Courses for certificate

OFP 14 Organic Farming Practices I Offered Tuesday/Thursday 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. this fall
This is the first course of a two-semester course sequence focusing primarily on raising crops and animals organically and is an introduction to the Organic Farming Technician certificate program. The course covers soils, organic fertilizers, organic pest control, companion planting, seed and plant propagation, harvesting, and permaculture. Prerequisite: BIO 11; pre- or co-requisite: SCI 15 or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
4 credits - Fall, Summer

OFP 15 Organic Farming Practices II
This course focuses on small farm management and the bio-agricultural principles of organic farm production enterprises coupled with hands-on application of principles and practices in the field. Topics include diversified farm design and development based on principles of permaculture, agricultural economics, farm management, greenhouse/high tunnel production, aquaculture, livestock, apiculture, tree crops/fruits, herbs, and nursery horticulture. Fieldwork (lab) is conducted on the BCC campus and off campus at Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, nurseries, research stations, and farmer markets. Prerequisite: OFP 14. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
4 credits - Spring

OFP 16 Water Acquisition and Conservation
This course is designed to give students an understanding of the science of water, including its chemistry, its movements in the environment, and its use in agriculture. The course introduces students to traditional and alternative ways of accessing water for agricultural use as well as methods to conserve this most precious resource. Two hours of lecture per week.
2 credits - Spring

OFP 17 Organic Farming and Practices Practicum I
Offered in the spring semester, this practicum focuses on start-up operations including soil preparation, crop planning, seed selection, seedling starts, water source preparations, composting, and machinery and tool use and maintenance. OFP 17, 18, and 19 must be taken sequentially within the same year starting with spring, continuing through summer, and ending in fall. Prerequisite: OFP 14; co-requisite: OFP 15 and OFP 16. Four laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
2 credits - Spring

OFP 18 Organic Farming and Practices Practicum II
Offered in the summer semester, this practicum focuses on key operations such as companion crops and inter-planting, crop rotation, organic fertilizing, organic herbicide and pesticide applications, water techniques, harvesting, market preparation, and farm-stand presentation. OFP 17, 18, and 19 must be taken sequentially within the same year starting with spring, continuing through summer, and ending in fall. Prerequisite: OFP 17. Eight laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support applies.
4 credits - Summer

OFP 19 Organic Farming and Practices Practicum III
Offered in the fall semester, this practicum focuses on wrap-up operations, including late harvesting, crop gleaning, crop wintering, soil maintenance and restoration, compost development, and maintenance, cleaning, and storage of machinery and tools. OFP 17, 18, and 19 must be taken sequentially within the same year starting with spring, continuing through summer, and ending in fall. Prerequisite: OFP 18. Four laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
2 credits - Fall

OFP 20 Solar Greenhouse Production
This course is designed to teach students how to construct and maintain a solar greenhouse and to manage the production of food crops using organic techniques that consume minimal fossil fuels. Attention is given to methods that are sustainable by reducing the use of non-renewable sources of energy. This course is designed for students in the Organic Farming program or for the general public. This course is not intended to fulfill any science requirement. Prerequisite: OFP 14; co-requisite: OFP 15 or permission of the instructor. One hour of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
1 credit - Spring

OFP 22 Beekeeping
This course provides an introduction to the basics of beekeeping and includes classroom lectures and field experience. The material is very practical and is intended for persons who plan to do beekeeping as an agricultural enterprise. Topics include bee biology, beekeeping equipment, establishing an apiary, bee hive management through the seasons, honey production and marketing, and honey bee pest and disease management. Field experience includes hands-on application of the principles of apiculture and observation of apiaries. One hour of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
1 credit - Spring

OFP 23 Pest and Disease Control
This course focuses on crop pests. Pest control and deterrents are examined as well as identification of pests both large and small. Students are shown how to use safe, organic pest controls and to formulate their own controls. This course cannot be used to satisfy a science requirement. Prerequisite: OFP 14; co-requisite: OFP 15 or permission of the instructor. One lecture and one laboratory hour per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
1 credit - Spring

ENG 11 Composition I: College Writing
This college-level composition course provides students an opportunity to develop their writing through various stages of composing, revising, and editing. In addition, students learn how to formulate and support a thesis using a number of rhetorical strategies, to conduct research, and to integrate a variety of sources according to the Modern Language Association guidelines. Students write in Standard English with consideration given to audience, purpose, and context. Three class hours a week.

Prerequisite: Satisfactory performance on the writing skills test or “C” or better in English 10. Passing score on the College's reading placement test or concurrent enrollment in/or prior completion of RDG 10. Fees: Instructional Support Fee applies.
3 credits - Fall, Spring, Summer

SOC 16 Food, Famine, and Farming in the Global Village
This course analyzes the social structural forces that shape the global food system with particular focus on societal problems emanating from the fossil fuel-based, industrial agricultural model that now dominates world-wide food production, distribution, and consumption. Areas covered included an historical overview of subsistence strategies, the Green Revolution, threats to food security and water access, first-world obesity and third-world famine, the impact on food systems due to climate change and fossil fuel depletion, population swells, food-based social movements, and alternative food systems. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: None
3 credits - Fall

SCI 15 Science and Care of Plants
This course is an introduction to the basic principles of plant science (structure, function, growth requirements, et.) as a basis for consideration of topics of greater practical interest (e.g., horticultural techniques, uses of plants, identifying plants, landscaping). Three class hours and two laboratory hours per week. Prerequisite: None Fees: Instructional Support Fee applies.
4 credits - Spring