Apprenticeship Program
Natural Building:
beginning April 1, May 1, June 1, July 1, 2009
These are two-month-long apprenticeships
Community Foodshed
June 3 - July 30, 2009
Community Organizing and Bioregional Networking
*open dates*
Summertown, TN, The Farm community.
Natural Building – This Construction program includes hands-on experience with natural buildings of all types as well as the fundamentals of permaculture and ecovillage master planning. This year we will be continuing work on our gardens, 11,000 sq.ft. constructed wetlands, our cob visitors center, our cob,strawbale and earthbag "hipitats" and compost toilets, and many other interesting projects within the Farm community.
Community Foodshed Apprenticship – June 3- July 30 – Join a movement that's sweeping across the country by stepping away from industrial food production. Be part of ecologically sensible, socially just, and culturally vibrant food systems. Learn what food, local economy, and policies you want to encourage in your community. Apprentices will actively learn to grow food with area farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders. We will examine economics and policy of food and agriculture by gathering community data and stories, as well as studying government policy. The apprenticeship revolves around a weekly wheel of visiting three to six farmers and gardeners, many of which are Permaculture practitioners and Biodynamic growers. Field trips to the surrounding community, farms, towns, and cities provide space to gather information and stories. Different modules of food preparation will allow apprentices to recognize their personal taste and nutrition needs. Resources and time will be given for apprentices to design a desirable food system and build the attitude, knowledge, and skills to implement their design. Cook, ferment, clown, dig, sew seed, harvest, design and transform!
Apprenticeship in Community Organizing and Bioregional Networking - Come join us as we transition our local community and bioregion to a sustainable and just economy. Together with local groups and The Farm, we are working to revitalize our local economy and create opportunities for growth of the permaculture movement within the context of our local culture. Local organizations include the Sonnenschein Green Initiative (soon to be Transition Town Hohenwald), the Financial Permaculture Institute, and the Center for a Holistic Ecology. You will also work with us as we prepare to host the Tenth Continental Bioregional Congress at The Farm. Apprentices who show verve, heart and intelligence may be asked to stick on with us as volunteers during the Congress.
All apprenticeships have possible field trips to nearby Amish community, canoeing on the Buffalo River, a local bamboo nursery, and more. Apprentices can audit workshops offered at the ETC free of charge during their stay (see our 2009 schedule http://www.thefarm.org/etc/etccourses.html ). They are first required to fulfill their apprenticeship responsibilities before attending a class or workshop. Participants in all apprenticeships will learn ecology, energy and resource conservation, social and community skills, and the economics of sustainability. A small weekly fee is charged to offset food and lodging costs. To apply, fill out the online application.
View Apprentice Web Journal
Former Apprentices: Add to Apprentice Web Journal!
The selection process is competitive so please apply early. Each year we receive many excellent applications more than we can approve. The process of selection for upcoming apprenticeships generally closes some months in advance of the starting dates.
Some openings may still occur due to cancellations, so apply anyway if you are late in applying. We always consider additional programs or work-exchange between programs if demand is high enough. We do sometimes accept applicants right up to the starting date because of cancellations.
Our goal in creating this program is to promote systemic social changes towards sustainable human habitats and to encourage loving personal growth, free artistic expression, caring relationships, deep environmental awareness, and celebration of cultural and individual differences. We hope to inspire people to work for something bigger than themselves.
The more immediate goals are:
- To help catalyze the creation of more ecovillages;
- To move students from understanding and concept development to practice;
- To explore sustainability issues in all myriad forms;
- To provide hands-on, experiential learning in the environment of a 30-year experimental community.
Our expectations of students:
Students will spend at least 30 hours per week on assignments and tasks related to the Program. At times we may adopt the "Amish diet" of long, physical work days.
Students will endeavor to work well with one another and with the staff. They will also have time to enjoy the vastness of the Milky Way, the chilll of a dawn swim in a pure stream, and the stimulus of exceptional company.
Students will have a deeper experience of The Farm community than a casual visit or short course might provide.
Class size limited so early registration is recommended.
Cost is $600 per month for subsistence (food staples***, energy, internet and lodging). Add $85 for the Community Foodshed program. If you have other local food and lodging arrangements a portion of the fee can be waived. We are a non-profit educational institution not a for-profit working farm. Thus, we have little to work with in terms of surplus. What we offer is an unparalleled hands-on experience and well-rounded education.
The main goal of our apprenticeship program is to integrate a broad variety of skill-building and hands-on experiences into one comprehensive package lasting 1-2 months. We try to convey the idea of permaculture and help you to grasp underlying principles and attunement with native processes.
To apply:
Answers the following questions by clicking the Survey Monkey link. Select the type of apprenticeship and indicate the dates. Please limit your responses to a paragraph for each question.
Medical Insurance is not provided. Shuttle service is available upon request from the Nashville Airport. There is one free shuttle which will attempt to coordinate with all arriving apprentices. If you miss that shuttle, we have to charge $65 per trip.
If you are accepted into the program, you will be notified by email or by phone. Upon notification you will be asked to send a deposit of $250 in order to reserve your space.
About the Ecovillage Training Center:
The Farm's Ecovillage Training Center is part of the Institute for Appropriate Technology which has been pushing the frontiers of alternative energy, housing, farming, and tools for sustainability for the past 20 years.
Set amongst the Farm's 4000 acres of protected woods and meadows, the Ecovillage Training Center is a living laboratory with a mandate to save the world. Sustainable technologies and principles surround you as you study and work throughout the training center---its Eco Hostel, organic garden, forests, swales and ponds---in a permaculture consciousness, within an outstanding networking community of students and teachers.
Accommodations:
Bunk houses and camp sites are available for the entire course. There are showers, bathrooms Conditions at the Center are primitive and tight but comfy. We share a community building called the Eco Hostel, an old Farm house that has been recently renovated and expanded. The Eco Hostel consists of a small shared kitchen, 2 bathrooms, dorm and private rooms, cozy studying area and library. The house was originally constructed by members of the Farm in the late 70's out of completely recycled materials. Our renovations have included three dormitories, two solar showers, rainwater collection, solar electricity, and wastewater recycling. We added a 2-story greenhouse with a third story observation deck. We promote a style of sustainable living, but we attempt to avoid regimentation and dogma.
Apprentices will have the option of staying in a dorm room in the Eco Hostel, or camping.
As well as housing apprentices and other workshop participants, there will be other guests who rent out beds during your stay. There are two bathrooms and one kitchen. Bedding is provided. A limited number of private rooms are available at typically $30 per night.
Wheelchair access is provided. Language translation services can be arranged.
What to expect:
There will be about 6-15 apprentices and 6 staff members living on site, as well as 4 staff living off-site. You will experience what it is like to live in a communal setting, sharing facilities and responsibilities. You will have daily chores, such as cooking, bathroom cleanup, sweeping floors, etc. You are expected to clean up after yourself, and be part of the team.
Expect many visitors at the Ecovillage Training Center. In addition to Farm folks who like to stop by, people come through for a tour of the site, and we run an overnight hostel service. Guests are housed in our main communal building, the Eco Hostel. In general these people are an amazing addition to our community, and we ask that you help to make them feel welcome.
During your stay we will provide you with staple food items, including an assortment of beans, grains, seeds, and flour, condiments like butter, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, and hot sauce, vegetables include onions, garlic, and ginger, cooking oils, spices, potatoes and seasonal produce from our gardens, coffee, tea. When are gardens are producing this list expands to more fresh vegetables. Any additional specialty items you will need to purchase. If you have special dietary requirements, please advise us as soon as possible.
Before you come, you must know that we avoid strict regimentation yet offer supportive structure. At the Ecovillage Training Center you are in charge of your own learning experience. Often you will need to be self-directed and pro-active. If you need someone to hold your hand, or tell you what you should be doing and when you should be doing it, this probably isn't the place for you.
Apprenticeship FAQ
Q. What is a FAQ?
A. A FAQ is Internet jargon for a Frequently Asked Question.
Q. Do you have internet connections?
A. Yes, these are free, as are local phone calls. We have wireless high speed broadband. You will need a phone card for long distance calls unless you Skype. We do not provide any workstations for apprentices to use for email and internet surfing, so we receommend you bring your own laptop or wireless device.
Q. Will you accept apprentices from other countries?
A. Yes, but apprentices need to have sufficient English language skill to follow instructions accurately.
Q. Can you help me obtain a visa?.
A. Yes. We charge additionally for that service. But note that since 2001 the current administration in Washington has made obtaining visas to the US extremely difficult.
Q. How much work will I have to do?
A. Typically, we expect apprentices to do 30 hours of weekly activities, including any required training to understand that activity. Some weeks have more lengthy and intense schedules, depending on the weather, season and projects, but we balance extra work with extra play.
Q. What skills do I need?
A. You must be able to understand spoken English well enough to follow instructions. No other skills are required, though we do like to know what other skills you bring as we may employ them from time to time.
Q. Will I have to work very hard?
A. We are far more interested in efficiency, quality of work done, and enjoyment of the activity and the setting, than in how much energy you expend. If you want to do the minimum of work for what you can get in training, you are not thinking in a way that fits here. Neither is it useful to obsessively work. Right effort is a middle way. When you discover that, it is no longer effort, it is just you. The work should be a part of a good life.
Q. What activities will I be doing?
A. That’s a good question, but not one simply answered. We have so many useful things that can be done here that it is very easy for us to tailor a large part of an apprentice's assignments to meet the apprentice's goals. Garden apprentices will learn organic and biodynamic gardening, Construction apprentices will learn all aspects of natural building. Both will learn the principles of permaculture. Also, everyone here shares in the routine tasks, and not all of them are equally interesting, so we may use a chorewheel rotation
Q. How much decision-making leeway would I have as an apprentice?
A. Initially, very little. We will assign your tasks and provide whatever training is needed for you to complete them. As you become more attuned to our program, or where a certain type of experience would be helpful on your resume, we will assign a project that will be mostly your responsibility.
Q. Will I learn Permaculture Design as an apprentice?
A. Yes, but this is not a formal certification program. That is offered separately in June and July.
Q. I will need some income if I apprentice. How can I earn it?
A. Mainly, there are three ways.
1) The most obvious one is to get a part time job before you come, save up, and use that to join us for 4 weeks.
2) Write grants for various projects that we do not yet undertake due to lack of funds. The apprentice writes him/herself into the grant as some kind of assistant. We have material on grant writing and can help in the program narrative and budget development aspects of such projects. There is no point in thinking about option 2 in, say, an apprenticeship of only one month.
3) Before or after the apprenticeship program we may have limited staff opportunities. We pay $250 per week (or $150/wk if we provide you food and lodging).
Q. Can I get college credit for the program?
A. That depends on your college. We have provided accepted credit for many universities in the past. If your major field of study is somehow allied to permaculture or sustainable living, you may even be able to arrange special credit where no formal university credit policy exists. Our courses and programs offer credit towards a degree from Gaia University.
Q. Can I get an Americorps grant for this training program?
A: Possibly, depending on Americorps program requirements at the present time, but it is complex, and you will need to make your agreement with Americorps well in advance.
Q. Will you house and feed me?
A. Yes. We provide dormitory housing or campsites and full vegan meals. You will be asked to help maintain order and share kitchen duties. You may also have your own personal food specialities and will be given cupboard space for those in the kitchen. The only restriction we have is on dead animals. If you purchase meat or fish, you have to keep it in an outdoor cooler and cannot use our cuttlery, dishware, pots, or preparation and cleaning surfaces, because we maintain a kosher kitchen and do not combine meat and dairy products.
Q. What about my dog?
A. We are a wildlife sanctuary and do not permit domestic pets. You will have to kennel your dog or leave it with a friend.
Q. Do you have a drug policy?
A. We do not want illegal drugs, alcohol, dead animals or tobacco on our property, period. This is not a judgment regarding people who use these substances, simply an expression of how we relate to a high-visibility demonstration space that receives public (federal, state and inter-governmental) and private donor funding.
Q. What kinds of people are you looking for?
A. The most important traits are 1) absolute honesty and forthrightness and 2) Deep respect for private space and boundaries. 3) Almost as important is motivation and the desire to learn what we can teach. 4) As we have already suggested, the lazy person and the workaholic are equally inappropriate here. 5) We will probably become friends if you also have a sense of humor and a deep appreciation of beauty. A reverence for life would not hurt. 6) If you have the knack for knowing when to take initiative and when to come back for guidance, that is great, but a willingness to acquire this rare skill is almost as good. 7) We do not much care about race, color, sexual preference, etc., and we would not enjoy the company of people who make an issue of these matters. 8) We will rejoice in any skills you happen to bring, but we do not weigh them a whole lot in screening applicants. Your quality of character is our major interest.
Q. Sounds great! How do I sign up?
A. We have a fairly formal screening process. Obviously, screening is mutual and we put all the negative stuff we can think of out front so that we can avoid wasted time. To apply, fill out the online application. You can append a resume if you like. We will review the communication and make a decision. If you are accepted, you will be informed by email and your statement of goals may be later used in designing your work program.
Q. All this screening sounds like a lot of fuss. Is it OK if I just call and/or drop by and talk with you for a few hours and look your place over.
A. No. Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it. We have experience living in an "ecovillage zoo" and don’t like it. Because we receive thousands of inquiries, we communicate only by email and most of our responses are automated. It is not part of our personal lifestyle design to answer the same question 1000 times per year, even in the best humor. Because we are a demonstration site for sustainable living, we do welcome self-guided tours and we also take requests for guided tours, generally well in advance. Guided tours need to be a rain or shine commitment, as we divert time from other tasks to prepare for the tour.
Do you have any other questions? Please ask them.
Contact: ecovillage at thefarm dot org
Visit our current course schedule.
The Eco-Hostel is an old Farm house that has been recently renovated and expanded. The house was originally constructed by members of the Farm in the late 70's out of completely recycled materials. Our renovations have included three dormitories, four solar showers, rainwater collection, solar electricity, solar hot water, and wastewater recycling. We have a 2-story passive solar greenhouse with a third story observation deck.
Ecovillage Training Center
I would like to thank you for creating this space which has allowed me to grow in many ways. I did not know how many lessons on invisible architecture and zone zero would happen for me. My relationships have been all very lesson-packed. The courses have been fantastic and I feel like most of the economic value of this apprenticeship has been supported by them.
