About the Farm
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Reclaim Organics is a multi-enterprised certified organic market garden. We grow microgreens year round indoors, cut flowers and vegetables seasonally, and process seasonal product into preserves and pickles. Ryan and Brittany began their farm 8 years ago in Edmonton on vacant land throughout the Whyte Avenue area. Four years ago they returned to Ryan’s family farm 1 mile from Pigeon Lake and changed how it operated from conventional animal and grain to organic market garden. They sell their product through 4 marketing streams, CSA box, wholesale to retailers, wholesale direct to restaurants and farmers markets.
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They work within the organic standards to ensure that both the least harm comes to the environment while farming but also trying to adapt their food system to be stronger and healthier for the next generation. One priority they have is increasing biodiversity (except gophers). They grow several hundred varieties of plants on their land and as a result have seen increased insect, pollinator, bird and mammalian activity as they feed and are housed in these ecosystems. They plan their land around ecosystem management to provide soil, plant and animal health and habitat. They do have things they want to keep improving on such as weed management practices and minimizing tillage.
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About the Apprenticeship
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An apprentice would likely be one of 6-8 seasonal staff members. They will be the right-hand person in the growing of vegetables and flowers on farm. They would be included in some planning and starting transplants indoors and in greenhouses. They will transplant and seed crops in the spring as part of a team using machinery on farm including waterwheel transplanters, tractors and hand seeders. Apprentices may be required to take soil and water samples and work with lab results to better understand soil health and improve on it. Soil will be amended using certified organic amendments based on those tests as well as add compost and other organic matter.
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2022 will be the first year with large hoop houses and an apprentice will have an opportunity to learn how to grow plants in hoop houses and possibly building greenhouses. Irrigation and polyculture installation will also be worked on in the spring.
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Throughout the summer months the apprentice will be taught and get to practice irrigating crops, crop maintenance, harvesting crops for a variety of market preferences, and post harvest handling for those crops (cold chain, washing, packaging etc.).
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In the fall, Reclaim will be renovating the cold storage system, harvesting storable vegetables, and prepping for 2022.
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The apprentice will learn to drive tractors, ATVs, and cube vans. Apprentices will be taught about microgreen growing from bottom to top. Most importantly, the apprentice will learn about the back end of the operation. They will do some office work training in the spring early on to see what Ryan and Brittany do and may be assigned some tasks to help them learn more about marketing and sales to bookkeeping, cost of goods, and finances. This will not be many hours of their work but is crucial to their development in the agriculture industry.
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Reclaim wants to help advance the current and the next generation of agrarians. They are hoping to grow their farm into a collective and have begun taking the first step by giving access to land to other budding farmers. Part of hosting apprentices is to find others interested in this collective and advancing this chapter of the farm. They want apprentices to help us develop this idea into a reality and hopefully demonstrate the same commitment to regenerative agriculture that Ryan and Brittany have,
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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 2022 Organic Alberta Conference.
As a farm, they want to become a collective of like minded regenerative growers helping each other out and using the land and energy that they have cooperatively.
