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Curriculum
Program Structure and Components
The OFTP is divided into 4 sessions:
Winter (March 1 to April 15): Meets four days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Friday 8:30-3:30,Thursday 8:30-5:00)
Spring (April 15 to May 31): Meets five days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30-3:30,Thursday 8:00-5:00)
Summer: (June 1 to Sept 30) Meets five days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 8:00-3:30, Thursday 7:00am-7:00pm)
Fall (October 1 to Nov 20): Meets four days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Friday 8:00-3:30, Thursday 8:30-5:00)
Components Include:
- Farmwalks
- Lectures: Organic Farming Principles and Practices
- Workshops: Passive Solar Greenhouses, Organic Transplant Production, Vegetable Production, Tree Fruit Pruning, Organic Tree Fruit Production, Berry Pruning, Organic Berry Production, Compost Production, Culinary and Medicinal Herbs, Cut Flowers, Bee Keeping, Mushroom Production, Organic Poultry, Pastured Hog Production
- Rotations: Propagation, CSA, Farmstand, Summer CSA, Cut Flowers, Chickens, Perennial Crops
- Field and Hoophouse Management
- Crop Plan Creation
- Study A Farm Field Trips
- Personal Learning Plan
- Personal Farm Plan
- Portfolio
- Readings
- Written Assignments
- Skills Trainings:
- Harvest and Post Harvest Handling Spring Crops: Head Vegetables, Salad Mix, Bunching Greens, Bunching Roots
- Mix Making for Transplants
- Transplant Seeding
- Transplant Watering
- Chicken Care and Egg Collection
- Bed Prepping in the Hoophouses
- Hoophouse Transplanting
- Field Transplanting
- Hoophouse Watering
- Hoophouse Operation
- Hand Cultivation
- Direct Seeding – Pinpoint Seeder
- Direct Seeding – Earthway Seeder
- Walk-Behind Rototiller Operation
- Tractor – Basic Skills
- Mulching – solanums and potatoes
- Tomato basket-weaving
- Harvest and Post Harvest Handling Summer Crops: Green Beans, Tomatoes, Zucchini/Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Peppers, Eggplant, Watermelon, Muskmelon/Cantaloupe, Sweet Corn, Onions, Garlic, Broccoli/Cauliflower, Cut Flowers
- Drip Irrigation Construction
- Drip Irrigation Operation
- Electric Fence Setup
- Tractor Implements
- Brushhog/Mower
- Rototiller
- Disk
- Drag
- Fork and Bulk Bins
- Garlic planting and mulching
- Harvest and Post Harvest Handling of Storage Crops: Carrots, Beets, Parsnips, Celeriac, Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Winter Squash
- Soil testing
- Cover crop seeding
- Irrigation/drip cleanup
- Field cleanup
Lectures, workshops, readings, and skills trainings are focused on more heavily in winter, spring, and fall. Rotations, field and hoophouse management, Personal Learning Plans, portfolios, and Personal Farm Plans are points of focus throughout the duration of the program.
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