EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE INSTRUCTIONAL SYLLABUS

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1 EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE INSTRUCTIONAL SYLLABUS TITLE: GREENHOUSE DESIGN & MANAGEMENT COURSE NUMBER: HORT 235 INSTRUCTOR: Timothy Hohn, Office Hrs.: T , Th DIV./DEPT.: Business, Horticulture Introduction The greenhouse industry in our country is vibrant and dynamic although beginning to face sustainability challenges. Technological innovations and relative economic prosperity over the last several decades have driven the greenhouse industry to new heights of productivity and popularity. A business whose market of old was nearly confined to cut, or fresh flowers now produces huge stocks of interior foliage plants, potted flowering plants such as poinsettias, and a burgeoning array of annual and perennial flower crops for garden use. Industry niches exist for large growers producing generic crops in volume and small growers specializing in superior quality, new market introductions, and low-volume specialty crops. Energy, economic, and demographic changes in the future may favor smaller growers serving more localized clienteles. The greenhouse industry offers a wide variety of career opportunities in the commercial sector ranging from wholesale and retail production companies to allied supply and facilities companies. Opportunities also exist in the non-profit sector such as public gardens, educational institutions, and greenhouse-oriented associations to name a few. This course will provide an introduction to greenhouse management as it relates to operating the facility and producing greenhouse crops. The focus for most discussion and classwork will be on Christmas holiday crops since this is the principal crop currently under production in the EdCC greenhouse at this time of year. This is a collaborative, hands-on class in which both you and I are active participants in the educational process. Collaboration is centered on the exchange of information, participation in learning activities, practicing skills, and the assessment of abilities in groups or as individuals. Students are

2 2 expected to be self-motivated, active learners who take responsibility for their achievement. As a prospective greenhouse professional, realize that an understanding of greenhouse technology is only part of your education. Business management is an equally important and crucial make-or-break component. In addition to the HORT 269: Horticulture Business class requirement, consider taking other business courses. Course Outcomes: you will be able to... Identify and describe the common types of greenhouses and important factors regarding their siting and orientation. Identify and describe the common structural components of greenhouses and the materials from which they are made. Identify and describe the principal biotic and abiotic factors limiting greenhouse plant growth. Identify and describe the rationale and means for controlling the principal biotic and abiotic factors necessary for greenhouse plant growth. Propose and document production requirements for holiday and midwinter crops. Investigate and document greenhouse sustainability initiatives involving energy and pest management improvements for the greenhouse. Function as part of a group. Course Materials & Resources Class text on reserve in the library: Nelson, P. Greenhouse Operation and Management. General subject hard copy and on-line material in the EdCC library. The Elizabeth Miller Horticultural Library, Center for Urban Horticulture, UW. Online resources: key words "greenhouse management" or "greenhouse operation" for your favorite web browser or Nursery / greenhouse professionals. Class Schedule 9/23 Introduction, orientation, formation of work groups, greenhouse industry background, introduction to production plans.

3 3 9/30 The greenhouse structure and context; Hippeastrum hybrids production plan due; crop development proposal: Cyclamen persicum due. Reading: Nelson Ch /7 Managing Light: capturing light, artificial light, shading; Cyclamen persicum & Narcissus Paperwhite cvs production plans due. Reading: ch.12 (light only). 10/14 Managing Temperature; Reading: Ch. 3, 4, 5, & temp. portion of /21 Mid-term Exam 10/28 Managing Root Substrates: greenhouse soils, soilless media. Reading: Ch /4 Greenhouse Fertility and Nutrition. Reading: Ch /11 Veteran s Day, no class. 11/18 Managing Water: greenhouse irrigation. Reading: Ch /20 Awakening The Dreamer seminar* 11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday: No Class 12/2 Production Systems & Post Production Issues. Reading: pgs ; Ch. 17; pgs Sustainability Projects due. 12/09 Final Exam. *Refer to detailed information below.

4 Course Requirements 4 Attendance at all classes is required. If you must miss a class, call and leave a message for the instructor. Students will be responsible for abilities and information covered in missed classes. Students may be dropped from the class after three (3) absences. Preparation for and participation in class is required. All assignments -- in class and homework -- must be completed and handed in on time. If you find that you can not complete an assignment on time you must contact the instructor before the due date to make special arrangements. Late assignments will be down graded. Work in groups to complete simple audits of the EdCC greenhouse and sustainability projects. Plant Production Plans Developing production plans for select crops. You will be given specific information pertaining to this project during class. Crop Development Proposal Research and propose plant partners to put together with our Cyclamen persicum crop for a holiday mixed pot. Take Home Assignments You will be given reading, discussion questions, and other take home assignments. These should be completed on time for full credit. In some cases, I may return any incomplete assignments so that you may edit and complete them. Assessment Students are assessed according to their ability and effort in meeting the requirements of the class and successfully answering questions posed on exams. The highest assessment will be awarded to those students who complete their assignments and exams with the greatest degree of thoroughness, accuracy, and comprehension. Final grades will be based upon the combination of class attendance and participation, assessments, study questions, and group project.

5 A final number grade will be ascertained by weighing class elements as follows: 5 Discussion Questions 30% Projects & Plans 30% Exams 30% Class Participation 10% Awakening seminar 5% extra credit Instructor Profile Welcome to HORT 235! This is my 16th year teaching at Edmonds Community College; wow, how time flies! I m responsible for a number of general horticulture courses and most of the nursery & greenhouse courses. Before coming to EdCC, I worked for the UW as the Curator of the Washington Park Arboretum and Center for Urban Horticulture (now combined as the UW Botanical Gardens). Prior to that, and immediately after graduate school, I was the Curator of Plants for the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium. I m originally from Detroit, Michigan and along the way to Washington I ve also lived in Savannah, GA; Newark, DE (very close to Wilmington); and New York City. Growing up in a suburb of Detroit, I was the kid that mowed everyone s lawn (wishing to be paid by the blade!). Nevertheless, I started my college and professional career in radio & television broadcasting (B.A. degree from W. MI. U.) and switched to horticulture when I awoke from my trance. I received a B.S. degree in landscape horticulture from Michigan State University, worked for the University of Georgia extension service for a year, and then went to graduate school at the University of Delaware (the fighting blue hens!) with a fellowship in the Longwood Graduate Program. The Longwood Program accepts 5 students a year on a fully paid fellowship to study botanical garden management. My specialty in this area is curatorial practice, a topic on which I had a book published by Alta Mira Press a couple years ago: Curatorial Practices for Botanical Gardens (yet to make the Times best seller list!). I m married to Lynda Ransley and we have two boys, Sam, 21; Bryce, 14; and a daughter Dee, 8, who we adopted from Vietnam in Lynda has a nearly identical college background to mine but she has moved from horticulture to environmental stewardship and is currently the program director for the Puget Sound Partnership. We like to spend a great deal of our free time at

6 our place on Orcas Island where we can be in the woods and the water. When not involved in the above, I may be gardening at home or struggling with my electric guitar hoping to become a reasonably accomplished musician and, ultimately, reincarnated as Allan Holdsworth. 6 Our Changing Curriculum: Sustainable Horticulture Future generations, if there is a livable world for them, will look back at the epochal transition we are making to a life-sustaining society. And they may well call this the time of the Great Turning. Joanna Macy The Horticulture faculty is endeavoring to modify our program to include information that will assist students in practicing environmentally sustainable horticultural techniques. We feel it's important that our curriculum reflect the need to develop a culture of permanence and environmental responsibility. Why? Human beings -- now a geophysical force on the planet like no other -- appropriate large volumes of Earth's resources and are polluting what remains. For every person in the world to reach present U.S. levels of consumption with existing technology would require the resources of four (4) more planet Earths! The capacity of our Earth to support our species is approaching its limit. We are entering an ecological bottleneck from which we may safely emerge only by changing our way of life. It is time to sort out our priorities and calculate what it will take to provide a satisfying and sustainable life for everyone into the indefinite future. A principal question of this new century is: How best can we shift to a culture of permanence, both for ourselves and for the environment that sustains us? 1 The practice of horticulture is focused on the direct manipulation of our environment: plants, soil, water, etc. At every juncture in this practice we have choices to make in our work among strategies that help sustain the environment and those that damage and exploit it. Choices such as the plants we select and use; management practices that minimize the use of supporting resources; organic, non-polluting growth supplements and other materials; low impact, low emissions machinery, etc. I am endeavoring to 1 Wilson, E.O. The Future of Life. (New York: Knopf, 2002) p. 22.

7 7 include the presentation of sustainable practices in the classes I teach in order to help prepare you to make significant professional, and perhaps personal, contributions to a culture of permanence and a healthy environment. Please be sure to let all of your instructors know of your concerns and interests regarding sustainable practice. *Awakening The Dreamer Symposium, Saturday, November 20, 9am 4:30pm, Hort Bldg. If you choose to participate in the Awakening The Dreamer symposium you will be awarded 5% extra credit in this or any other course we share. A video-based seminar, we will explore the rationale, issues, and necessary actions associated with developing a sustainable culture. See for more information. There is a cap of 20 individuals for the symposium so please let me know asap by if you are interested in participating.