Course Title: Herb Culture BHT114
Herb Culture BHT114
Develop a solid grounding in herb growing and the herb industry. Half of the course deals with general herb culture, including identification, soils, mulching, feeding, watering, propagation, pest & disease control, harvest, storage, processing, companion planting, nursery management and herb farming. The remainder of the course involves detailed studies of major groups of herbs such as: mints, thymes, lavenders, scented geraniums, garlic, roses, artemisias and parsley.
Course Structure for Herb Culture BHT114
- Introduction To Herb Culture
- Unit I : Introduction to herbs, definitions, uses. Classification of herbs; use of a botanical key
- Unit II : Cultural Techniques…planting, soils, drainage, feeding, mulching, composting, pruning
- Unit III : Propagation Techniques…propagation mixes, growing structures, cuttings, seed, separation & division, layering
- Unit IV : Identification of plant health problems…pest & disease, frost, heat, water stress, etc
- Using Herbs
- Unit I : Processing & Use of Herbs Medicinal, culinary, perfumes, dyes, oils, distillation processes, etc
- Unit II : Harvesting & Storage Air drying, oven drying, microwave drying, freezing, fresh storage, when & how to harvest
- The Mints (Lamiaceae)
- Unit I : Mentha species: Peppermint, spearmint, applemint, wintermint, pennyroyal, corsican, ginger mint etc
- Unit II : Lavender (Lavendula varieties) & thyme (Thymus)
- Unit III : Assorted Lamiaceae varieties: Lemon Balm, Hyssop, Rosemary, Bee Balm (Monarda), Basil, Savory, Marjoram, Sage
- The Daisies (Asteraceae)
- Lesson I : Artemisia species…Southernwood, Wormwood, Tarragon, Mugwort.
- Lesson II : Miscellaneous Asteraceae: Chamomile, Tansy, Safflower, Costmary, Yarrow, Calendula, Dandelion etc
- The Parsley Family (Apiaceae)
- Parsley, Coriander, Dill, Caraway, Angelica, Cumin, Fennel, Lovage, Sweet Cicely etc
- The Onion Group
- Unit I: Chives, Leek, Garlic chives, Tree onion, Welsh onion, etc
- Unit II : Garlic
- Other Herbs
- Unit I : Rosaceae (Rose, Burnet, Strawberry, blackberry, etc)
- Unit II : Miscellaneous: Lemon grass, Lemon verbena, Bay, Sorrel, Dock, Juniper, Horseradish, Evening Primrose, etc.
- Unit III : Scented Geraniums; Australian Natives, Eucalyptus and Others
- Pests & Diseases
- Unit I : Companion Planting
- Unit II : Natural Pest Control: Herb sprays, biological control, etc
- Landscaping
- Unit I : Landscape Design Principles and Practices: How to draw a landscape plan
- Unit II : Home Gardening With Herbs; Cottage gardens, hedges & borders, tubs, baskets, kitchen gardens, herb lawns, herb indoor plants
- Unit III : Public Landscaping: Historic herb grdens (Knot gardens etc), herbs for low maintenance & colour in parks etc
- Herb Farming 1
- Establishing & Operating a Herb Nursery: Open ground vs container growing, nursery layout, potting soils, pots and labels, marketing, etc
- Herb Farming 2
- Establishing & Operating a Herb Farm: Soil Preparation and management (plastic mulch, organic mulches, cultivation), row cropping
- Herb Farming 3
- Evaluating Herb enterprises, assessing market demand. Deciding how to proceed
Aims of Herb Culture BHT114
- Differentiate between different varieties of herbs in cultivation
- Explain the general cultural practices used for the growing of herbs
- Determine harvest and post harvest techniques for herb crops, including processing, storage and use of herbs
- Develop a production plan for a herb crop grown for harvesting
- Develop a production plan for a herb nursery
- Design a herb garden for a home or public garden
- Evaluate the production of herbs or herb products in a commercial business
What you will be doing during Herb Culture BHT114
- Distinguish, using illustrations and minimum but adequate comments; between major plant families which herbs belong to
- Compile a resource file of fifty different sources of information regarding cultivated herbs
- Prepare an herbarium collection of one hundred different herb varieties
- Develop guidelines for the general culture of herbs in your locality
- Explain six different propagation methods suitable for herbs, using illustrations
- Demonstrate how to prepare cuttings for three different herb varieties
- Propagate three different varieties of commercially farmed herbs, using appropriate, but different propagation techniques for each
- Explain natural pest and disease control methods for a specified herb species
- Explain the concept of companion planting, including three examples of proven companion planting interrelationships
- Write a maintenance schedule for either a herb garden, nursery or farm
- Describe two different harvesting techniques for herbs, by outlining the steps to follow for each
- Determine criteria which are critical to success in the process of drying herbs
- Compare two different drying processes for herbs, with reference to:
- Equipment used
- Procedure
- Cost
- Produce two marketable herb products by harvesting, and processing material from a herb plant
- Prepare five different herbal products for home use
- Estimate the costs associated with processing four different herbs to a marketable stage, itemising the components of costs for each
- Determine ten different species of herbs which have potential to be grown commercially as broad acre crops in your locality
- Describe the process of producing a specified commercial herb crop being grown organically
- Describe the process of producing a commercial herb crop being grown hydroponically
- Compare broad-acre production methods, used for three different herbs, including
- Propagation
- Planting
- Crop management
- Harvesting
- Post-harvest processing; by constructing a table or chart
- Design a simple trial, to test the commercial potential of different varieties of a specific herb species
- Conduct the simple trial you designed recording details of tasks undertaken
- Analyse the results of the trial conducted to test the performance of a herb plants
- Determine the variety with greatest commercial potential from those trialled
- Prepare flow-sheet broad acre crop production schedules for four herbs; one each from Allium, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae groups
- Determine minimum facilities required to produce saleable plants in a specified herb nursery
- Prepare a potting media suitable for growing a container herb plant of a specified species, as nursery stock
- Describe the procedures used in a commercial herb nursery, to produce plants for sale
- Differentiate between the procedures used for production of different products in a herb nursery, including:
- Punnets of seedling herbs
- Bare rooted plants
- Standard container plants
- Hanging baskets
- Topiary.
- Grow a herb plant to a commercially acceptable standard, as a tubestock container plant, through all stages of production, without supervision
- Prepare production schedules for two herbs from four different minor herb groups, for a specified nursery
- Explain the use of general landscape principles and practices in the designs of two different herb gardens
- Determine different applications for herbs in home gardens
- Determine applications for herbs in public landscaping, referring to both difficulties and advantages in different situations
- Design for a herb garden for a site of between 30 and 100 square metres surveyed by you, preparing a scale drawing showing the placement of at least 20 different varieties of herbs
- Explain the reasoning behind the herb garden designed
- Determine critical factors to establishing a new herb business, in your locality
- Analyse the business operations of a specified herb enterprise
- Assess market demand for a herbal product, through a phone survey and information search
- Compare the commercial potential of three different types of herb enterprises, in your locality
Price: £340
Qualification: Certificate
Estimated Course Duration: 100 hours
Available Learning Methods: Online, USB (+£5) and Correspondence (+£35)
Enrolment Dates: Our courses are self-paced and you can start at anytime
Enrol today and prepare yourself for a successful career in the Herb Industry
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As soon as payment has been confirmed you will be able to access your course materials online within 24 hours. Any further correspondence will arrive at your address between 3-4 days.
For any Questions or to Enrol please call 01227 789 649
Tags: course, culture, herb, horticulture