Webinar Schedule and Participant Guide
Important Dates and Class Topics
Live instruction for 2025 has concluded. You are welcome to complete this course on a self-paced schedule and join our next live session in 2026. All webinars from 2025 have been recorded and are posted in your online class room to watch anytime. Once enrolled in this course. you will retain access to all materials indefinitely and may return to participate in future live offerings of the course as well. We hope you enjoy this course and join us next year!
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Introduction, Common Mistakes and Soil Health
Join course facilitator Rich Woodbridge for an intro to the course and a discussion of some common beginning farming mistakes. From there we will dive into one of the most important topics of all: the health and quality of your soil.
Week 2: Site Assessment
This week we focus on the importance of site selection. A speaker will share some challenges they have faced with their location and demonstrate using web-based soil maps to better understand the land you own or are considering buying.
Speaker: Erik Schellenberg, Commercial Horticulture and Natural Resources Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County
Week 3: Planning and Bed Layout
This week we will talk about bed layout and crop planning, timing and succession strategies. We will also discuss decisions involving direct sowing versus transplanting and how to decide which varieties to grow.
Week 4: Equipment
This week we will talk about choosing and using equipment including tractors, walk-behind 2-wheeled machines and hand tools.
Speakers:
Ethan Grundberg, Regional Vegetable Specialist with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Jeff Bialas, Co-owner of J & A Farms in Goshen, NY
Week 5: The Business of Vegetable Production
This week we will go over some of the business aspects to growing vegetables. How do you decide if vegetables are right for you? In this session we will learn to use data to make informed decisions about profitability, marketing channels and crop selection. We will also cover the components of a business plan.
Speaker: Elizabeth (Liz) Higgins, Regional Farm Business Management Specialist with the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Week 6: Cover Crops, Farmer Resources, Course Wrap Up and final topics
We use this last session to discuss cover crops, learn about some great beginning farmer resources and then go into more depth on topics that came up during the previous sessions that more time was needed for. Possible topics include season extension, drip irrigation set up, transplant production, etc, depending on class interest.
How to Join Zoom
Review the document below for more detailed instructions on how to use the webinar technology.