Cultiv8's small, student-run vegetable production farm, GROW, provides Dalhousie Agricultural Campus student interns with practical, firsthand experiential learning in vegetable/flower production, sustainable best management practices, agricultural entrepreneurship, and community integration. These low-risk experiences complement their academic disciplines, backing up theory with hands-on, mentored learning, leading interns toward more resilient future employment as stewards of our industry and planet.
Program Highlights and Learning Opportunities:
- Market gardening across a full growing season
- Sales - onsite farmstand and at the Truro Farmer's Market (bi-weekly)
- Planning strategies and execution
- Greenhouse and high tunnel management/utilization
- Growing vegetables and flowers - sowing, direct seeding, transplanting, and tending
- Proper harvesting protocol and post-harvest handling/care
- Pest/Disease/Fertility management
Important facets of GROW are customer engagement, community interaction and education. Interns will be guided in customer relations and empowered to become stewards of sustainability in horticulture and agroecology. GROW aims to be a educational hub for farmers, gardeners, and the public, providing a space for iterative, collaborative learning and innovation.
