Going back to school

I am going to take some courses in a Viticulture/Enology program offered by Surry Community College. They have both a certificate and diploma program, and for now, I think I'm going to go for the certificate.

This fall I am taking a course called Introduction to Viticulture. It is an online course, so thankfully I don't have to drive all the way from Hickory to Dobson. This course is specific for growing grapes on the east cost of the U.S., which is exciting. A couple of years ago I took a course with U.C. Davis online, and while it was informational, it was very California-centric. Growing grapes at least, is different in North Carolina than it is in California.

Another problem with the U.C. Davis course was the lectures that had been recorded to DVD. The person giving the lectures was amazingly able to make one of the most interesting subjects (to me anyway) seem boring. Plus, you got print outs that were supposed to update the DVDs (originally filmed quite some time ago), then online on the class website, you got updates to the updates. And occasionally, someone would E-mail out updates to the updates to the updates. It made it a little hard to keep track of everything. I seriously think they need to re-film the lectures.

I am hoping this course will be much better, but I won't know much more until the class starts. I do know I need all the help I can get with the grapes I'm growing in my backyard.