Grow Your Own Food

Unlock the secrets to growing your own food with our comprehensive course designed for gardeners of all levels, including first time gardeners. Whether you have a sprawling backyard home garden, an urban small space, a windowsill herb garden, or a plot in a community garden, this self-paced, online course will guide you through the essentials of productive and sustainable gardening.

Key Highlights:

Personalized Garden Planning: Tailor your garden to your specific needs, considering your available space (whether it’s a 5 or 500 square foot space), family size, and self-sufficiency goals. Whether you want to grow veggies like cucumbers or green beans, berries like raspberries or blackberries, or herbs like rhubarb or rosemary, arugula or oregano, this course will help learners understand the fundamentals of garden planning and garden design.

• Hands-On Skills: From plant selection to sowing to harvesting, gain the essential skills and gardening techniques needed to nurture a thriving garden.
• Soil and Fertilization: Understand how to assess and improve soil quality, and learn the best fertilization practices to ensure healthy plant growth.
• Efficient Irrigation: Discover the benefits of drip irrigation and how to implement it in your garden to save water and enhance productivity.
• Extended Growing Season: Learn techniques to extend your growing season (including mulch), allowing for a longer harvest period and increased yield.
• Pest Management: Equip yourself with strategies for pest control and maintain a healthy garden ecosystem beneficial for pollinators.
• Global Relevance: While the course examples are tailored to short growing seasons and cool climates, the skills and techniques are applicable worldwide.

Our structured four-week syllabus ensures a step-by-step approach:

• Dream It!: Get inspired and design your ideal garden including a vegetable garden with leafy greens, perennials like raspberries or blackberries, and fruit trees.
• Plant It!: Prepare your soil and plant with confidence.
• Grow It!: Optimize growth and manage your garden efficiently.
• Eat It!: Harvest and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Join us to gain the knowledge and confidence to grow your own food, reduce your carbon footprint, cut down on grocery store bills, and enjoy fresh, homegrown produce all year round. This online gardening class is perfect for anyone — with course content designed for experienced gardeners and first time and seasoned growers alike — looking to enhance their gardening skills and embrace a more sustainable lifestyle. Our gardening course is designed to allow you to learn at your own pace, and verified track learners have lifetime access to course materials. Learn all of these topics and more:

Week 1: Dream It!

• Why grow your own food?
• What can you grow where you live?
• Designing your garden space

Week 2: Plant It!

• Preparing the solid
• Is your soil good for growing?
• Compost and fertilizer
• Vegetative propagation
• When should you plant?

Week 3: Grow It!

• Growing basics
• Ways to help you grow more efficiently
• Drip irrigation
• Season extension techniques
• Managing pests

Week 4: Eat It!

• When should you harvest?
• The Kitchen Garden: From your garden to your table
• Preserving the harvest: Making jams, using a root cellar, fermenting and more.