Even getting miserably lost in the dark on the way home, didn’t make me feel any less enthusiastic about the excellent course with Geogie Newbery in Somerset. Just after getting my plot, I had come across her book, ‘The Flower Farmer’s Year’ and read it from cover to cover almost immediately. The voice in her book is confident, hugely knowledgeable and above all generous and it was lovely to realise as soon as I arrived that she was going to be like this in person.

We met inside the space of her airy and  beautiful converted barn, snug with the heat from a wood burning stove. The first treats were delicious homemade biscuits and packets of Higgledy Garden seeds to take home on the course notes. Satisfyingly, though I order from Higgledy, most were seeds I haven’t got.

The other course members came from all parts of the country – one even from Glasgow. Everyone had land or the opportunity to get some – my plot being by far the smallest. As the day went on definite strategies and approaches emerged for everyone with clear, detailed and straightforward advice from Georgie.

Everything about this day was perfect for me from the genuine excitement of learning new things to the sensible advice about planning and strategy. And the lunch, wine and flapjacks were all delicious! I left feeling that the development of my plot is manageable if I plan. That sowing seeds little, often and regularly is what I will do from now on. Among all the new things,  I even learned that I can sacrifice some of my many achillea plants at the feet of my sweet peas to attract pests away from my sweet pea crop.

A fantastic course if you can get to one – do it.