Expert food growers wanted for Capital Growth’s 2025 training program

Capital Growth’s annual training programme has been running in-person sessions for many years, where experienced practitioners from our London-wide network of food growers share their horticultural know-how with the wider community.  

The 2025 training season will run, subject to funding, from March to October and will be divided into a longer Spring/Summer programme from March to July and a shorter Autumn cycle from September to October.

Rachel Dring, Capital Growth Coordinator, says;

“There's such a wealth of knowledge and expertise among our huge network of food growers. Each year our training programme provides a platform for sharing skills and helping us all create more productive, climate resilient, nature-friendly and inclusive spaces for Londoners to enjoy. If you have a topic or idea you want to contribute to the 2025 programme, we want to hear from you.”

Capital Growth will be bringing Londoners a Masterclass series for in-depth sessions for more experiecned growers and Taster sessions for beginners that introduce people to a variety of common gardeners’ knowledge. Topics we are looking for trainers to deliver on are based on feedback from our members and include:

• Climate resilient systems (e.g. Rainwater harvesting, permaculture, drought resilient crops)
• Specialist growing topics (e.g. crop planning, mushroom cultivation, soil testing)
• Improving biodiversity in your garden (habitat creation, pollinator-friendly planting etc)
• Identifying and recording biodiversity in your garden
• Beginners’ food growing skills (e.g. container growing, winter veg, understanding soil)
• Tool care and tool sharpening
• Food growing in schools
• Garden design and closed loop systems
• Soil health / soil testing / composting

How to apply 

You can find all the information needed within the application form to send your session proposal. This can be found on the member dashboard of your garden profile on the Good to Grow platform or download it directly here. 

Important deadlines to keep in mind are: 

Spring/Summer Training Application Deadline: Mon 6 January 2025 

Autumn Training Application Deadline: Fri 2 May

If you have any questions you’d like to clarify beforehand or would like to request any additional support with completing this application, please reach out to rachel.dring@sustainweb.org. 

If you are not yet a member of Capital Growth, you can join the network for free to make the most of a range of membership benefits, including 50% off all training sessions. Membership is open to anyone who grows food in London at a school, home, allotment, or community garden.