Welcome to Empire Farm
The Empire Farm is a 100-acre Soil Association certified organic farm on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, just south of Wincanton in Somerset. We keep poultry, pigs and a few sheep, and grow fruit and veg. The farm is the venue of our Farm School where we run a wide range of butchery and smallholder courses. Here you can learn how to set up a smallholding, keep pigs and poultry, butcher a pig or lamb, pluck a pheasant or skin a deer, discover the delights of charcuterie or join us for our whole hog weekend.
Courses at Empire Farm
COVID19 UPDATE: We are now open and running courses. Our courses are limited in size to a maximum of 5 attendees. We are following all the guidelines and are confident that we can operate safely and still offer our usual high standards of teaching .
The butchery courses are run by David Coldman and he is the main contact for all matters to do with butchery and charcuterie. Sally organises the smallholding courses. Contact details are given at the bottom of the page. Bookings are made via Eventbrite.
Hands-on butchery
The hands-on butchery day at the Empire Farm is a very popular course and early booking is strongly advised. On this full day course you learn butchering skills so you can deal with your own meat, and take home all the meat you have butchered... [read more]
Whole hog weekend
Two days looking at pork butchery and charcuterie. The starting point for this course is two halves of pig and over the duration of the course your tutor will show you how this meat can be butchered and turned into a wonderful selection of pork products such as bacon, pancetta, ham, coppa, sausage, chorizo, pate and pies, lard and rillettes... [read more]
Introduction to smallholding
Our smallholder course looks at all aspects of running a holding, from the paperwork to the management of the fields and having healthy soil. The knowledge we impart is based on 25 years of experience as smallholders, keeping pigs, sheep and poultry, and a life time of growing vegetables and fruit!... [read more]
Cider making
This is a three-hour workshop with Alan Berry of Blackmore Vale Cider, introducing you to the basics of making cider. He demonstrates the whole process including the preparation of the fruit, followed by milling and pressing. Everybody has a chance to join in and help. ... [read more]
Living on one acre or less
This is the perfect course for somebody who only has a small plot of land. You will be surprised how productive you can be - pigs, poultry, fruit and veg, perennial edibles, honey, even fish in this small space.... [read more]
Bespoke days & consultancy
Can’t find the right course or none of the dates suit? Our bespoke days may be the answer. We can arrange bespoke days on most topics on a date that suits you. Prices depend on the number of people attending and the topic covered. For more details contact the office (01963 371681 / info@empirefarm.co.uk)
Television, radio and news
Sally’s latest book, The Climate Change Garden, has just published. You can read about it and buy a copy here. You can join Sally on Tuesday 9 July for a talk and book signing at Castle Gardens in Sherborne. Tickets are just £3 and include refreshments, You can buy the tickets on Eventbrite.
Sally writes regularly for Country Smallholding. Her latest articles in 2018/9 have covered willow, biocontrol and the Oxford Real Farming Conference. Sally has been interviewed by BBC Radio Somerset and Bristol in 2016 and again in 2017. She was a speaker at the Royal Welsh Spring Festival in the Smallholder Centre, Smallholders’ Speakers Corner in 2018 and also at River Cottage Summer Festival.
We were delighted to read that the Guardian named Empire Farm School in the top 5 butchery schools in the country. Our wild meats day was featured in Shooting Times in January 2015 and our butchery courses appeared in the Sunday Times in January 2016. In August 2016 our butchery courses featured in Waitrose Weekend. Further reviews have appeared in Country Smallholding in 2017. Check out our media mentions here.
Countryside Diaries
The film crew from Countryside Diaries spent a day at Empire Farm filming Paul Martin, Sally and two new smallholders. The programme was broadcast on 1st June 2018. {No longer available on iplayer}
Hen houses
Our livestock housing is made from recycled plastic. Makes fighting red mite so much easier!
Living on one acre or less
Sally’s popular book, Living on one acre or less, was published by Green Books in 2016.
The Climate Change Garden
Sally’s latest book, The Climate Change Garden, was published by Green Rocket Books in 2019.
Both these books can be bought at discounted rates on the courses or via Sally’s other website www.climatechangegarden.uk
