Skills

 

POSSIBLE FIRST-YEAR APPRENTICE SKILLS

GARDEN
• Seed ordering
• Garden plan/log
• Garden rotation
• Cover crop and cover crop rotation
• Potting soil mix and flat preparation
• Sowing, raising transplants
• Outdoor sowings
• Cold frames/shade frames
• Greenhouse ventilation
• Transplanting
• Using seed drill for bed sowings
• Stirring and spraying BD sprays
• Fruit thinning/harvesting
• Identifying weeds, bugs
• Making and storing BD preps
• Succession sowing
• Cool weather crops, hot weather crops, timing
• Planting calendar
• Raising seedbeds, garden watering
• Trellising, peas and tomatoes
• Bird/insect protection
• Floating row covers
• Water pumps and irrigation system/garden sprinkler system, install and repair
• Cultivation, weeding, thinning
• Soil tillage and tilthing
• Thinning vegetables
• Making compost
• Using BD compost preps
• Fertilizing crop ground
• Lime/rock phosphate
• Harvesting vegetables, post- harvest care and handling

FARM
• Growing grains
• Haying                                                       
• Harvesting and storing grains
• Animal hays, cool and hot weather
• Feeding grains
• Irrigated alfalfa and red clover
• Field preparation
• Intensive grazing, electric fence
• Field irrigation
• General farm maintenance
• Perennial pastures, planting and managing
• Field crops and field crop rotation

LIVESTOCK
• Cows: breeding, feeding, calving, milking, castrating, butchering
• Sheep: breeding, feeding, lambing, shearing, castrating, foot trimming, butchering
• Chickens: feeding, grazing, housing and protection, egg collection and care
• Pigs: feeding, housing and protection, butchering
• Animal handling, safety and herding practices
• Sick animals, identifying and isolating
• Housing, bedding, and manure handling
• Building and maintaining fences
• Rotating to pasture
• Record keeping
• Birthing
• Health problems/treatments
• Selecting breeds, mates, culls

DRAFT HORSES
• Cleaning and trimming feet
• Grooming
• Handling at feed manger
• Feeding
• Safety
• Determining weight/condition
• Hitching
• Breeds and characteristics
• Driving drag sled                                  
• Observing and reading behavior
• Walking plow
• Bridles, bits and collars
• Harness, maintenance and basic repair
• Harnessing the horses
• Driving lines and driving line practice
• Commands, consistency and  communication
• Single driving in corral, solo with log drag
• Hitching, driving on cart
• Gee and haw turns
• Driving onto tongue and hooking
• Field work pattern with disc or roller

EQUIPMENT
• Solar electric
• Basic electrical system
• Solar hot water
• Household water systems
• Graywater
• Safety

BUSINESS SKILLS

FOOD PRESERVATION

HOSTING AND ORGANIZING CLASS VISITS

 

POSSIBLE SECOND-YEAR APPRENTICE SKILLS

• Conditioning horses for steady field work
• Primary tillage, heavy disc or plow
• Secondary tillage, light disc harrow
• Determining soil moisture/working conditions
• Planning work, timing
• Steps in preparation for planting
• Decomposing crop residue
• Field sowing with seed drill
• Field irrigation/managing soil moisture, culti-packer
• Row crop cultivation, walking cultivator, riding cultivator
• Mowing, raking hay
• Spreading compost with compost spreader
• Harvesting grain with grain binder
• Buck or dump rake
• Riding plow
• 3 to 4 horses abreast
• Preventing/treating harness sores
• Treating foot abscesses
• Giving shots/immunization
• Lubricating equipment