Horticulture and gardening. Open to everyone.

It’s easy to have an edible organic garden. Take some time out to taste the superior flavour and goodness of organically-grown produce.

Whether you have the tiniest balcony or a quarter acre block, learn how to grow your own organic herbs, vegetables and fruit trees; perfect the art of composting and worm farming and explore other methods of recycling. Find out about crop rotation and companion planting. Learn how to reduce the incidence of weeds and eliminate the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• identify and remediate different soil types and select suitable potting mixes
• recognise the various methods of recycling, including composting, worm farm, bokashi bucket and compost cannon
• cultivate herbs and vegetables successfully
• implement the principles of crop rotation and companion planting
• apply organic methods to control pests and diseases
• investigate the benefits of growing organic foods for human health and the environment.

Content

• Soil types and potting mix
• Composting, worm farming, compost cannon etc.
• Herbs – culinary and medicinal
• Vegetables – top 10
• Fruit trees suitable for the Sydney climate
• Crop rotation
• Companion planting
• Disease and pest control
• Organic fertilisers/pesticides
• Origins of organics
• Chemicals

Intended audience

Suitable for anyone interested in adopting organic principles to grow their own food, to achieve a healthy lifestyle and environment.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught workshop
• Online workshop via the platform Zoom

Delivered in an interactive classroom setting where organic principles are demonstrated and discussed, and examples of herb and vegetable varieties suitable for suburban gardens are presented.

Materials

Course notes are distributed electronically