Stone Barns Center is a highly respected and well-known, due to its proximity to New York City, non-profit farm and educational center that used to be part of the estate of the oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. It has just announced that it will be offering summer apprenticeships in its greenhouse, which happens to be year-round, operating even in the deep chill of blistering New York winters.
To let Stone Barns explain it, “Through organized and methodical practice, the Summer Greenhouse Apprentices will gain the skills necessary to advance as greenhouse growers. As the apprentices proceed through the 6-month course, they will accumulate responsibilities in order to understand the greater intricacies of labor, economics and maintenance of the structure.” The typical week will include roughly 40 hours of a combination of field-based work, hands-on instruction and classroom study time.
A rundown of the things that you will learn at the Apprenticeship program are as follows:
- Weekly soil preparation
- Seeding and transplanting
- Harvesting and other horticultural activities
- Learning to work with tools and systems to support healthy and long-term resilience in the greenhouse
- Tracking greenhouse production
- Monitoring the system’s efficiency and quality
- Understanding the greater intricacies of labor, economics and maintenance of the structure
Luckily for all interested, no prior farming experience is required, though having some experience certainly can’t hurt. Additionally, you should have a good attitude and all those other flowery things that jobs like. The commitment is for 6 months, 5 days a week, with a stipend of $1,250 per month, which is a significant amount of time, so think on it.
To apply, send a cover letter and list of past experience to apprenticeships@stonebarnscenter.org. There are technically 2 apprenticeships, with the first running from May 5 to November 1, 2013. That program’s deadline is March 15, while the later program, which runs from June 2 to December 6, 2013, and its deadline is April 12. 2013.