Certificate of Commercial Organic Vegetable Growing

Unit 1 – Introduction

• Organic growing
• Definitions of organic growing
• Influential people of the organic movement
• Different ways to garden organically
• Permaculture
• Structure of a permaculture system
• The development of permaculture
• Biodynamics
• Organic certification
• Certification structure
• Example: certification in Australia
• The transition to organic production
• Example: Certification in the UK
• The management plan
• Be aware of your industry
• Resources and reference books
• Internet searches
• Organisations
• Magazines and journals
• Commercial organisations
• The scientific naming system (plant names)
• Plant review sheet
• Plant herbarium

Unit 2 – Cultivation and Planting

• Cultivation methods
• Feed the soil not the plants
• Choose the right plant for the right place
• Keep plants growing vigorously
• Overfeeding
• Plant when conditions are favourable
• Mulching
• Pest and disease control
• Crop rotation
• Plant families (vegetables)
• Value of crop rotation
• Green manures in an organic system
• No dig techniques
• No dig raised beds – one method
• Building ‘no dig bed’ retainers
• No-till planting in grass
• Planting
• Sowing vegetable seeds outdoors
• ‎Sowing seed indoors
• Transplanting seedlings
• Crowns offsets and tubers
• Sowing a transplanting guide
• Crop scheduling
• Simple flow chart for growing lettuce
• Tillage
• Ripping, harrowing, disc ploughing and small scale methods
• Tractors and tractor safety
• What to look for when buying a tractor
• Maintenance on tractors

Unit 3 – Understanding Soils

• Physical and chemical properties of soil
• Soil physical characteristic
• A soil profile and soil texture
• Identifying your soil type
• Soil chemical characteristics
• Soil pH
• Cation exchange capacity
• Adjusting pH
• pH and nutrient availability
• Buffering capacity
• Water and air
• Soil temperature
• Humus
• Organic matter
• The nutrient elements
• The macronutrients and micronutrients
• Organic fertilisers
• Types of organic fertiliser
• Animal manures
• Liquid feeds in an organic system
• Rock dusts
• ‎Diagnosis of plant nutritional problems
• How to use a key

Unit 4 – Soil Management

• The importance of the soil
• Cultivation techniques – and their effects on the soil
• Cover crops
• Using cover crops
• Green manures as cover crops
• The value of some green manures
• Nitrogen fixation in legumes
• The rhizobium bacteria
• Mycorrhizae
• Composting
• Compost bins
• What can be composted?
• What is the C/N ratio?
• Materials to avoid in a compost heap
• ‎the basic conditions needed in a compost heap
• Hot heaps versus cold heaps
• How to build a compost heap
• The finished product
• How to use compost

Unit 5 – Major Varieties

• Getting the best out of the organic vegetable plot
• Vegetable directory
• Bean, dwarf or bush (phaseolus vulgaris) fabaceae
• Broad bean (vicia faba) fabaceae
• Beetroot (beta vulgaris) chenopodiaceae
• Broccoli (brassica oleraceae– botrytis group) brassicaceae
• Brussels sprouts (brassica oleraceae– gemmifera group) brassicaceae
• ‎cabbage (brassica oleraceae– capitata group) brassicaceae
• Capsicum (capsicum annuum Annuum) solanaceae
• Carrot (daucus carota Sativa) apiaceae
• Cauliflower (brassica oleraceae– botrytis group) brassicaceae
• Corn (sweet corn) zea mays Rugosa poaceae
• Celery (apium graveolens Dulce) apiaceae
• Eggplant (solanum melongena) solanaceae
• ‎lettuce (lactuca sativa)asteraceae
• Onion (allium cepa) amaryllidaceae
• Pak-choi (brassica rapa– pekinensis group) brassicaceae
• Parsnip (pastinaca sativa) apiaceae
• Pea (pisum sativum) fabaceae
• Potato (solanum tuberosum) solanaceae
• Pumpkins, marrows and squash (and other cucurbita species)cucurbitaceae
• Radish (raphanus sativus) brassicaceae
• Silver beet (beta vulgaris Vulgaris) chenopodiaceae
• Spinach (spinacia oleraceae) chenopodiaceae
• Turnip (brassica rapa– rapifera group) brassicaceae
• ‎Sowing and transplanting guide

Unit 6 – Pests and Disease

• Integrated pest management
• Management techniques
• Allowable inputs
• Understanding pests and diseases and other plant problems
• Lifecycles
• Disease lifecycle
• Pest lifecycles
• Feeding habits
• Insects
• Types of diseases
  • Anthracnose
  • Blight and botrytis
  • Canker and damping off
  • Leaf spot and mildew
  • Rots and black leg
  • Blossom end rot
  • Collar rot and crown rot
  • Rust, smut and sooty mould
  • Wilt
• ‎Plant viruses
• Virus control
• Types of pests
  • Aphids (aphis spp.)
  • Beetles and weevils
  • Bugs
  • Green vegetable bug (nezara viridula)
  • Harlequin bug (murgantia histrionica)
  • Caterpillars
  • Cabbage white butterfly
  • Leafhoppers and leaf miner
  • Mealy bug and millipedes
  • Mites including red spider mite
  • Nematodes
  • Scale insects
  • Slugs and snails
  • Thrip and whitefly
• ‎Environmental problems
• Air pollution
• Foliage burn
• Drainage problems
• Temperature
• ‎companion planting charts
• Trap or decoy plants
• Nutrient accumulating plants
• Don’t plant the following combinations

Unit 7 – Seeds

• Seed propagation
• Organic seeds
• Reproduction
• Pollination
• Preventing cross-pollination
• Preventing cross-pollination
• Collecting seeds
• Cleaning seeds
• Storing seeds
• Types of seed storage
• Germinating seeds
• Flower structure

Unit 8 – Greenhouse Growing

• Greenhouses
• Designs for commercial greenhouses
• Greenhouse designs for commercial production
• Framing and covering materials
• What type of greenhouse is appropriate for you?
• Siting greenhouses
• Greenhouse benching and hygiene
• ‎Greenhouse problems
• Other structures for growing plants
• Cold frames and shade houses
• Plant needs
• Environmental factors affecting plant growth
• Environmental controls
• Methods of temperature control
• Heating systems and heat loss
• Controlling light in the greenhouse
• Lighting control mechanisms
• Thermal screens, blackout and shading
• Day length manipulation
• Growing media
• Organic nutrition for greenhouse plants
• Some allowable inputs
• Fertigation in organic systems
• Carbon dioxide enrichment
• Greenhouse irrigation methods
• Overhead spray lines
• Flood benches
• Capillary watering
• Irrigation practices
• Crops directory – tomatoes and cucurbits
• Tomato (lycopersicon esculentum) solanaceae
• Cucumber (cucumis sativus) cucurbitaceae
• Melons (cucumis melo; citrullus lanatus) cucurbitaceae
• ‎Pumpkins, marrows and squash (and other cucurbit species) cucurbitaceae
• ‎Zucchini (cucurbita pepo) cucurbitaceae

Unit 9 – Lesser Grown Varieties and Herbs

• Growing herbs
• ‎Culinary herbs directory
• Lesser grown vegetable varieties: crop directory
• Amaranth (Amaranthus) Amaranthaceae
• Artichoke (Globe) (Cynaria scolymus) Asteraceae
• Artichoke (Jerusalem) (Helianthus tuberosus) Asteraceae
• Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) Liliaceae
• Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Euphorbiaceae
• Chicory (Cichorium intybus) Asteraceae
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Asteraceae
• Endive (Cichorium endiva) Asteraceae
• Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Apiaceae
• Garlic (Allium sativum) Amaryllidaceae
• Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Zingiberaceae
• Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) Brassicaeae
• Leek (Allium ampeloprasum) Amaryllidaceae
• Mint (common) (Mentha cordifolia) Lamiaceae
• Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Malvaceae
• Pigface (Carpobrotus sp.) Aizoceae
• Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum)Polygonaceae
• Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) Convolvulaceae
• Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Araceae
• Warrigal Greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides) Tetragoniaceae
• Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) Brassicaceae
• Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) Convolvulaceae
• Yams (Dioscorea esculenta) Dioscoreaceae
• Approximate number of seeds per gram

Unit 10 – Irrigation

• Irrigation – introduction
• The objectives of irrigation
• The feasibility of irrigation
• Soil and water
• Why is water important to plants?
• Infiltration and water retention
• Classes of soil moisture
• ‎soils and transpiration
• Measuring water available to plants
• Calculating field capacity
• Calculating permanent wilting point (PWP)
• Available moisture range
• Tensiometers
• Test for estimating soil moisture level
• When to irrigate
• Scheduling irrigation
• Important elements
• Period of watering
• Cyclic watering
• Pulse watering
• Rooting depths of selected plants
• Water extraction by roots
• ‎Irrigation types
• Flood irrigation
• Sprinkler irrigation
• Trickle irrigation
• ‎Irrigation system efficiency
• Conventional sprinkler systems
• Portable systems
• Permanent systems
• Semi-permanent systems
• Travelling sprinklers
• Sprinkler heads
• Types of sprinkler heads
• Methods of driving rotating head sprinklers
• ‎sprinkler spacings
• Considering sprinkler performance
• Selection of surface irrigation methods

Unit 11 – Weed Control and Mulching

• Mulch
• Mulch materials
• Commonly used organic mulches
• General rules
• Living mulch
• ‎weed management
• Weeds can also be useful
• Preventative measures
• Weed control methods

Unit 12 – Harvesting and Marketing

• Harvesting
• Post-harvest quality considerations
• Harvesting hints
• Post-harvest treatment of vegetables
• Cooling methods
• Quantity standards
• Monitoring and reviewing
• Marketing
• Marketing is not just selling!
• Business capabilities
• Market research
• ‎target marketing
• Targeting strategies
• Defining your target market
• Determining market segmentation
• Projecting the future
• Positioning
• Steps involved in market research
• Sources of information
• Economic laws
• Change or die