White Rocks Farm College

We have built a 100' x 44' metal barn, which gives us an indoor machinery and woodworking area. We have a quiet Cabin and relaxing garden. We have developed a market garden. The orchard and gardens allow us to carry out horticultural units in a varied and interesting range of soils and landscape. We have a small Pig unit and indoor Goat kidding pens. We also have a small Poultry section.

 We coppice our own woodland which has provided us with a  supply of logs and  wood for our green woodworking facility. We make our own fence posts from chestnut which is a great wood for putting in the ground as its sap has preservative qualities. After coppicing the number of plant species increases dramatically. The photo shows the new growth one year after coppicing.

This is a form of wood craft that involves working with freshly cut timber that is left in its natural form and not cut and planed to a fixed flat shape. We have found that many of our students really enjoy working with this natural, tactile material. 

The photo shows a section of chestnut paling fencing produced by our students.

The woodland at Rooks Hill Farm is on a steep bank, which means that mechanical means of timber retrieval are not easy.  Instead, we use horses to move the timber from the site.  This also has the advantage of being a more environmentally friendly method as horses do not compact the soil the way heavy machinery does.