More about the apprenticeship…
Schedule
We run a 5 day, full-time program that helps pattern apprentices to effectively learn and efficiently work on a number of projects in a relatively short amount of time.
This is the schedule with our current pattern for daily work and learn sessions.
Sunday, Monday or Tuesday
- Work at your host site if you are part of the residential program. Projects and workday are determined by each host and will vary with site.
- Free time. Past apprentices have been able to find random gigs, farm work, etc. during days off. However, FLPCI strongly encourages you to value the importance of time off. The program can be rather intense and draining and it is worth figuring out how to finance your experience so you can fully focus on being a participant.
Wednesday
- Community Design (non-violent communication, leadership, personal goals, etc.)
- Zones 0, 1 & 2 work (gardening, compost, canning & preserving, fermentation, cheese making, etc.)
- Community Dinner
Thursdays
- Ecology (structure, biology, succession dynamics, mimicking in design, etc.)
- Design Skills (Sit spot, journaling, tracking, mapping, etc.)
- Zones 3, 4 & 5 work (food forests, pasture, forestry, orchards, earthworks, coppice, etc.)
Friday
- Field trips to local vegetable and animal farms, forestry operations, etc.
Saturday
- PDC Organizing (preparation of classroom, kitchen, toilets, showers, waste, camping, signage and information, access, etc.)
- Zones 1 & 2 work (carpentry, animals, gardens, food forests, earth plastering, etc.)
Host sites
Each of the host sites will do their best to provide rustic accommodations to their guests. You should be prepared with a decent, rain-proof tent for sleeping at any of these sites. Some are giving up a bit of home privacy to meet your basic needs. Others are investing time, money and effort to set you up.
All of our hosts look forward to the new energy and personalities that you will bring to their land and homes. They are also looking forward to your contribution of labor to their projects. Apprentices are expected to complete 8 full days of work in exchange for the 9 weeks of their stay. Meeting this obligation will enrich your time on the land and will reflect well on Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute’s role in the community. Each Wednesday we will meet for dinner and check-in with the FLPCI staff about our work at our home-sites.
Host sites include Cayuta Sun and other nearby neighbors including a green builder, a basket weaver, and other rural farmsteads involved in home-scale agriculture.
Transportation
Cayutaville is relatively remote for the Finger Lakes region. We encourage apprentices who have cars to bring them. A car is not required but will make your life much easier. Most of the apprenticeship program is within a few miles of Cayuta Sun, but field trips and shopping for supplies will require that the apprentices organize among themselves to share driving and auto expenses. FLPCI will reimburse apprentices 50 cents per mile for travel to program sites more than 10 miles from Cayuta Sun.
Food
Apprentices are encouraged to purchase, prepare and plan their meals collectively. The Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute will purchase one CSA share for all. Sunday and Tuesday mornings are an excellent time to visit the Ithaca Farmer’s market for locally grown foods. The Greenstar Food Coop, another good source for local and organic products, is open everyday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in Ithaca. Good Groceries is a smaller health food and organic products store in Watkins Glen. Each home site will have their own arrangement for harvesting vegetable, fruit, eggs, dairy, and meat if available.
Most of the home sites do not have refrigeration for themselves or their guests. Plan to use dried goods and fresh products that require some planning and adaptation.
During the design certification course all your meals (except the one day off) will be provided.
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