Salad Greens
We produce and sell organic salad greens to members of the Berea College campus community as well as to local businesses. The products included lettuce mix, mesclun, kale, spinach, and mustards. These are produced and sold during the fall and spring semesters using gardens, high-tunnels, and a greenhouse. The potting medium and soil amendment used are generated by composting food-residuals, in effect, recycling nutrients back to the community.

Plant Propagation and Sales
This enterprise gives students experience in producing and selling ornamental perennials and annuals as well as vegetable and herb transplants. It offers an important learning opportunity for students who are more interested in landscape horticulture than food production. Students are most active in this enterprise during the spring semester.

Beekeeping
This activity often holds appeal to students interested in plant science (agronomy and horticulture) as well as those primarily interested in animal science. This is because honey bees play an important role in plant pollination and small-scale farming and are managed like “micro-livestock.” We established a small apiary in the spring of 2000 and it has become a useful teaching resource, stimulating interest in beekeeping, and provides benefit including pollination and honey production.

Mushroom Production
Gourmet mushrooms are gaining attention as an alternative crop in the Appalachian Region. Producing mushrooms at the Gardens and Greenhouse demonstrates the interconnection between horticulture and forestry. Thinned timber from the College Forest is used to produce mushrooms, utilizing a locally abundant resource and producing a crop for an emerging market. Students working in the labor program during the Short Term now gain experience in this enterprise when we inoculate logs harvested from the College Forest.

Food Waste Composting
We initiated this project in 1998 using grant support from the Organic Farming Research Foundation and the Appalachian College Association. The goal of the project was to generate needed compost for the CSA Program while utilizing materials that would otherwise be considered waste. This project has provided opportunities for undergraduate research as well as laboratory demonstrations and assignments for courses. Today the program continues diverting food waste from the waste stream while generating valuable compost for horticultural enterprises.

Botanical Garden
In the spring semester of 2000 we established a small botanical garden that was inspired by designs students made in Landscape Horticulture (ANR 351) the previous semester. The garden is intended to be an educational demonstration of ornamental plants with various uses. In addition to serving this purpose, it also provides plant material for the Plant Propagation and Sales enterprise.

Rental Garden Program
This program was established nearly three decades ago as a community service. Each year we provide garden plots to anyone in the community interested for a small fee. Although it has limited educational value for students in the labor program it does provide a valued service to some community members and encourages interaction and communication between the College and surrounding community.

Butterfly House
The butterfly house project was carried out in 2006 to give students experience in insect propagation (farming) and to provide something of educational interest to the broader community. Butterfly farming may be a means of generating income with increasing interest in eco- and agri-tourism. Two local butterfly species, monarchs and black swallowtails, were maintained during the fall semester by providing farm-raised or field-collected food plants. Groups and individuals were invited to visit and learn about butterfly life cycles or just enjoy viewing butterflies and plants.