Farming Courses

Join a course today

Register for courses below, registration closes one week before the course start date.

Take a farming course at the Old Fort

Winter 2026 Farmer Planning Course

This 10-week course is geared toward beginning farmers planning to start a specialty crop farm (vegetables, fruits, and/or flowers). Topics may include farm design, business planning, advanced crop planning, marketing options, financial management, accessing government resources, field records, produce safety, land access, and managing employees. Spanish interpretation available.

Date: January 27 - April 7 (No class February 24)
Time: Tuesdays, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom

Register for the Farmer Planning course

A person putting gourds, squash, and pumpkins into a truck bed

Growing Specialty Crops at High Elevation

This course offers an overview of the basics of crop culture in small-scale diversified vegetable production. It will focus on seed and site sections for harvesting, post-harvest handling, and marketing.

Date: Starts the second week of July and runs for six weeks
Time: Thursdays, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Farmer Training Yurt Classroom
Registration: Open year-round and due a week before classes begin

  • $400; sliding scale available

Register for Growing Specialty Crops

A person putting gourds, squash, and pumpkins into a truck bed

Seed to Seed: Plant Basics for Farmers

This course covers everything from plant propagation to seed saving and introduces the basics of botany and seed saving from multiple perspectives.

Date: Starts the second week of July and runs for six weeks
Time: Tuesdays, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Farmer Training Yurt Classroom
Registration: Open year-round and due a week before classes begin

  • $400; sliding scale available

Register for Seed to Seed

A person harvesting carrots from the ground

Intro to Market Farming

This course offers an overview of practices in small-scale food production that minimize environmental impact and support successful business models for small farms.

Date: Starts the third week of May and runs for six weeks
Time: Thursdays, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Farmer Training Yurt Classroom

  • $400; sliding scale available

Intro to Market Farming

Two people holding radishes in small bags in a yurt

Working with Livestock

This course offers an overview of practices related to working with livestock with a focus on beef cattle and hands-on experiences. Topics will include behavior, handling, health, nutrition, reproduction, facilities and marketing.

Date: Starts the third week of May and runs for six weeks
Time: Tuesdays, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Farmer Training Yurt Classroom

  • $400; sliding scale available

Working with Livestock

Two people holding radishes in small bags in a yurt

The Old Fort

18683 CO-140
Hesperus, CO 81326
 oldfortathesperus@fortlewis.edu
 970-385-4574

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Land Acknowledgement 

We acknowledge the land that the Old Fort is situated upon is the ancestral land and territory of the Nuuchiu (Ute) people who were forcibly removed by the United States Government. We also acknowledge that this land is connected to the communal and ceremonial spaces of the Jicarilla Abache (Apache), Pueblos of New Mexico, Hopi Sinom (Hopi), and Diné (Navajo) Nations.

The Old Fort and Fort Lewis College are committed to reconciling their history as a federal Indian Boarding School from 1892 to 1909.

Learn more about reconciliation

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The Old Fort is owned by the Colorado State Land Board and managed by Fort Lewis College.


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