A variety of breads and rolls,
biscuits and cakes are produced for the needs of The Mount
Community. Intensive sessions when production deadlines have
to be met alternate with quieter sessions in which specific
baking skills and OCN credits are gained and practised.
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Students literally begin
from the ground upwards: digging, choosing and preparing clay.
Once this is learnt, many methods and variants in ceramics
can be explored and mastered: coiled, slab and moulded pots,
tiles and mosaic, experimentation with slips, decoration and
glazing techniques, leading to work on the potter’s
wheel and the firing process, when hard work is rewarded with
a beautiful piece of pottery. |
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All aspects of the art and
craft of hand weaving are offered. Students experience the
whole spectrum of textile production from planting, harvesting
and processing the plants needed for natural dyeing, preparing
raw fleeces, carding and spinning yarn to designing and creating
pieces of fabric woven in a variety of materials and increasingly
intricate patterns.
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Over two years – and
with the option of further Post-Diploma years – students
can progress from basic green wood working techniques, initially
sawing and hammering, learning through stages how to construct
and finish articles of furniture from simpler stools through
to more complex pieces of furniture.
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Working in the extensive
walled garden, greenhouses and poly-tunnels, a wide range
of vegetables and flowers are cultivated for community use.
From improving soil quality to propagating seedlings, planting
out, weeding, learning about garden orientation, climate conditions
and pest control to harvesting and storing vegetables and
seeds, students gain a deep and lasting connection to –
and respect for – the care of the earth in relation
to the cosmos.
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The Rural Skills course encompasses
basic countryside stewardship and estate maintenance skills
such as fencing, ditching, building and maintaining footpaths,
planting, coppicing and pruning shrubs and trees, preparing
firewood and making bird and bat boxes. |
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