A big welcome to our new interns! It’s been a busy first month they settled into their host farms, and jumped right into a packed training schedule.

We are delighted to have Ballymaloe Organic Farm & Gardens, An Garraí Glas, GIY Ireland, Glasraí Organic Farm, Green Earth Organics, Irish Seed Savers Association, Master Chefs Ellan Farm, Moy Hill Farm and Moyleabbey Organic Farm, as host farms for this year.

The internship training programme was kicked off by Paula Pender who lead an introduction session to the Organic Standards & Principles module, looking at what ‘organic’ really means and how those principles shape everything from soil health to certification. There was great energy and discussion from the group right from the start!

Next up was a Propagation Workshop with Jim Cronin. From module trays and direct seeding to compost care, sterilisation, and crop planning—Jim covered it all with his trademark depth and clarity. As Jim says, “the propagation tunnel is the engine room of the market garden”, and this hands-on day was a great introduction to this vital skill for our interns.

Then it was off to Doon Social Farm for a day of Health & Safety and Manual Handling training. Huge thanks to John Carey for turning a serious subject into an engaging and practical session. It was brilliant to be able to do this training session on a working farm, where we could put the theory into practice. All interns are now certified for 3 years, and ready to go with certs in hand.

With more workshops coming up and busy months ahead of them on their host farms, here’s to a season of learning, growing, and getting stuck in!

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