Crops I (Outdoor Plant Production)

Grow better Vegetables, Herbs, Fruit or Cut Flowers Out Doors

Ten lessons in this course will cover: site, crop selection, soil management, cut flowers, vegetables, berries, nuts, herbs, tree fruits, other crops, managing a market garden and more.

Who Should Do this Course:

• Farmers, Growers, Anyone starting or buying a small farm, or large
• Anyone wanting to take a first step toward working in horticultural crop production
• Gardeners, horticulturists, farmers seeking to broaden their skills and knowledge
• Garden and Self Sufficiency Enthusiasyts who want to grow more of their own home produce

This is a module developed for the UK accredited, RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture

Online Course -or alternatively, study by Distance education using paper based notes or a CD

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Crop Production Systems
   • Explain different cropping systems and their appropriate application for the production of different types of crops
2. Organic Crop Production
   • Evaluate and explain organic plant production, and the requirements in at least two different countries, to achieve organic certification.
3. Soils and Nutrition
   • Understand the function of soils and plant nutrition in outdoor cropping systems.
4. Nursery Stock Production
   • Describe the commercial production of a range of nursery stock.
5. Tree Fruit Production
   • Describe the commercial production of a range of tree fruit crops.
6. Soft Fruits Production
   • Develop an understanding of the techniques used to produce a range of soft fruits.
7. Vegetable Production
   • Develop an understanding of the techniques used to grow a range of vegetables.
8. Cut Flower Production
   • Develop an understanding of the commercial production of outdoor cut flowers.
9. Herbs, Nuts and Miscellaneous Crops
   • Develop an understanding of the commercial production of herbs, nuts and other miscellaneous crops.
10. Crop Production Risk Assessment
    • Understand the risks that may occur in outdoor crop production.

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.

Aims

• Explain different cropping systems and their appropriate application for the production of different types of crops.
• Evaluate and explain organic plant production, and the requirements in at least two different countries, to achieve organic certification.
• Explain the function of soils and plant nutrition in outdoor cropping systems.
• Describe the commercial production of a range of nursery stock.
• Describe the commercial production of a range of tree fruit crops.
• Explain techniques used to produce a range of soft fruits.
• Explain techniques used to grow a range of vegetables.
• Explain the commercial production of outdoor-grown cut flowers.
• Describe the commercial production of herbs, nuts and other miscellaneous crops.
• Identify the risks that may occur in outdoor crop production.

        

There are a broad range of different outdoor crop production systems. The main systems used for commercial cropping are:

Row cropping – the most commonly used production system; used to grow vegetables and herbs, cut flowers, fruit and nut trees, field-grown nursery stock. Advantages of row cropping include ease of access for machinery and people during planting, crop maintenance and harvesting. This system enables good water management (i.e. it is suitable for trickle irrigation systems) and weed control (using mulches between plants and mowing between rows).  

Broad acre – most commonly used for large-scale vegetable and grain production. Also used for cut flowers, turf growing, and large-scale orchards (e.g. fruit grown for canning and juicing). 

Hydroponics – a specialised and intensive system most commonly used to grow leafy vegetables, tomatoes and strawberries. Can be used to grow many other crops including cut flowers and root vegetables.

Containerised systems – used for growing nursery stock outdoors.

Trellising systems – used for supporting and training deciduous and vine fruits.

Hedging – used for tree and berry fruits, and nuts. Also used for growing nursery stock plants (to provide cutting propagation material).

Monoculture vs. Mixed Culture
Monoculture farming involves growing one type of crop or raising one type of animal. This system has been widely practised in recent years, and is favoured by many growers because it potentially gives good economic returns. By only growing one crop farmers are able to specialise and refine their growing techniques, and to concentrate their efforts in developing markets and investing in specialised equipment.

Mixed culture farming involves growing a variety of crops or animals. Until the Industrial Revolution and the advent of chemical fertilisers, all farmers made their living through mixed culture farming, and nowadays many growers are turning back to this system. This system has several important benefits:

• In most cases it is more environmentally sustainable than monoculture farming. Growing a wide range of different plants for different purposes can significantly enhance the land’s productivity over a period of time. This means that as well as growing several different cash efficient crops at any given time, the farmer grows other plants such as windbreaks and companion plants to improve the farm’s sustainability.
• The farmer is buffered against economic loss caused by market over/under supply or by the loss of one crop from pest/disease attack or unfavourable growing conditions
• Crops can be spread over the whole year, allowing better use of resources (such as farm equipment) and better management of labour and finance.

Why Choose This Course

• Course notes and materials are unique (written by our staff) and up to date (most revised annually) –our graduates are more up to date with what they learn than many other institutions.
• We don’t just present you with information; we also work to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field.
• Start any time, study at your own pace, study from anywhere
• Don’t waste time and money traveling to and from classes
• More choices in your assignment work –courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you.
• Tutors more accessible than many colleges – academics are hard at work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day, and answering individual queries from students are top priority and always attended to within a day –often within an hour.
• Be treated like an individual –don’t get lost in a crowd of other students. Our tutors interact with you one to one.
• Extra help at no extra cost where needed.. If you find a task you can’t do, we will help you through it or give you another option.
• Support after graduation –We will advise on getting work, starting a business, putting a CV together. We will promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Any graduate who asks will be helped.
• Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.

About ACS

ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia).  Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.

Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world. 

In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses. 

A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia

How You Study

• When you enroll, we send you an email that explains it all.
• You are given a short orientation video to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
• You are either given access to your course online, or sent a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
• You work through lessons one by one. Each lesson has at least four parts:
• An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
• Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
• Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
• Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
• Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
• You are given access to and encouraged to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
• You are provided with a "student manual" which you can refer to if and when needed. It provides a quick solution to most problems that might occur (some people never need to use this; but if you are studying late at night & have a problem, the manual provides a first port of call that can often get you moving again).

Recognition

• ACS is known and highly respected internationally: by employers and academics alike:
• Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
• ACS has been training people around the world since 1979
• Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
• Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
• A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.

Extra Books or Reference Materials

• The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
• Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.
• Some students choose to buy additional references, to take their learning beyond what is essential for the course. If a student wants to buy books, we operate an online bookshop offering ebooks written by staff at the school. Student discounts are available if you are studying with us. The range of e books available is being expanded rapidly, with at least one new ebook being written and published by our staff every month. See www.acsebook.com