, productive work.
Further, for those who express
interest in horticulture there is
the opportunity to progress with
Cultivate London, or another
similar organisation, as a
horticultural apprentice.

At present they employ four full

time paid apprentices with funding
from multiple sources including
Housing Pathways Trust, John
Lyons Charity, Inspire Hounslow
and construction contractors
Wilmott Dixon.
Each apprenticeship
Runs four days per week at the
Cultivate London sites over two
years.
Including one day per week
to training for level 2 or level 3
diploma in Practical Horticulture.
Pays the national minimum
wage, which is nearly three
times the national apprentice
wage.

Freddie Byrne, a Cultivate London

apprentice since June 2013

Ive learned all about growing and taking care of plants, and have also learned lots of
cool things like how to use a petrol strimmer. I enjoy the work, and I really like learning
new things. I am always doing something different, like seeds sowing, watering plants or
harvesting salads. In the future I would like to start my own gardening company, so I can
use the knowledge that I have gained at Cultivate London.

21

Next steps
For anyone considering taking on
apprentices or trainees we hope
that this document has provided
a useful basis to move forward.
We also recommend contacting
other organisations who have
embarked on this. The document
contains a number of useful links
for you to further your research
and where possible make
contact with other organisations
who have undertaken similar
activities.

In London, Capital Growth will

continue to encourage and support
organisations looking to train and
engage farmers of the future and
will continue to work with and
promote the organisations in this
document and many more. We
look forward to hearing from you.
Anyone interested in finding out
more should contact:
capitalgrowth@sustainweb.org
www.capitalgrowth.org

Useful links
Capel Manor
www.capel.ac.uk
Capel Manor was established as
a centre for horticultural studies
in 1968 and since then has
developed a good reputation for
excellence and strong links with
industry. Most of their courses
are from from their 30 acres of
gardens at Enfield, but they also
have sites in Regents Park,
Gunnersbury Park and Crystal
Palace Park for practical work.
Cultivate London
www.cultivatelondon.org
An urban farm and social
enterprise based across multiple
derelict sites in West London. They
train unemployed young people,
run apprenticeships in horticulture,
and produce a range of edible and
ornamental plants for sale.
Growing Communities
www.growingcommunities.org
Co-author of this document
and a social enterprise in East
London. They run a community
led box scheme, organic farmers
market, three market gardens,
a Patchwork Farm and a Starter
Farm in Dagenham and informal
apprenticeships. They also run a
Start Up programme to mentor
others to start community led box
schemes.

The National
Apprenticeship Service
www.apprenticeships.org.uk
This is funded by the Skills Agency
and provides information on formal
apprenticeship training.
Organiclea
www.organiclea.org.uk
A workers co-op based on a large
area of land in the Lea Valley,
Waltham Forest. They produce
and distribute food and plants
locally through a box scheme and
other routes, as well as support
local people to do the same.
They also run a range of training
including accredited training,
traineeships and apprenticeships.
Soil Association
www.soilassociation.org
The soil association is UKs
leading membership charity
campaigning for healthy, humane
and sustainable food, farming
and land use. They run an
organic certification scheme
and an informal apprenticeship
programme with apprentices
placed in commercial organic
farms around the country for two
years.

Sutton Community Farm

www.suttoncommunityfarm.org.uk
One of Londons largest community
farms, they run a not-for-profit
social enterprise growing
fresh vegetables using organic
principles, as well as providing
a shared space for the local
community to cultivate skills. They
have many volunteer opportunities
and run a Sustainable Farming
Assistant programme to provide
volunteers with a more rounded
learning experience.

22

Castle Climbing
Centre traineeship
The Castle Garden was started in
2009 to grow food organically for
the Castle Caf. The result is a one
acre, vibrant green space teeming
with wildlife, producing food for the
caf, plus the head grower, Ida
Fabrizio, takes on a trainee each
year.

The traineeship aims to help the

trainee to gain skills in managing
volunteers and a community food
growing (and kitchen) garden.
They also gain experience of a
normal working day in the garden,
working as part of a team and a
business.

The traineeship
Runs one day per week over
five months.
Is voluntary but includes lunch
and free climbing.
Has access to Growing
Communities tutorials and up to
four Capital Growth workshops.

Farook Bhahaba did the

traineeship in 2013 and went
on to do Level 2 Horticulture
at Organiclea. He hopes to
work with schools to teach food
growing and would like to take
up the traineeship with Growing
Communities to get more
commercial growing experience.

The Castle traineeship has been a fantastic opportunity to develop the skills that I
learned from my Level 1 horticulture course. It was brilliant to explore community food
growing in a welcome open, supportive environment.The Castle Garden is an amazing
model where I got to be a part of the whole process from growing the food, seeing it
get cooked and eaten at the caf and the kitchen waste go back into the composting
system. I loved it so much I am going back for more this summer to do a specialised herb
traineeship. It also gave me the confidence to convince a local school to employ me to
set up a food growing garden.

23

Appendix 1 - Sample advert

Trainee Growers 2014
Learn to grow food to sell locally
[Our organisation] is recruiting four volunteer Trainee Growers. The traineeship runs from the
beginning of April to the end of September. Trainees will work one day a week each Tuesday. In
addition there will be monthly evening tutorials. You will work with our Grower or Assistant Grower,
learning all aspects of running an Urban Market Garden.
We are looking for enthusiastic people who are keen to learn about growing food in a sustainable
way, and who enjoy working outdoors and with other people. We particularly welcome applications
from sectors of the community at risk of social exclusion.
If you would like to apply, please follow the link below. Applicants will be shortlisted for interview
based on how well they fit the Person Specification, so make sure you read this carefully and
respond to it fully in your covering letter. The deadline for applications is [ ]. We will let people know
by [ ] whether we would like them to come to interview and the interviews themselves will be held
on [ ].
Download the application pack at www...
Notice that there is an emphasis on following the person specification in the application. The closer
applicants follow the person spec in their cover letter, the easier it will be for you to assess them. If
you dont make this clear, you will get a lot of vague cover letters, all very different and very hard to
assess against your selection criteria.

24

Appendix 2 - Sample application

form and description
TRAINEE GROWERS
Thank you for your enquiry about our food growing traineeships. Please find enclosed:

A description of what the traineeship involves.

A description of the type of person we are looking for (Person Specification).
An equal opportunities monitoring form it will be detached upon receipt and the information used only as
part of our monitoring process and not as part of the selection process.

[Description of your organisation]

We are currently recruiting four volunteer Trainee Growers to learn how to manage an urban market garden and
grow food crops to sell.
We are looking for enthusiastic people who are keen to learn how to grow food in a sustainable way, enjoy
working outdoors and working with others.
If after reading the information you would like to apply, please enclose a CV and a covering letter which outlines
why you would be suitable for this opportunity. Please also state which day you would prefer to volunteer (see
below).
Applicants will be short-listed according to how well they meet the criteria in the person specification (see below).
Closing date for applications is [ ]
Short listed applicants will be informed by phone by [ ]
If you do not hear by then, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.
Interviews will be held Thursday [ ]
Best wishes,
[your name]

TRAINEESHIP DESCRIPTION
Trainees will learn all aspects of running our Urban Market Gardens by:
Assisting the Grower/Assistant Grower on site one day a week. Tasks include seed sowing, planting out,
record keeping, weeding, watering, making compost.
Helping to harvest and then pack produce.
Supporting and supervising volunteers.
Attending [ ] tutorials in organic food growing.
Supervising the garden work day and harvest when the Grower is absent.

25

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Please read carefully and respond to it fully in your cover letter
Successful applicants will be able to show that they:
Want to grow, sell and distribute food.
Are able to work outdoors throughout the year in all weathers.
Are reliable, hardworking and organised.
Would benefit from this traineeship.
Work well with other people.
Could supervise volunteers.
Desirable
Have some experience in growing food.
Have practical skills appropriate to setting up a growing site.
Have volunteered with us before.
Four traineeships are available:
[Times of the traineeships and tutorials]
The traineeships start [ ] and finish [ ].
Tutorials will be held [ ].
The traineeships are unpaid, although expenses will be paid.
The traineeships will take place [ ].

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES MONITORING FORM

We monitor all applicants and it would be helpful if you would complete the monitoring form attached. This
monitoring information will help us check the selection decision was made on fair grounds. All information will
be held in strict confidence. Please copy and paste this into a word document (or other editable document),
complete and return with your cover letter and CV.
JOB TITLE:
Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ]
Age: Less than 35 [ ]

35-49 [ ] Over 50 [ ]

Do you consider yourself to have a disability? [yes/no]

To which ethnic groups do you belong? (This section uses the same categories as local councils.)
African [ ]
Asian [ ]

Caribbean [ ]
White [ ]

UK Black [ ]

Cypriot Greek [ ]

Cypriot Turkish [ ] Irish [ ]

Other [ ] (please specify)

Orthodox Jewish [ ]

26

Appendix 3 - Sample scoresheet

Name

Want to
grow to
sell

Understand
the aims
of your
company

Happy
to work
outdoors

A N Other

Reliable,
hard
working

How much
would they
benefit
from
appship

Do they
work
well with
others

Can they
supervise
others

Total

19
0
0
0
0

Appendix 4 - Sample
interview questions
1. Why would you like to do this traineeship?
2. What experience do you have growing food?
3. Can you tell us about any practical DIY skills you have?
4. What do you understand about the aims of [our organisation]?
5. How do you feel about the physical work involved in gardening and harvesting all day and working outdoors
in all weathers?
6. Part of the traineeship involves learning to lead the volunteers at our market gardens. Could you tell us about
any experience you have had leading a team or organising other people?
7. The traineeship involves commitment. You would need to attend one day a week throughout the six months,
working in the garden in the day and packing in the evening. How do you feel about making such a
commitment?
8. What qualities do you need to be able to run a market garden?
9. How do you think you will benefit from this traineeship?
10. In the long term do you see yourself growing food as an income or as part of your income?
11. Have you got any questions you would like to ask us?

27

Thanks and
acknowledgements
Capital Growth would like to thank Paul Bradbury and
Growing Communities who have shared their invaluable
experience and knowledge to put together this document.
We would also like to thank the organisations who
contributed to this document including:

The Castle Climbing Centre

Culitvate London
Food from the Sky
Keats Community Organics
Organiclea
Sutton Community Farm

The design and distribution of this

report has been supported by
Food Metres www.foodmetres.eu

Future
Farmers
A guide to running an urban
food growing traineeship
A Sustain publication
September 2014
Capital Growth is a network of food growing spaces
in London. It was set up by London Food Link (part of
Sustain) in partnership with the Mayor of London and
the Big Lotterys Local Food Programme.

CAPITALgrowth
Capital Growth
capitalgrowth@sustainweb.org
www.capitalgrowth.org
Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming,
advocates food and agriculture policies and practices
that enhance the health and welfare of people and
animals, improve the living and working environment,
enrich society and culture, and promote equity.
It represents around 100 national public interest
organisations working at international, national,
regional and local level.

Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming

sustain@sustainweb.org
www.sustainweb.org
Sustain, Development House
56 - 64 Leonard Street
London EC2A 4LT
Tel: 020 7065 0902

Sustain is a Registered Charity No. 1018643