Upcoming courses at Acton Scott

Shropshire Council sent this bulletin at 17-08-2016 11:25 AM BST

Our traditional rural and trade courses are very popular here at the farm and we have just won a platinum students choice award from craftcourses.com.

Places are filling up quickly so if you see a course you like don’t hesitate to book a place by calling the office on 01694 781307.

The following courses are coming up soon. Use the links below to find out more and you can find more booking options as well as the rest of our courses on our website.

Pig Keeping Saturday

Pig

Saturday 17 September 2016
£65, including lunch

If you want to start keeping your own pigs, either for meat, breeding or just as pets then the one day pig course is for you. Running on Saturday 17th September you will learn all you need to know from Noelle, who has kept a wide range of different pigs, you will leave the course with the knowledge and confidence to start keeping your own pigs.

Orchard Restoration

Apple orchard

Saturday 29 October 
£70, including lunch

Do you want your own orchard but don’t know where to start? On Saturday 29th October Paul will be holding a course on orchard restoration, he will advise on suitable species and varieties to plant, where it is best to place the orchard, how to protect it from animals and diseases. He will also cover pruning the trees and how to restore old unproductive trees. You will leave the course with the knowledge and skills to manage your own trees with confidence.

Stone Masonry

Saturday 17 September 
£80, including lunch

You will be guided through a step-by-step process, starting with the basic geometry to create a template and progressing through hands-on use of tools, to shaping their stone. The blocks of sandstone will be provided, and you can keep their finished work .

Perfect Pickles

Saturday 8 October 
£65, including lunch

Sarah-Jane will be here  on Saturday 8 October to run a course on perfect pickles, where participants will learn to make spiced blushing pickled pears, pickled onions and pickled beetroot, all of which you get to take home with you along with the knowledge and confidence to make more!

Dazzling Damsons

Damsons

Sunday 18 September 2016 
£65, including lunch

On Sunday 18 September Sarah-Jane will be holding a course dedicated to an officially designated “forgotten food” the Shropshire prune damson. Help put the damson back on the food map by learning to make a classic damson jam, ketchup and pickled damsons. You will also learn about spice, sugar and vinegar combinations in preserving.

Laminated and enriched Doughs

croissant

Saturday 24 September 
£90, including lunch

This course is full of sweet treats. You'll learn to make a laminated dough during the day, and discover the techniques for shaping your dough into croissants or pain au chocolate ready for baking at home. You'll also make an enriched dough for Chelsea buns or Shropshire butter buns.  You'll leave with a selection of delicious treats and a booklet packed with advice about bread making and recipes.

Home Dairying

Sunday 9 October 
£80, including lunch

We will show you how to turn milk into a soft cheese and then flavour it with rum soaked raisins to make a delicious centre piece for your Christmas table. We will churn cream into butter and then turn this into brandy butter to accompany your Christmas pudding.

Cheese making

Cheesemaking

Friday 26 August, Friday 23 September and Friday 21 October 

£90, including lunch

Learn the basics of cheese making and make a soft curd cheese, a traditional hard type cheese will be demonstrated and each course participant will take home a soft cheese making kit so you can make more!

Game Preparation

Saturday 22 October 
£75, including lunch

After a brief introduction to various species of British game, the group will prepare up to four game dishes (depending on availability) which we'll eat for lunch. In the afternoon each participant will pluck, draw, joint or truss a game bird to take home. Rabbit preparation will be demonstrated.

Hedge laying

hedge laying

Saturday 5/12 November 
£70, including lunch

The purpose of hedge laying is to restore a hedge that has become sparse at the base, or has grown without being trimmed. Hedge laying thickens a hedge therefore giving more shelter for livestock on farms and a habitat for nesting birds and wildlife. During this one-day introductory course, you'll learn the techniques of hedge laying and have a go at transforming a wild unkempt hedge into a growing boundary, using the tools of the trade.

Patchwork Stocking

Sunday 30 October 
£55, including lunch

This one day course will give you the opportunity to learn both crazy patchwork, decorative stitching skills whilst creating your own Christmas stocking using sumptuous pieces of fabric, embellishment and stitch. A vital Victorian skill to reuse and recycle fabrics.

We will be getting ready for Christmas with some wreath making workshops and also some beading workshops, more information on these coming soon.

Customer feedback

We have had some great feedback from some of the students who have tried their hand at a new skill this year:

“Excellent practical enjoyable course” - Build a cob oven

“(Best part of the course was) learning how to make a variety of breads, and of course eating them!” - Bread making

“Relaxed teaching in a wonderful peaceful environment it was such fun that I would come again” - Willow obelisk making