Sailing on the Apprenticeship

Hallowe'en was magical and glorious. I borrowed a costume at the last minute and went as a barbarian, which was pretty convincing. I kept looking around at all my friends together in the midst of a totally crazy party and realising just how lucky I am. I felt like Hallowe'en chose me.

Now we are on Vancouver Island visiting my family and checking out farms to work on next season. I will be so great to be close to my family next summer and share the bounty that we will grow.

Last year we really just jumped headfirst into our apprenticeship. We didn't have a good idea about what we wanted to learn or what was out there. Looking back over the season, I have no regrets. We learned so much, so fast and our experience at Sapo Bravo has put us in a great position to expand our skills and specialize further. Now we are an asset to whomever hires us because we need less training and have our own know-how to bring to the table.

If you are considering doing an organic farming apprenticeship I highly recommend going through Soil Apprenticeships. They are incredibly helpful and well informed about most of the farms in the program. Ask questions! Lots! Never assume anything. It's hard to explain to someone just how hard operating a farm can be and just how much and how hard you have to work.

Oftentimes you will be living closely with the farm family and it really helps to go visit a farm well beforehand to get a feel for how they operate and interact. Every farm is so different and there are dozens of ways to accomplish the same goals.

I'm really looking forward to learning about animals and bees this coming season and putting our knowledge of different ground crops to the test. We haven't confirmed our placement yet but we just visited these two amazing places: ALM Farm and Tugwell Creek Honey Farm in Sooke on Vancouver Island. Beautiful farms and people to be sure!

Sapo Bravo and East Van

We went to the farm a few days ago and it was everything we had imagined and more! Tucked into the side of a mountain up in the Fraser River Valley, the fruit trees were heavy with pink and white blossoms and the spring wildflowers were everywhere. Can't wait 'til peach time!

The farm is 60 acres split between three families. There are various houses, cabins, sheds and a large greenhouse. Curving rows of already growing garlic stretch out in terraces around the mountain slope. Commercial certified organic crops include garlic, onions, basil, 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, peaches, plums, and apricots. Not to mention a full family garden with everything from potatoes to kale to herbs.

Our cabin is adorable.

Here is Jay in the outdoor kitchen.

One room plus a loft bedroom, a huge deck and a little balcony. We have cold running water but no power (other than our trusty power pack and solar panel) and a squat toilet :).

We have an amazing view of the Fraser River from our deck.

We both can't wait to get out there and start growing things. We even have our own garden that is 4 times the size of our old garden at Glam Haus. There are already many herbs and flowers coming up as well as garlic and broccoli from the apprentices last year. We still have to decide what else to plant!

Now we are back in the city enjoying bike rides (I didn't realise how much I missed my bike until I was on it again!) and spending time with friends. I did my taxes yesterday... Jay is passing Elwood (our intrepid van) on to his new home today, which happens to be with folks who live in our old haus. Happy times.

Next on the block is to buy a used truck for the summer. We go to Calgary on the 1st of May for family visits and Edmonton on the 6th for Jay's little brother's wedding. And after that we go pretty much directly to Sapo Bravo with a short stop in Vancouver.

Life is full and busy. I can't complain.