Courses
We intend running a series of courses over the next year or two, all focused on ‘homesteading’ with ideas evolving around backyard chicken care, keeping house goats, cheese making, soap making, fermentation/preserving and more. Our dream is to run these in conjunction with homesteading legends from our region as a way of ‘sharing the local love’ of producing, sustaining and community.
The Venue
The building we now refer to as the schoolhouse was established as the “Cobbobra Public School” in 1884 by the (then) Department of Public Instruction at the cost of between 800-1000 pounds. Cobbobra was written up in The Bega Gazette (4 April, 1885) as “one of the many small hamlets, centres of rural population … making slow sure progress in our midst, and forming the nucleus of future important townships.” The occasion of this article was to report on a picnic that was held on the 26th March (1885) to celebrate the school’s opening. The picnic was deemed a great success with over 200 people turning up!
The Venue
The building we now refer to as the schoolhouse was established as the “Cobbobra Public School” in 1884 by the (then) Department of Public Instruction at the cost of between 800-1000 pounds. Cobbobra was written up in The Bega Gazette (4 April, 1885) as “one of the many small hamlets, centres of rural population … making slow sure progress in our midst, and forming the nucleus of future important townships.” The occasion of this article was to report on a picnic that was held on the 26th March (1885) to celebrate the school’s opening. The picnic was deemed a great success with over 200 people turning up!
Backyard Chicken Keeping
(27 & 28 May 2023)
Keeping happy, healthy & productive chooks.
We are excited to bring you our first weekend workshop!
Over two days you will learn the basics of keeping happy, healthy and productive chooks plus more advanced aspects of chicken keeping, including adding to your flock, advanced nutrition, enhancing habitat and rooster management.
Day 1 will be introductory and Day 2 advance. You can choose to come for either or both days, depending on where you are at with your chicken journey!
Day 1 (Saturday 27 May): On the first day we will cover the basics of keeping happy, healthy and productive chickens. We will cover the essentials of keeping chickens, such as establishing great housing & monitoring their environment, choosing chickens that are right for you, keeping them healthy including ensuring they are getting the right nutrition and meeting their everyday needs. Essentially we will cover all you need to know to start and maintain a healthy contented flock!
This day is designed for those thinking of starting a flock or those relatively new to chicken keeping. Or, for those who are simply crazy about chickens and want to hang out with like-minded souls ☺
Day 2 (Sunday 28 May): The second day will see us go a little deeper. We cover adding to your flock, which includes introducing new chooks, breeding (fertilised eggs, chicks, hatching), plus working with a broody hen or an incubator. We will cover ‘going the extra mile’ in terms of nutrition (fermenting grains, enhancing protein uptake) and their environment (building ‘toys’, growing medicinal plants, creating a browsing garden) and performing an overall health and maintenance check. In the afternoon we will look at managing roosters (keeping roosters, behavioural considerations) and dispatching them (hands-on demonstration). For those who do not wish to attend this session there will be an additional ‘chook-centric’ session on offer.
This day is hands-on and interactive, designed to meet the needs of those who already have a flock and are wanting to advance their skills. It is best suited to those who already have an established flock or who have attended one of our introductory days.
Saturday 27 May & Sunday 28 May 9am to 3pm at Schoolhouse Farm Verona, Bega Valley, NSW.
Scrumptious morning tea and lunch included on both days.
Booking Options
Both days : $300pp (Children 5-16 $225)
Day 1 alone: $150pp (Children 5-16 $100) Day 2 alone: $175pp (Children 5-16 $125)
Day 2 alone discount for those who have previously attended one of our introductory courses: $150pp
Limited numbers – workshops fill very quickly so please book soon!
Upcoming Courses
Keeping House Goats
It’s early days in the planning cycle for this course. This introductory course will cover the essentials of keeping a goat or two for a small holding. We will cover breeds, housing, nutrition, basic care, milking and kidding. Basically everything I wish I’d known before I started!
Cold process soap making
In this beginners course we will teach you the homesteading basics of making natural soaps using the cold process method. We will cover everything you need to know to get started – the method, ingredients, safety and how to include additives such as essential oils, botanicals & colourings. And, yes, if you’ve always wanted to learn how to soap with goat’s milk (and why wouldn’t you) then we will teach you how to do this too.
The one room school, with associated headmaster’s (sic) residence, remained operational until 1952, after which time a school was established in the nearby village of Quaama.
The original schoolroom is where our courses are run; it still holds all its original charm.
Thanks also for providing the yummy food, hot coffee and tea. An amazing effort by an amazing team. We met some beautiful local people as well.
Looking forward to future workshops!
Not only was the workshop informative, for me, there is no better way to spend time than being with chickens or with people who love to talk about chickens.