CERTIFICATE IN HERBS

Study herbs - a comprehensive trade level course for those who want to be a professional in this field. Learn to identify, process and use herbs commercially. Trade level training for a job, career, or to start a business. A course that covers it all.

Course Code: VHT014
Fee Code: CT
Duration (approx) Duration (approx) 600 hours
Qualification
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Become a Herb Expert

  • Learn to grow herbs for harvesting or garden plants
  • In ground or in Containers
  • Discover the diverse opportunities to work with herbs or herb products

Develop a broad based foundation for anyone working or wishing to work in the herb industry; on a herb farm or nursery growing herbs; in the design, development and maintenance of herb gardens, or in the manufacture and marketing of herb products.

It is an ideal starting point for anyone with aspirations to start their own business, or with a passion to learn more about herbs. Explore the possibilities for turning your passion into a career.

  • Earn an income from herbs
  • Learn to grow and use herbs from experts with decades of experience
  • Study at your own pace and explore options for business and career
Exams: There are four exams for the course; one after lesson 7, another after lesson 15; a third after lesson 22 and the final at the conclusion of the course. Exam fees are not included in course fees.
 
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Lesson Structure

There are 30 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction
    • Defining a Herb
    • History
    • Identifying Herbs – common and scientific names
    • Main Groups and Plant Families
    • Resources
  2. Overview of Herb Varieties
    • Apiaceae – Parsley Family
    • Asteraceae -Daisy Family
    • Lamiaceae – Mint Family
    • Liliaceae – Lily Family
    • Brassicaceae – Cabbage Family
    • Chenapodiaceae – Goosefoot Family
    • Tridaceae – Iris Family
    • Leguminosae/Fabaceae Family
    • Polygoniaceae -Polygonium Family
    • Rosaceae – Rose Family
    • Rubiaceae – Madder Family
    • Rutaceae – Citrus Family
    • Valerianaceae – Valerian Family
    • The Artemisias (from Asteraceae)
    • The Lavenders (from Lamiaceae)
    • The Mints (from Lamiaceae)\
    • The Thymes (from Lamiaceae)
    • Chamomiles
    • Sages
    • Garlic
  3. Soils & Nutrition
    • Understanding Soils
    • Soil Terminology
    • Naming a Soil
    • Soil Structure
    • Water & Air in Soil
    • Soil Temperature
    • Soil Life
    • Problems with Soils
    • Erosion
    • Salinity
    • Soil Decline – structural, acidification, chemical residues
    • Improving Soils
    • Adding organic matter
    • Phytotoxicity
    • Adding Non Organic matter
    • Plant Nutrition – major and minor elements
    • Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and other elements
    • Cation Exchange Capacity
    • pH
    • Nutrient Availability
    • Diagnosing Deficiencies
    • Fertilisers
    • Natural Fertilisers
    • Potting Mixes
    • Composting
    • Organic Materials
    • Mulching
  4. Herb Culture
    • Introduction to herb culture
    • Herbs in Containers
    • Herbs Indoors
    • Organic Growing Techniques
    • Organic Principles
    • Weed Management
    • Staking
    • Frost and Sun Protection
    • Cages and Netting
    • Borders and Barriers
    • Using Compost
    • No Dig Techniques
    • Hydroponics
    • Garden Tools
  5. Propagation Techniques
    • Propagating Herbs
    • Seed and Cuttings
    • Difficult Seeds
    • Germination Treatments
    • Sowing Seeds
    • Hygiene
    • Germination
    • Understanding Hybrid Seed Production
    • Cold Frames
    • Plant Division
    • Layering
    • Types of Cuttings
    • Softwood, Hardwood and Semi Hardwood Cuttings
    • Herbaceous Cuttings
    • Stem and Tip Cuttings
    • Other Cuttings: Heel, Nodal, Basal, Lead, Leaf Bud, Cane, Root, Bulb
  6. Pests & Disease Control
    • Control of Pest and Disease
    • Cultural Controls
    • Biological Controls
    • Antagonistic Organisms
    • Parasitism
    • Predators
    • Companion Planting
    • Beneficial Plants
    • Trap and Decoy Plants
    • Advantages and Disadvantages of Biocontrol
    • Organic Sprays
    • Pre Packaged Sprays
  7. Harvesting Herbs
    • Harvesting Herbs
    • Drying
    • Harvesting for Medicinal Use
    • Harvesting Leaves, Flowers, Bulbs, Barks, Seed
    • Harvesting Specific Herbs
    • Basil, Chervil, Fennel, Fenugreek, Lovage, Mint and others
  8. Processing Herbs
    • Post Harvest Treatment of Culinary Herbs
    • Temperature – storage, pre cooling,
    • Moisture loss
    • Physical Damage
    • Managing Ethylene levels
    • Pathogens
    • Cooling & Cooling Methods
    • Post Harvest Preservation
    • Fresh Preservation
    • Modified Atmosphere Packaging
    • Drying Techniques for Small Quantities
    • Distillation
  9. Using Herbs: Herb Crafts
    • Pot Pourri
    • Scented Candles
    • Sachets
    • Bouquet Garni
    • Tussie Mussies
    • Hair Rinses
    • Scented Stationary
    • Bath Perfumes
    • Exotic Herb Oils
    • Distillation
    • Infusion with Non Aromatic Oils
    • Lavender Crafts
  10. Using Herbs: Herbs for Cooking
    • Culinary Uses of Herbs
    • Using Selected Common Herbs
    • Herb Vinegars
    • Herb Oils
    • Herb Cheeses
    • Herb Confectionary
    • Herb Baked Goods
    • Herb Mustards
    • Herb Salts
    • Herb Butters
    • May Wine
    • Herb Honey
    • Herbal Teas
    • Assorted Herbal Recipes
  11. Using Herbs: Medicinal Herbs
    • History of Medicinal Herbs
    • Herbs as Healing Agents
    • Nervines
    • Natural Chemicals in Plants
    • Saponins
    • Phenolglycosides
    • Anthraglycosides
    • Flavonoids
    • Mustard Oils
    • Polysaccharides
    • Prussic Acid
    • Glycosides
    • Coumarin
    • Tannins
    • Bitters
    • Essential Oils
    • Alkaloids
    • Purines
    • Essential Minerals
    • Home Herbal Remedies
    • Types of Herbal Medicines (Alternatives, Astrigents, Calmatives, Cathartics
    • etc)
    • Preparing Herbal Remedies
    • Poisonous Plants
    • Herbal Baths
    • Gargles
    • Tooth Ache
    • Skin Care
  12. Herb Farming
    • Introduction
    • Marketing Produce
    • Cover crops
    • Soil improvement with Inoculated Legumes
    • Types of Cover Crops – Barley, Buckwheat, Canola, Field Pea, Lucerne, Lupins, Oats, Sorghum, Clover)
    • Ways of using a Cover Crop
    • Soil Cultivation
    • Cultivating Equipment
    • Setting up a Commercial Farm
    • Types of Farm – broadacre, Intensive in Ground Cropping, Hydroponics
    • Container Growing
    • Greenhouse Growing
    • Types of Herb Goods to Produce – fresh or processed
    • Drying Shed
    • Choosing What to Grow
    • Harvesting Herbs
  13. Herb Garden Design
    • Landscape Design Principles
    • Qualities or Components of a Design
    • Creating Effects in a Landscape
    • Preplanning Procedure for Planting Design
    • Developing a Concept Plan
    • Development of a Final plan
    • How Plants are Used
  14. Constructing a Herb Garden
    • Home Landscaping with Herbs
    • Formal Herb Gardens
    • Perennial Borders
    • Rock Gardens
    • Cottage Gardens
    • Public Landscaping with Herbs
    • Planning a Herb Garden
    • What to Plant Where
    • Colourful and Fragrant Herb Gardens
    • Lemon Scented Herb Gardens
    • Retaining Walls
    • Wooden Walls
    • Masonry Walls
    • Rockeries
    • Artificial Rocks
    • Drainage
    • Improving water Permeability during Construction
    • Improving Surface Drainage after Construction
    • Gradients
    • Earth Forming
    • Machinery for Earthworks – Cat, Backhoe, Dozer
    • Building Raised Beds
    • Paving
    • Concrete
    • Gravel
    • Asphalt
  15. Managing a Herb Nursery
    • Introduction
    • Marketing Produce
    • Cover crops
    • Soil improvement with Inoculated Legumes
    • Types of Cover Crops – Barley, Buckwheat, Canola, Field Pea, Lucerne, Lupins, Oats, Sorghum, Clover)
    • Ways of using a Cover Crop
    • Soil Cultivation
    • Cultivating Equipment
    • Setting up a Commercial Farm
    • Types of Farm – broadacre, Intensive in Ground Cropping, Hydroponics
    • Container Growing
    • Greenhouse Growing
    • Types of Herb Goods to Produce – fresh or processed
    • Drying Shed
    • Choosing What to Grow
    • Harvesting Herbs
  16. Lavenders
    • Introduction
    • Lavender Species
    • Lavender Classification – 5 sub groups
    • Varieties/Cultivars
    • Lavandin hybrid
    • English Lavenders
    • Italian Lavender
    • How to Grow Lavender
    • Transplanting
    • Buying Plants
    • Harvesting and Using
    • Lavender Crafts
    • Edible Lavender Products
  17. Mints
    • Mint Production
    • Disease Control
    • Mint Species
  18. Lamiaceae Herbs
    • Introduction
    • Thymes
    • Propagating Thymus
    • Thyme cultivars
    • Salvia (Sages)
  19. Garlic
    • Introduction to Garlic
    • Appearance
    • Propagation
    • Culture
    • Harvest and Processing
  20. Asteraceae(Compositae) Herbs
    • Chamomile
    • German Chamomile
    • Roman Chamomile
    • Artemisia
  21. The Apiaceae Family
    • Angelica
    • Fennel
    • Parsley
    • Dill
    • Anise
    • Cumin
  22. Other Herbs
    • Rosa (Rose) Types
    • Rose Culture
    • Strawberry
    • Scented Geraniums
    • Fragrant Australian Indigenous Plants
    • Ginger
  23. Topiary & Hedges
    • Introduction
    • Pruning Techniques
    • Removing dead wood
    • Controlling growth type
    • Controlling shape and size
    • Plant Rejuvenation
    • Pruning Rules
    • Rosemary Topiary
    • Hedges
  24. Producing Herb Products A
    • Ointments
    • Using Fats
    • Using Oils and Beeswax
    • Infusions
    • Decoctions
    • Syrups
    • Tinctures
    • Sprays
    • Potpourri
    • Herbal Paper
    • Making Herbal Paper
    • Distillation and Oils
  25. Producing Herb Products B
    • Ointments
    • Using Fats
    • Using Oils and Beeswax
    • Infusions
    • Decoctions
    • Syrups
    • Tinctures
    • Sprays
    • Potpourri
    • Herbal Paper
    • Making Herbal Paper
    • Distillation and Oils
  26. Producing Herb Products C
    • Getting your Plants
    • Propagation
    • Production Systems
    • Managing Green life
    • Production and Propagation Nurseries
    • Stock Plant Management
    • Seed Sources
    • Collecting and Storing Seed
    • Types of Seed Storage
    • Improving Production Efficiency
    • What herbs to Grow in What Soil Conditions
    • Safe Pest and Disease Control in the Herb Nursery
    • Watering Herbs
    • Hydroponic Herbs
    • Lavender Propagation
    • Herb Nursery Standards
  27. Marketing in the Herb Industry
    • Knowing the Customers
    • Marketing Tips
    • Market Research
    • Considering Optional Markets
    • Gathering Information
    • How to Sell Successfully
  28. Budgeting & Business Planning
    • Making the Farm Profitable
    • Economic Principles
    • Law of Supply and Demand
    • Law of Substitution
    • Law of Diminishing Returns
    • Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
    • Scale of Economies
    • Planning Procedure
    • Other Planning Approaches
    • Production Plan
    • Finance & Financial Planning
    • Land Care and Management
    • Cash Flow and Budget
    • Problem Solving
    • Borrowing
    • Buying
    • Reducing Costs
    • Self Evaluation
  29. Workforce Design & Management
    • Introduction
    • Giving Directives & Introducing Change
    • Orders and Instruction
    • Supervision Styles
    • Work Programming
    • Organising the Workplace
    • Organisational Structures
    • Bookkeeping Needs
    • Record Keeping
    • Communications in Writing
    • Work Scheduling
  30. Major Research Project

What is a Herb?

Strictly speaking 'herb' is simply a shortening of the word 'herbaceous', which in horticulture (or botany) means the type of plant which does not have a 'woody stem'.  Herbaceous plants have softer tissue in the stem and tend to die back to ground level each year after flowering to regrow a complete new 'top' the next season.  Many of the plants we refer to as herbs are like this, but not all.

The word 'herb' in the context of this course, and in the context it is commonly used today, refers to those plants which are useful because of their aromatic, medicinal, cosmetic, flavouring or repellent qualities.  Herbs are plants which are used for 'food, medicine, scent, flavour etc'. In this sense an herb can range from tiny small prostrate shrubs up to large trees, for example those having aromatic leaves.

One critical aspect of using herbs must be the ability to identify the plant you are going to use, accurately. Plants are not always named correctly in nurseries, nor are they always described correctly in books.

PLANT NAMES: Plants are given two different types of names: 

  • Common Names - These are English language names usually given to plants by amateur gardeners as a descriptive, easy to remember tag. Many plants have more than one common name, and sometimes the same common name can be given to several quite different plants. This along with the fact that there is no real control over common names makes them inaccurate & unreliable for plant identification.

  • Scientific Names - based on Latin language, these names often seem more complex than common names at first glance; however they have a system to them which can make plant identification much easier. The system of scientific naming is strictly controlled and coordinated by botanists throughout the world. Scientific names should always be used in preference to common names.

In the scientific system, plants are classified by dividing them into groups which have similar characteristics. These groups are then divided into smaller groups with similar characteristics. These are divided again and so the division of group to sub group & sub group to further sub groups goes on....until you finally have only one type of plant in each group.

 

Main Groups of Herbs

The largest group which herbs fall into is the Mint ( Lamiaceae formerly Labiatae).  The Daisy (Asteraceae formerly Compositae), Umbel (Apiaceae formerly Umbelliferae or ) and Lily (Liliaceae) families also encompass large numbers of common herbs.

There is a distinct advantage in knowing which family groups a particular herb falls into:

  • Identification of herbs becomes easier.  There are certain characteristics which are the same for all types of plants in the same groups (e.g. Mint family plants all have "squarish" shaped stems).

  • The way in which plants in the same family are used is usually similar (e.g. It is usually the leaves of mint   Lamiaceae (Labiatae)   family plants which are used for flavour or fragrance.)

 

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE HERB INDUSTRY

This course will expand your mind so you can better see and understand the huge range of possibilities for working with herbs. You may only ever work with herbs on a small scale; but for others, herbs may become both your passion and sole source of income.

Possibilities may include:

  • Propagating and selling herb plants (production nursery, specialising in herbs).

  • Running or working in a herb shop (A retail outlet selling all types of herb products from home wares to perfumes, culinary and medicinal herb products, crafts, etc.

  • Farming and selling fresh culinary herbs, dried herbs or extracted herb oils. 

  • Working as a consultant , in education or the media, writing and talking about herbs.

  • Herbal therapies -aromatherapy, massage etc.

  • Manufacturing and wholesaling of herbal products.

The vast majority of herb studies graduates will run their own business – but some do work for others e.g.  in retail nurseries, on herb farms or as advisors.

Member of the Future Farmers Network

Member of the International Herb Association since 1988

UK Register of Learning Providers, UK PRN10000112

Our principal John Mason is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture

Accredited ACS Global Partner

Member of Greenlife Queensland since 1993 (previously NGIQ)

ACS is a silver sponsor of the AIH. The principal, John Mason, is a fellow. ACS certificate students are offered a free membership for this leading professional body.Provider.

Member of the Permaculture Association

Member of Study Gold Coast

College Member of Complementary Medicine Association assessed to teach a range of areas including Counselling, Nutrition, Natural Therapies.

Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (UK)

Recognised since 1999 by IARC




Course Contributors

The following academics were involved in the development and/or updating of this course.

Adriana Fraser (Horticulturist)

Adriana has worked in horticulture since the 1980's. She has lived what she preaches - developing large gardens and growing her own fruit, vegetables and herbs and making her own preserves.
In 1992 she formalised her training by graduating with a certif

Rosemary Davies (Horticulturist)

Rosemary trained in Horticulture at Melbourne Universities Burnley campus; studying all aspects of horticulture -vegetable and fruit production, landscaping, amenity, turf, aboriculture and the horticultural sciences.
Initially she worked with the Depart

John Mason (Horticulturist)

Parks Manager, Nurseryman, Landscape Designer, Garden Writer and Consultant.
Over 40 years experience; working in Victoria, Queensland and the UK.
He is one of the most widely published garden writers in the world; author of more than 70 books and edito

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