Course CodeVHT014Fee CodeCTDuration (approx)600 hoursQualificationCertificate Learn all about the Herb Industry How to identify, grow, harvest and process herbs Creating, Using and Marketing Herb Products Gardening and Landscaping with Herbs Starting and Managing Different Types of Herb Enterprises Why study here? ACS is different in many ways.... Established since 1979, Internationally recognised (IARC) Support from an international team of highly qualified herb experts Courses are continually reviewed and revisions are happening every month of the year Courses are "experiential" based learning (This is different to many other schools) Duration: 100 hours Course Structure: There are 30 lessons as follows: 1. Introduction 2. Overview of Herb Varieties 3. Soils & Nutrition 4. Herb Culture 5. Propagation Techniques 6. Pests & Disease Control 7. Harvesting Herbs 8. Processing Herbs 9. Using Herbs: Herb Crafts 10. Using Herbs: Herbs for Cooking 11. Using Herbs: Medicinal Herbs 12. Herb Farming 12. Herb Garden Design 14. Constructing a Herb Garden 15. Managing a Herb Nursery 16. Lavenders 17. Mints 18. Lamiaceae Herbs 19. Garlic 20. The Asteraceae (Compositae) Herbs 21. The Apiaceae Family 22. Other Herbs 23. Topiary & Hedges 24. Producing Herb Products A 35. Producing Herb Products B 26. Producing Herb Products C 27. Marketing in the Herb Industry 28. Budgeting & Business Planning 29. Workforce Design & Management 30. Major Research Project Enrolment Fee does not include exam fees Types of Herb Products You Might Produce The types of goods that can be produced from herbs is virtually endless. They can be grouped in to a number of main types. These are: Fresh: principally for culinary use, sometimes as stock feed. Dried: widely used for culinary use, as floral or dried arrangements, and for providing fragrance. Processed: this includes those herbs that have further treatment in some way, for example, crushing or powdering. These types are commonly used in medicinals and cosmetics. Essential Oils: These are widely used as medicinals, for aromatherapy, as flavourings or condiments, as pesticides, as fixatives or bases for other ingredients (ie: in perfumes) and as massage oils. Growing Herbs Commercially Global demand for herbal products, both fresh and processed; is strong, and has been growing annually for decades. It was estimated that the demand for spices, condiments and similar products was increasing by, up to 20% annually (Miller & Harper: Herb Market Report Vol.5, No.11), in the late 20th century; and growth has not diminished in any way since then.. There is considerable potential to grow herbs as an alternative to existing mainstream crops that are in oversupply. There is not much point in producing a product if there is no demand for it. If there is demand, however, and you can produce goods of consistent quality at a competitive price then you should be able to sell your crop profitably. Herbs have several other advantages as a commercial crop. Many can be grown in areas with poor soil or limited water supply. Generally much less growing space is required than for more commonly grown crops. The end products are generally small in volume, so storage, packaging, and transport requirements are not usually as high as for other crops. Many herbs also have high pest and disease resistance so the use of pesticides can be greatly reduced. There is also considerable potential for value added products, for example herb vinegars or wines, craft items, and cooked herb goods. Herbs can be grown commercially in many different ways, and can be marketed in many different forms, on a large scale or small. Some commercial herb farms are many hundreds of acres, but others can be viable on less than half an acre. Broad acre crops can be an excellent way of growing larger sized herbs, or where large quantities of the crop are required. This can happen where there is sufficient demand for large quantities of the fresh crop, or when large quantities of the ‘raw’ crop are required to provide sufficient quantities after processing of the ‘finished’ crop. For example, processing of essential oils where oil content may be only 1 or 2% of the raw material. Broad acre cropping of herbs can be a good alternative for established growers who are looking for something new to grow. For new growers this type of growing may be very expensive to set up. Who Will Benefit From This Course? Those who want to: Work as a consultant Set up a Herb Farm Work on a Herb Farm or in Herb Nursery