Organic farming apprentice gets her hands dirty

Alice Holden "Some things you can only learn through actually doing," says Alice Holden, 30, explaining how she came to be the guinea-pig on the Soil Association's

organic-farming apprenticeship scheme after finishing a social anthropology degree. She was put on a two-year placement at Coleshill Organics, a 22-acre mixed horticulture farm that runs its own box scheme; working for minimum wage, the apprentices are taught by professional growers. Her description of learning to grow salads, tomatoes, beans and "all the crops that our climate can offer" is messing with my notions of storybook farmers with tractors and cows. "As I grew up on a dairy farm, that would be a bit boring for me," says Holden, laughing. "On a small-scale organic farm it's all about the health of the soil and horticulture allows you to grow diverse seasonal crops in a sustainable system that's good for the soil. Plus, horticulture is less mechanised than livestock farming. It relies on knowledge – and you need lots of people. I like being around people!"
When we speak Holden has just completed a day of planting tomato seedlings and working on her raised-bed gardens in west Wales, where she is now a grower in a forest eco camp. She also promotes the apprenticeships through the Do Lectures (thedolectures.co.uk). "The apprenticeship scheme is about reversing knowledge loss and reskilling as a community, so that we are less vulnerable to potential energy crises," Holden explains.
She has designs on urban life, too. "I've been thinking a lot about intensive urban gardens that are sustainable. There are loads of resources in cities – especially compost. Plus, cities are warmer. Urban growing appeals to me."