I think SOIL's greatest virtue is the flexibility it offers applicants in creating an apprenticeship that's right for them. However, the program's lack of structure can leave the first-time applicant a little clueless about what to expect. Below is the exact arrangement Vaness and I had with our hosts/teachers, to give applicants one example of how an apprenticeship might be structured:
Type of Farm: Family farm; produced organic beef, lamb, chicken, eggs, field crops, berries
Apprenticeship Duration: I arrived April 2, but Vaness couldn't make it until June 15. We left together on October 24.
Hours/week: On a typical weekday we worked from 7:00 am until 6 or 7 pm, with at least 2, and often 3 to 4 hours worth of breaks during the day. On Saturdays we were up at 6 am and helped run a market booth, which ended at 1 pm. Generally we took it easy after that. Sundays were usually days off.
Accommodations: lived in house with family of four. Shared all meals. See blog entry on accommodations.
Stipend: $25/week each, plus a $250 bonus (each) at year's end (plus room and generous board).
Other benefits: we were given 3/4 acre of land on which to grow our own food. We were free to sell this food at our own booth at the local market. We were also allowed to borrow a vehicle most times we needed it, including for the odd weekend trip out of town.
Typical Day: There was no typical day, but our farm had lots of animals, thus every day began and ended with chores--feeding and cleaning up after animals.
Type of learning: hands-on/informal. We had no classroom time, did no projects, experiments, or reports, and mainly used informal conversation to answer our many questions.
That about sums up the conditions of our apprenticeship. Remember, apprenticeships vary drastically!
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