Expert Growers are a very significant part of our success. They cover all the work below, either as individuals doing everything or with many people each doing parts of it.
We need more Expert Growers at HCF. Perhaps you’re interested to become one? Or perhaps you could take on one of the responsibilities as part of an EG team? Even a small contribution helps to lighten the load on individuals and to spread skills across our community. (This work counts towards your commitment of hours to the Farm.)
| Month | Job | Time |
| June | – Produce crop rotation plan for the next year. – Send to TLs for feedback. – Update as necessary and produce final version. – Distribute to TLs, Melita, and Farm noticeboards | 4 hours |
| August | – Assess spud and onion growth before re-ordering. – Liaise with West End Allotments re shared delivery. – Order spuds, autumn onion sets and shallots for next year from the wholesalers. – Liaise with wholesalers over charges, payment and delivery. | 5 hours |
| October | Stock take of existing seeds and enter details on seed spreadsheet | 8 hours |
| November | Estimate seeds needed for next year. This involves: – Getting catalogues for the various seed companies – Considering what we have in stock – Reviewing each plant’s success or failure – Researching new varieties, if necessary – Deciding on amount of seeds needed – Examining prices in all the different catalogues for the best deal. | 20 hours |
| December | Seed ordering – usually with 5 or 6 companies: – Amalgamate information from the seed meeting and add to the seed spreadsheet – Produce separate order forms for each of the seed companies – Research which is best company for any new seeds – Place orders with all the different companies. Seed sowing information for each plot updated with new information and sent to TLs. | 20 hours 20 hours |
| January | – Arrange/pick up spuds and shallots and store at Farm – See seeds arrive and check them off – All seeds sorted and distributed to new team boxes | 2 hours 1 hour 8 hours |
| Weekly | Provide support and advice to all TL’s · compost · seed sowing · potting up · planting out · growing · harvesting Keep abreast of changes in suppliers, seeds, weather, soil conditions etc which may affect our crops | Varies but average 2hrs/week |
| Average number of hours per year | 192 hours |