The Virginia Tech Catawba Sustainability Center will offer its fourth annual Growers’ Academy, an eight-week series of horticultural and business classes, on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. beginning Jan. 22 and running through March 12 at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center.

Online registration is now open. The cost is $225 per participant. Class will not be held on Feb. 19.

The courses are designed to help further the success of new and transitioning agricultural businesses through a focus on low-input, small-scale production and on launching a small agri-business. Topics covered include soils and composting, marketing, business plan development, preventative pests and weed management, crop production and planning, and a business plan consultation. There will be a farm tour on Saturday, March 9.

Growers’ Academy graduates will also be eligible to lease land at a discounted rate at the Catawba Sustainability Center.

Learn more about the Growers’ Academy and other continuing education programs by visiting Continuing and Professional Education, a unit of Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech.

Written by Jennifer Gibson.

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