About the Farm
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Grey Arrow Farm is a young family farm. Andrea and Denis, along with their five children, are growing clean, healthy produce for their CSA, restaurants, and community in Camrose, Alberta. They grow approximately 55 types of vegetables and herbs over 2.5 acres of cultivated land on their beautiful 35 acre oasis in the Alberta prairies. They are situated on a serene lake, with paths and forest groves, and a Saskatoon berry orchard to enjoy. Their farm is just a 10 minutes drive to Camrose and a 45 minute drive to the city of Edmonton. They are partnered with a number of local artisan coffee shops and businesses (in both Camrose and Edmonton) where they distribute their produce bundles to their members each week. They have developed our program over the last four years to be an invested local food experience.
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About the Apprenticeship
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From Andrea and Denis:
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“Our goal at Grey Arrow Farm is to steward the land, cultivate connection, inspire a love for good food, and to feed our local community. We are grateful we get to do so!”
An apprentice (single or a couple) would be an integral part of the farm— a constant contributor alongside Andrea and Denis during the farm season (6 month season) in the field and all daily operations.
The apprentice would work alongside Andrea and Denis, receiving training and helping to accomplish:
prepping the fields
applying compost teas and organic preparations
seeding and transplanting
laying tarps and irrigation
helping put up high tunnels (makeshift greenhouses)
trellising + pruning -weeding (using hoes, hands, small machinery, and flame; sometimes -working alone, sometimes alongside Andrea and Denis and the kids/other employees)
harvesting produce
washing, packing produce
curing vegetables for storage
field cleanup at the end of growing season
harvesting, packing up, and storing vegetables for the winter
As this is a CSA farm, apprentice will also be helping directly with the CSA program, which involves:
packing weekly veggie boxes
assisting with drop-offs
assisting in hosting weekly Garden Time evenings with CSA members. Members come and get their hands dirty in the garden for 3 hours, learning how their food is grown, and helping to conquer the workload (having confidence, enthusiasm, and being sociable are necessary elements because of this on Grey Arrow Farm!)
Additional tasks that may be required:
tractor mowing around the farm
helping with property upkeep
Bonus additions Andrea and Denis are happy to teach if apprentice has interest in learning:
Farm marketing
developing a customer base
on-boarding your community
Creating a kick-ass CSA program
Networking and creating partnerships to further your farm
As part of the apprenticeship, you will meet with other apprentices across Alberta who are part of the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship program. Field days, learning opportunities and potlucks will be planned with this group at each host’s farm. You will also be invited to attend the 2023 Organic Alberta Conference.
