Place: UCSC Farm and Alan Chadwick Garden, Santa Cruz California
Training language: English
Dates: The Apprenticeship is full-time (40 hours a week) and runs continuously from mid-April to mid-October annually. Must apply by October for those from the USA or Canada (or September for international students). Notification of acceptance is made in late December for U.S./Canadian applicants and in November for international applicants.
Duration: Six months.
Cost: Tuition for the 2007 program is $3,750, due in two installments. (check for updated costs through the contact below) The first half is due mid January and the second half is due the first day of the program. Upon arrival, apprentices purchase a set of their own tools and books for approximately $320, which they keep after completing the program. Other expenses include food costs of about $85/month; UCSC parking permit costs of about $45/month (if you bring a car); personal health insurance; and personal spending money.
Funding: We have a small fund supported by private donations specifically earmarked to promote diversity in the Apprenticeship. We are able to offer two to three tuition scholarships from this fund for U.S. residents of color or those who are economically disadvantaged.The Tuition Scholarship Application is due along with the Apprenticeship application. See website for these files.
Target groups and admission requirements: Applicants must be at least 18 years old. The six-month apprenticeship offers instruction and daily work experience in organic gardening and farming, focusing on ecological interactions amongst plants, soils, climate, insects, and pathogens. In a hands-on education approach, apprentices work alongside staff in the greenhouse, gardens, fields, and orchards, as well as attend lectures, demonstrations, and field trips. Apprentices are exposed to the different aspects of growing plants organically on both a hand-dug garden scale and a tractor-cultivated field scale. The apprentices selected to attend the course each year are interested in practical training that will prepare them to teach others and/or to run their own operations. In choosing individuals who will live and work together for 6 months, we are in effect creating a community. Out of the pool of applicants, we attempt to achieve a balance of interests, geographical and cultural origins, ages, and gender. Consequently, there is no one "preferred" type of applicant. We carefully consider each application in relationship to the entire pool of applicants. While the people selected share a strong interest in organic farming and gardening, they come from diverse backgrounds.
Training objectives: The goal of our program is to train future organic farmers, gardeners, teachers, and community leaders. Therefore, in our selection process we strive to choose the individuals who seem most prepared to maximize their training and to then use it for their work, to start their own operations, and/or to teach others.Since its founding in 1967, the Apprenticeship has developed into an internationally recognized program that blends the virtues of experiential learning with traditional classroom studies. Topics covered during the six-month course include soil management, composting, pest control, crop planning, irrigation, farm equipment, marketing techniques, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) practice
Training program: The Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture provides training in the concepts and practices of organic gardening and small-scale farming. This full-time program is held at the Center's 25-acre Farm and 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden on the UCSC campus. Run in conjunction with UCSC Extension, the Apprenticeship course carries 20 units of Extension credit for the approximately 300 hours of classroom instruction and 700 hours of in-field training and hands-on experience in the greenhouses, gardens, orchards, and fields. The Apprenticeship model of combining theoretical and practical instruction has been replicated both locally and internationally as apprentices go on to train others in hands-on projects. Graduates have also established their own commercial farms and market gardens, run community gardens for inner city and prison populations, and developed school gardening programs. Many graduates take part in international development projects, including programs in Nepal, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and throughout Central and South America. Others have raised the standards of the organic food industry through work with certification programs and retailers.
Contact details: For more information and Apprenticeship Applications
Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
(831) 459-2321
email: apprenticeship@ucsc.edu