Drumlin Farm’s Crops Apprentice Program offers 5 apprenticeships each year to train the next generation of farmers committed to sustainability. From April to mid-November, our apprentices learn how to plant a variety of crops, maintain soil health, manage a CSA and farmstand, market produce to restaurants, and supervise volunteers and student groups, all with sustainable values that exceed the organic standards.
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2005 crops staff
What is it like to be an apprentice at Drumlin Farm, and where do our apprentices go afterwards? We followed up with some former apprentices and asked them to share their Drumlin Farm stories.
Signe Porteshawver, 2011-2012
Porteshawver now grows medicinal herbs at Herb Pharm in Oregon. She loved her time at Drumlin, and says she “learned how to be a farmer” here. She loved knowing that she was providing food for other people, and felt like she was an integral part of the farming process.
“Drumlin influenced my career big time. I left with a solid understanding of production farming and the knowledge that I wanted to do it. I learned lots about efficiency, weed control, and quality control.” She also learned the importance of good management, and that sustainable farming was the career she really wanted to pursue.
Between Drumlin and Herb Pharm she worked at Newton Community Farm, where her skills from Drumlin Farm were greatly appreciated.
Laura Beth Resnick 2011
Courtesy photo from Laura Beth Resnick
Laura Beth started her own farm in Baltimore, Butterbee Farm. A cut-flower farm, its philosophy is “to grow beyond organically, sell locally, and work joyfully.” Butterbee Farm sells bulk flowers for events and also delivers flowers bimonthly to shareholders. It even has its own Flower School, where it teaches farmers about things like “Growing Edible Flowers” and “Flowers for Pest Resistance.”
Resnick credits Matt Celona with teaching her to have high standards for her produce and with showing her what she is capable of. She says that her time at Drumlin was a “better education than going to college,” and that, despite all the hard work and exhaustion, she “laughed more than I ever had.”
Jenny Beth Aloys, 2008
Courtesy photo from Jenny Beth Aloys
Aloys is currently the project manager for the Entrepreneur Garden Project at Sasha Bruce Youthwork in Washington, DC. The goal of the project is to “empower disadvantaged city youth through gardening, nutrition education, cooking, and entrepreneurship.” The kids learn how to grow their own produce and then sell it at local markets. The hope is that the students will eventually educate their “community about cooking, nutrition, and gardening.”
Aloys credits Drumlin with giving her a “good background in agriculture for my career.” At Drumlin, she realized that she wanted to incorporate farming into her profession. She loved eating as she worked and enjoying “the simple beauties of life.”
Between Drumlin and Sasha Bruce Youthwork, she served in the Peace Corps as an Environmental Volunteer in Tanzania, where she solidified her passion for farming.
Sky DeMuro, 2007
DeMuro currently works at University of California Santa Cruz’s Alan Chadwick Garden, where she helps manage and instruct adult students. The Chadwick Garden is part of UCSC’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.
DeMuro says that her time at Drumlin gave her a “solid, well-rounded experience of farming,” teaching her everything from weed management to direct marketing. She has had many different farming experiences, like an apprentice position at an educational farm in California, studying at UCSC, and managing her own organic farm, but to this day, she still tells people about her time at Drumlin, and even recommends that people apprentice here themselves.
We are proud of the paths our apprentices have taken and the impact our sustainable farming practices had on these and many other former apprentices. We look forward to following their progress and accomplishments in the future!
Guest author Libby Koger is a Drumlin Farm volunteer.