Online Course: Vegetable Production I

From Planning to Planting

This course helps new and aspiring vegetable producers answer basic questions about site, soil and planning up through planting. Topics covered include soil health, crop layout and rotation, equipment, and financial aspects of vegetable production. Don’t miss BF 121: Vegetable Production II, the continuation of this course, which takes you through the growing season from planting to harvest.

Target Audience

Beginning to Intermediate: This course is for aspiring farmers planning farm start-up within the next year, or those with 1-3 growing seasons of vegetable farming expe rience. Climate, soils, production systems, and appropriate varieties vary a lot from region to region, and this course mostly presents information relevant to farmers in the Northeastern United States. Farmers outside the region are welcome to register, but should do so knowing that some of the information presented may not be appropriate for their region.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you will:

• Know the characteristics of a viable site for commercial vegetable crop production
• Be able to articulate why soil quality, crop planning and proper pre-plant preparation are critical to success
• Know where to go to find reliable, fact based resource material on topics related to vegetable farming

Webinars

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and non-graded review quizzes in Teachable, our virtual classroom. To add to the experience, live webinars will be woven into the online interface of the course to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from outside presenters and ask questions to address your farm issues in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

Webinar Schedule

Live instruction for the 2021-2022 season will begin on Wed. Nov 3, 2021 from 7-8:30pm Eastern time, and continue for 6 weeks, with the final webinar on Wed. Dec 8. While we encourage live attendance so you have the opportunity to engage with the presenters and ask questions, all webinars we will be posted in our online classroom for students to watch anytime. Once you have enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely, and can return to participate in the live webinars as many times as you wish.