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Understanding the different organisms living in and on the soil allows you to create a stronger soil structure that helps plants to be more resilient and resistant. In this section you will learn all about the soil food web - from microorganism all the way up to large predators - and how they all interact to create nutrient rich, healthy ecosystems. Gaining this knowledge also gives you an opportunity to work more in alignment with nature, leading to greater yields with less intrusion.

Crop rotation is a method used to build and maintain healthy soil. It also aids in reducing weed, insect, and disease pressures. While it can take some time to work with this method confidently, it is well worth the effort. one crop rotation plan can set you up for a minimum 3 years of planning. Creating Your Crop Rotation Assignment The remainder of this course focuses specifically on creating your crop rotation. We will compare short rotation(4 year) to long rotation(8 year). Weaving together nutrient takers, nutrient givers, and moderate requirement crops as they precede and follow each other. We will then begin to introduce ally planting options as well as plant enemies to aid in creating a more whole and symbiotic growing space. Thrown into the mix, some soil prep preferences specific to each crop family. As you move through the remaining slides think about how you can apply this information to these three questions: 1.How many years do you want to include in your rotation? 2.How many different plant families do you want to grow? 3.Do you have the required space to do everything you want? Remember! This is not the finished product yet and there will likely be many edits before planting season, so have fun with it!

Once you have decided what your going to grow and how your garden will be laid out, you can start to figure out your planting schedule. Knowing when to plant is another crucial step in creating a productive garden. For example, shelling peas and spinach are cool season crops and thus require planting at the very beginning of your garden season. Missing this window will lead to a disappointing crop because the timing provided was not optimal for the crops growth.

This worksheet is where you can put all your plans together for planting season. Use what you have already determined: Varieties Days to maturity Required yields Available grow space When to plant based on your LFD You will find a number of examples at the top of the worksheet to help give you an idea of what this looks like once it is completed.

In this mini course we are going to dive right into creating an edible garden that meets your needs and provides a space for you to find calm, nourishment, and satisfaction! Through this course, we will look at various aspects of vegetable garden planning so that you can gain the tools and knowledge to create your best garden for years to come. You can expect to learn about soil health, grow zone identification, garden styles, 4+ year crop rotation, plant families and why they are so important to understand, ally and companion planting to enhance your space, plus more. I hope you enjoy all the learning! Apply it to your own garden as you see fit and enjoy the abundance!

Planning your garden lay out is a great way not only to manage healthy soil, but it also helps you avoid incompatible pairings between different plants in the garden. To successfully plan out your garden, a great place to start is knowing your plant families. This knowledge serves as a building block to begin working on crop rotation and companion planting.

The practice of pairing plant families or species in the garden is a great way to improve pest and disease resistance. Some plants attract beneficial insects to aid in pollination or prey on pest insects. Other plants simply like to grow together. In contrast, some plants will not grow well together and are best planted with distance and sometimes time between them. This section gives you detailed information about these relationships and can be used to help you create both your garden plan and crop rotation.

Start off your program by giving some basic information about what participants can expect to learn. Introduce the topic and provide a basic outline of what's to come using videos, images, and text.

From beginner to advanced, this course teaches you the rules and techniques crucial to successful seed saving. Ranging from small backyard to large market garden, learn how to save seed and adapt varieties to your specific growing space.