at MOUNTAIN GARDENS

apprentice - time: 30 hrs/ week plus 10 hrs / week for personal, gdn-related, project

work together 3 hrs, individually 3 hrs plus cooking / cleaning/ firewood & other chores in other words, this is a full-time job; please don't come with the expectation of also finding part time work for income (That said, your weekends are your own to do with as you like, which could include earning a little supplemental cash helping the neighbors)

-vacations: 2 weeks (10 workdays), by mutual and prior arrangement

-I provide room and board (basic foods - you all do the cooking)

-lessons & learning opportunities: evening lectures, day apprentice workshops, plant labelling & mapping, garden tour / plant walks, wildcrafting expeditions, extensive research library,

-no dogs; no tobacco habits

-selection process: an interview and visit are necessary prior to any commitment.

My criteria include: likelihood that you will stay for (enjoy) the entire season (seriousness of intent, prior history, apparent suitability) what relevant skills / talents and experience you bring: gardening, nursery, construction, food preparation & preserving, simple (neo-primitive) living;computer / web, artistic, musical,organizational, handy(wo)man, botany, chemistry, hard physical labor, communal living, etc.

-Some of my projects for 2003:

• *Labelling, mapping and cataloging the plant collection
• *developing some permanent campsites around the property
• *solar shower
• *making woodland beds for native herb propagation
• *finish the greenhouse / herb drier complex
• *thatch pavilion roof
• *repair hot tub and finish shelter (bamboo work)
• *visitor's center / toolshed in lower garden, adjacent pool and rockwork

-each apprentice will be in charge of a particular aspect of the work: kitchen / food preparation and preserving vegetable garden building / construction maintenance ( water and photovoltaic systems, etc.) herb shop (prescriptions, tinctures and other preparations, etc.) computer / website and record-keeping

(note that you don't need to be an expert, or do all the work yourself; "being in charge of" means being aware of, thinking about, and organizing the work; all of us will help you. Everyone gets to be / has to be a 'chief' (kitchen chief, building chief, etc.) - if you feel you are not ready for this kind of role, I encourage you to get another year of experience under your belt before applying.

-each apprentice will be given responsibility for a particular area of the garden (often, the area around your dwelling). This will include maintenance (weeding, mulching, pruning), planting, rockwork (walls, steps, paths), trellis-making, labelling, seed-gathering and other harvests, etc.

-each apprentice will undertake a personal project, something which interests you and is also relevant to Mtn Gdns; project to be defined by mutual consultation and completed over the course of the summer (time for this will be included in the schedule). A few examples:

• Photo records of plant collection / garden / process (before & after pix of projects) - organized and posted to website
• Vegetable dyeing experiments from woodland & garden, various mordants and fibers, producing samplebook
• Native wildfoods, producing recipebook
• Research and report on a particular herb (propagation and cultivation experiments, harvest, processing, etc.) or health problem (researching, developing and producing herbal remedies).
• Natural fibres / basketry. Extract fibre and produce cordage from a range of native or garden plants; produce sample book.
• Field ecology project
• Organize and develop record-keeping system: library, seed collection, plant collection, herb preparations
• Website development, E.g. virtual garden tour
• Alternative building or energy project: E.g. bamboo craft, micro-hydro installation, thatching, clay construction
• Make a garden product (food, herbal, seeds, etc) and market it (manufacture, label, promote, etc)
• Teahouse project: develop menu, promote and carry out a series of garden teas (A profit-sharing arrangement will be worked out for any income-producing project)

Joe Hollis (828) 675-5664

Mountain Gardens joehollis@mailexcite.com

3020 Whiteoak Creek Rd webpages.charter.net/czar207196/garden.htm

Burnsville, NC 28714