Organic Edible and Floral Production

This unit covers the establishment, care, and harvest of organic vegetables, culinary herbs, berry crops, tree fruits/nuts, and cut flowers. Students build on foundational soil health and organic principles to plan, implement, and manage mixed-use garden plantings and prepare produce and blooms for quality harvest and use.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze soil test results, microclimate data, and site constraints to select appropriate vegetable, herb, berry, fruit, nut, and flower species and develop planting schedules that optimize seasonality and yield
• Apply organic cultural practices — including seed starting, transplanting, mulching, composting, irrigation scheduling, and integrated pest management — to establish and maintain healthy vegetable and herb production beds and document inputs and outcomes
• Demonstrate propagation, pruning, training, and harvest techniques for berries, tree fruits, and nuts, and implement postharvest handling procedures to assess and preserve product quality
• Evaluate and design integrated edible and ornamental planting plans (including companion and succession planting) and produce a scaled garden plan with a maintenance and harvest timetable for a small organic plot