Learn to effectively grow a wide range of herbs
An introductory course for the beginner; you will gain a good grasp of basic herb growing and be able to identify a range of herbs.
A broad based six lesson course for beginners to herb growing, covering the history of herb use, herb culture, and identification of the major herbs. This course involves about 80 hours of study with an emphasis on growing and using herbs as a recreation. The various herbs are studied in detail and a systematic way of identifying herbs is emphasized.
Course Aims:
- Define herb
- Identify herbs suitable for hanging baskets, indoor growing, and appropriate methods of propagation for at least 50 herb species
- Define and describe companion planting
- Give examples of appropriate companion planting
- Build an efficient compost heap
- Identify appropriate herbs for culinary uses
- Identify some medicinal uses for herbs
- Explain the culture of a range of different herbs
- Explain a variety of different uses for a range of most commonly cultivated herbs.
There are 6 lessons in this course:
- Introduction to Herbs
- Plant identification, plant names, general characteristics of herbs, the history of herbs, and herb resources (nurseries, seeds, clubs, etc).
- Herb Gardening
- Planting, propagation, soils, plant nutrition, and container growing.
- Companion Planting
- Introduction to companion planting, herb garden design.
- Growing Herbs to Harvest
- Herb products, setting up a herb farm, making compost.
- Herbs for Cooking
- Herb crafts, herb ingredients, cooking with herbs.
- Herbs for fragrance, health and beauty
- Dyes, mordants, oils, other herb crafts.
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.