Mountain Gardens / Apprenticeships

"So, to remember our changing garden, we
Are linked as children in a circle dancing..."
-- Auden

    I have openings (housing) for 6 full-time, live-in apprentices, from mid-March to late October. I'm also open to shorter stays (WWOOFers, college students on break, etc.) - but you may have to bring a tent to sleep in. (Part-time apprenticeships are discussed below)
    Full time means 30 hours / week, plus a share of the chores (like cooking, cleaning up, firewood). I provide room and board - basic staples, mostly from our neighborhood food coop, plus what we grow & gather. Sorry, no stipend.
     The work is extremely varied and creative, including in addition to the herb growing, seed saving and medicinal preparations mentioned elsewhere on this website, vegetable garden and food preservation, rough carpentry, cob, bamboo and rockwork, maintaining and upgrading photovoltaic and irrigation systems, wildcrafting, library research, mapping and record-keeping and all the varied tasks which compose a 'simple' lifestyle. Recent projects as well as our advanced apprentice program, are described at news
    The botanic garden, research library & apothecary, and adjacent natural environments add up to a unique educational opportunity, which I created for myself but delight in sharing.
    If you are interested in applying, please email or post a letter describing yourself, educational, employment and relevant life experience, skills and interests, and objectives / goals in working here, as well as any dietary requirements or food avoidances. (Our diet is generally vegetarian by default, although we enjoy wild game when occasionally available)
    A visit prior to making a commitment is best for both of us and required except in unusual circumstances.
Sorry, no dogs.

Part-time apprenticeships: I am very open to people who live in the area (we are about 1 hour from Asheville) and would like to apprentice one (or more) days / week, but not live here. Housing is limited, but interesting work is not. Most of the time, it should be possible to accommodate particular interests (garden-making, medicinal herb cultivation, herbal preparations, etc.)

__________________________________________________

APPRENTICE PROGRAM (2009)

I have been having apprentices at Mountain Gardens for more than ten years. At first, the intention was the same as most farm / garden apprentice programs: to get help for the tasks that we do in exchange for providing a learning opportunity. For many years my goal was to have three or four apprentices. Recently, I have been exploring the 'carrying capacity' of our facilities, having six and sometimes as many as eight interns. At the same time the focus has been shifting, with education becoming more central to my goals, to the point where I have begun thinking of Mtn Gdns as primarily a school.

From the very beginning of Mtn Gdns, 35 years ago, my goal has been to develop, demonstrate and promote a radical alternative way of living on earth, which I call Paradise Gardening; and over this time I have only become more convinced of the importance and urgency of this work. Turning 65 last year of course adds another dimension of urgency.

Elsewhere on this website, you can find plenty of information about the philosophy and how it works out in practice here. Over the years, I have assembled an extensive collection of resources (books, tools, apparatus, plants) which, combined with our situation (adjacent to the National Forest, at the foot of the tallest mountains in eastern N. America) make Mtn. Gdns. a unique laboratory to develop a truly sustainable way of living. If your idea of a good time (the best time) is to integrate your mind, body and spirit in such an endeavor, in the company of like minds, I invite you to join us.

At this point and going forward, I envision Mtn Gdns as an ever-shifting community of individuals dedicated to developing and maintaining a Paradise Garden, and learning how to do it by doing it. Thinking in terms of an 'apprenticeship program', I realize, has blinded me to the much more appropriate community / fellowship model.
Why community? Because we all have 'social needs.' Because working together with friends on a common, shared project is among life's greatest pleasures. Because developing and maintaining a Paradise Garden is a group project. Because the basic unit of human society is not the individual, or the family, but the band.

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"So, to remember our changing garden, we Are linked as children in a circle dancing..." -- Auden I have openings (housing) for 6 full-time, live-in apprentices, from mid-March to late October. I'm also open to shorter stays (WWOOFers, college students on break, etc.) - but you may have to bring a tent to sleep in. (Part-time apprenticeships are discussed below) Full time means 30 hours / week, plus a share of the chores (like cooking, cleaning up, firewood). I provide room and board - basic staples, mostly from our neighborhood food coop, plus what we grow & gather. Sorry, no stipend. The work is extremely varied and creative, including in addition to the herb growing, seed saving and medicinal preparations mentioned elsewhere on this website, vegetable garden and food preservation, rough carpentry, cob, bamboo and rockwork, maintaining and upgrading photovoltaic and irrigation systems, wildcrafting, library research, mapping and record-keeping and all the varied tasks which compose a 'simple' lifestyle. Recent projects as well as our advanced apprentice program, are described at news The botanic garden, research library & apothecary, and adjacent natural environments add up to a unique educational opportunity, which I created for myself but delight in sharing. If you are interested in applying, please email or post a letter describing yourself, educational, employment and relevant life experience, skills and interests, and objectives / goals in working here, as well as any dietary requirements or food avoidances. (Our diet is generally vegetarian by default, although we enjoy wild game when occasionally available) A visit prior to making a commitment is best for both of us and required except in unusual circumstances. Sorry, no dogs. Part-time apprenticeships: I am very open to people who live in the area (we are about 1 hour from Asheville) and would like to apprentice one (or more) days / week, but not live here. Housing is limited, but interesting work is not. Most of the time, it should be possible to accommodate particular interests (garden-making, medicinal herb cultivation, herbal preparations, etc.) __________________________________________________ APPRENTICE PROGRAM (2009) I have been having apprentices at Mountain Gardens for more than ten years. At first, the intention was the same as most farm / garden apprentice programs: to get help for the tasks that we do in exchange for providing a learning opportunity. For many years my goal was to have three or four apprentices. Recently, I have been exploring the 'carrying capacity' of our facilities, having six and sometimes as many as eight interns. At the same time the focus has been shifting, with education becoming more central to my goals, to the point where I have begun thinking of Mtn Gdns as primarily a school. From the very beginning of Mtn Gdns, 35 years ago, my goal has been to develop, demonstrate and promote a radical alternative way of living on earth, which I call Paradise Gardening; and over this time I have only become more convinced of the importance and urgency of this work. Turning 65 last year of course adds another dimension of urgency. Elsewhere on this website, you can find plenty of information about the philosophy and how it works out in practice here. Over the years, I have assembled an extensive collection of resources (books, tools, apparatus, plants) which, combined with our situation (adjacent to the National Forest, at the foot of the tallest mountains in eastern N. America) make Mtn. Gdns. a unique laboratory to develop a truly sustainable way of living. If your idea of a good time (the best time) is to integrate your mind, body and spirit in such an endeavor, in the company of like minds, I invite you to join us. At this point and going forward, I envision Mtn Gdns as an ever-shifting community of individuals dedicated to developing and maintaining a Paradise Garden, and learning how to do it by doing it. Thinking in terms of an 'apprenticeship program', I realize, has blinded me to the much more appropriate community / fellowship model. Why community? Because we all have 'social needs.' Because working together with friends on a common, shared project is among life's greatest pleasures. Because developing and maintaining a Paradise Garden is a group project. Because the basic unit of human society is not the individual, or the family, but the band. ---------------------------------------------------------------------	APPRENTICESHIPS 2012 I expect to have openings for 4-5 apprentices (several are returning from last year). There are always more applicants than openings; selection is based primarily on relevant experience: the more you bring to the table, the more you will take away. To apply please write me joehollisherbs@gmail.com your age and present location education past high school employment history gardening experience other relevant experience / skills (E.g. cooking, construction, herbs, primitive living, computer, office, writing, photography...see below) applying for the whole season, or session? available for visit / interview? dietary restrictions? your particular goals for this apprenticeship The information below and at left is still relevant. ---------------------------------------------------------- APPRENTICE PROGRAM 2011 This year, I am dividing the apprentice program into three sessions, with a one week break between sessions. You can apply for any one, two or all three sessions; you can also take a session and then, by mutual agreement, join the following session. ( I'm counting on at least some continuity, otherwise it will be tedious to teach how everything works here, where everything is kept, etc. three times.) The work commitment is 6 hours / day (9-12, 2-5), M-F. Weekends off, plus up to three workdays off per session. If you need more time off than that, or can't arrive for the first day of a session, please apply for a different session. Session 1: March 14 - May 20 Session 2: May 30 - Aug 5 Session 3: August 15 - Oct 28 These are advanced apprenticeships. I imagine the applicants to have sampled a variety of approaches to an earth-based life, and ready to go deeper into a particular specialty. This year, each apprentice will be in charge (manager) of one (or more) components of the project, these are listed below. In your application, please indicate which one(s) of these you are applying for. The general pattern of work is: all together in the morning doing maintenance / development / harvest in some part of the garden; afternoons, individuals or small groups working on your particular area(s). Of course, everyone will get an opportunity to do all the different tasks: make tinctures, plant vegetables, build with cob, cook dinner; the role of the manager is to know what the goals are and make sure the work gets done, correctly and on time. In addition, this year each of you will create a book for the area(s) you are managing. This will be part instruction manual, record-keeping, diary, personal observations, art & poetry, scrapbook, etc. and will be added to from year to year, but this year's apprentices will be setting it up and setting the tone and I hope for a lot of creativity. We will allocate an afternoon a week to working on these books, records and calendars. Hopefully, one of our group will be able to publish all this (it will add up to an operating manual for a Paradise Garden) on the website as we go along. This is important: at present Mtn Gdns relies on the fact that I know where everything is and how everything works; over the next few years my chief goal is to set it up to be self-maintaining, even though the personnel are constantly changing. (I'll be 70 in 2012). I will work closely with apprentices / managers to share and document what I know. There will be a weekly meeting at which each of you will report on progress, problems, etc in your area, and we will allocate work projects for the week. Although this program offers no $ stipend, I do undertake to provide whatever you need: seeds & plants, supplies, tools & apparatus, books and help. What you can achieve should be limited only by your own ability and the number of hours in the day. For the past two years, we have put a lot of energy into enlarging the garden and are now in a position to greatly expand both food production and plantings of perennial herbs, so those will be major themes this year. Another will be water catchment and usage: between climate change (dry summers) and garden expansion, water has become a limiting factor; we'll be digging / installing ponds, channeling runoff, harvesting rainwater, etc. Other goals for the year are indicated below. Taken altogether, the following constitute my latest utopian vision of how a Paradise Garden might work. HERB PROPAGATION & CULTIVATION- New areas available for planting: expand medicinal herb collection from a few specimens (for propagation) to a small planting (for harvest) of important species. Landscaping with herbs (vines, shrubs, trees, etc) Planting / germination experiments / record keeping. Experiments w/cultural practices (Eg danggui). Prepare & submit herb samples for analysis. Trial marketing of fresh herbs. INTENSIVE FRUIT & VEG - New coldframes, greenhouses: 'kitchen garden', modelled on oriental and French intensive food production. Make compost / develop vermiculture / experiment with compost tea, burnt earth-biochar, urine & wood-ash fertilizer. Inaugurate intensive fruit production on new S facing terraces: cordons, espaliers / propagation including grafting / landscaping with fruit (hedges, arbors, strawberry walls) WILD GARDEN - Complimentary to above: develop harvesting, propagation and semi-cultivation methods and calendar for a wide variety of edible & medicinal plants naturalized here. Develop selected choice wildfood plants as 'gourmet' crops. Increase offerings of seeds & plants of wildfood species. NURSERY - Propagate by seed, division, cuttings, layering and grafting the plants needed for MG. Produce container plants for sale at herb events. Seed storage / germination experiments. Record-keeping and sharing (website). Formulate potting mixes for garden and woodland plants. HERBAL PREPARATIONS- Work with fresh garden / wildcrafted herbs and Chinese dried herb apothecary.. Develop formulas. Make wide variety of herbal preps: 'herbal CSA'. Develop herb tea line based on extract-enriched Gynostemma. Research 'mountain herbs' as specialties. Develop tonic/longevity specialty. Develop & promote 'village apothecary / self-help health center' for our neighborhood. FOOD- New wildfood books: timing / part used. Develop cuisine and calendar: MG cookbook, week-by-week, wildfoods, perennial vegetables, oriental specialties, 'wild mountain vegetables.'. Coordinate w/Lantern Restaurant (ABTech?), marketing? (internet). Grocery shopping, kitchen supervision. Fermentation & preserving. 'Medicated cuisine' with tonic herbs. SEEDS- Restore & improve seed bank. Seed collection calendar. Efficient drying & storage. Update internet list. Seed germination experiments & record-keeping BEEKEEPER- MUSHROOM CULTIVATOR- BAMBOO / WOODLAND CRAFTS- Trellises, fences and bamboo/cob garden walls. Living willow hedges & sculpture, bentwood arches & rustic furniture. Bamboo/locust camping shelters. Bamboo & willow propagation & cultivation / develop plant collection with new varieties. COB BUILDING - Supervise construction of another earth-sheltered cob / sapling dome for apprentice residence. Develop techniques for freestanding cob / bamboo garden walls for shelter and visual separation. Make bricks for mass heater. Cob bake oven and rocket stoves. WATER- Organize water system. Water collection: from branch (stream) and rainwater; filtration; storage. Ponds for ornament & water storage. Create a variety of wetland habitats, develop plant collection (useful species for pond, bog, marsh) ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, Solar cooker / herb drier, firewood (rocket stoves, cob oven/heaters), methane from outhouse? Upgrade photovoltaics. Solar water heater WEBSITE /OUTREACH/WORKSHOPS, We could be putting out much more free info about our many innovative projects, but I don't even know how to put up a photo. Outreach to schools & universities, Workshop schedule & promotion: RESEARCH & DATA, 1000 most useful spp. database, garden map, labels & guidebook to garden. DOCUMENTATION - Writer, photographer __________________________________________ A PARADISE GARDEN COMMUNITY At the moment, there is one other 'permanent' (i.e. open-ended, long term) resident here, Steve. Steve lives in an inspiring house which he built for himself last year: an earth-covered cob dome which cost him about $100 (see pix and info elsewhere on the website). Steve is our builder - any projects / problems with buildings are Steve's department. (He's also a big help with plumbing, wiring, felling trees when necessary, and many other things.) Most of Steve's time is his own. When Mtn Gdns has a project which needs him, he's on it; otherwise he works on his own projects (mostly developing his cob building techniques). The last few weeks he's been doing a carpentry job for neighborhood friends and I've hardly seen him. My vision of a Paradise Garden community is a band of individuals, dedicated to the common, shared project, each taking responsibility for a particular aspect of the work. These are the niches which I find most relevant here: Gardener: overseeing propagation and planting, garden design, nursery and seed collection Herbalist, formulations, extractions, med. herb harvest, possibly prescribing Water: streams, ponds, wetlands; rainwater harvesting & storage, plumbing & irrigation Bamboo and woodland crafts: garden walls, trellises, baskets, willow crafts Cob & stone: garden walls, sculptures, masonry stoves Fruit: growing, pruning, harvest; espalier, bush fruit, vines Alternative energy: solar and hydro, wiring, electric system solar oven, hot water Soil fertility, compost making , cover crops, insects & disease problems website, photography, design, mapping, data recording, publishing Food: new crops: wildfood, oriental tonic foods; menu, food preservation, fermentation Education: outreach, workshops, tours, publishing, theatre Beekeeper honey & honey products, royal jelly All of these should be able to generate private income for the individual (The assumption is that if you live in a Paradise Garden, with housing, food, medicine, and utilities (lights, phone, internet) provided, you won't need a whole lot of money), as well as a share to Mtn Gdns: Although our goal is to detach ourselves from the $$ economy, and reattach our lives to the local ecosystem / Gaia, we still have to earn some money: for what food we can't grow, phone, taxes, tools & supplies - this is also a community project, and the various and interesting ways I have developed by which we earn income are also described elsewhere on the website. AN EVER-SHIFTING COMMUNITY Meanwhile, while waiting for these perhaps mythical long-term residents, the reality is that those who come are here for a gardening year (or less). So, we will pretend. Everyone will take on one or more of these roles (assignement based ideally on your experience, or interest and willingness to learn - please indicate preference(s) when applying). So that the next person who takes on your role can build on what you've done and learned, we'll be starting a book for each niche, an 'operating manual' and journal. This could be a handwritten or we could use the computer, in any case apprentices for 2009 should anticipate quite a bit of writing / data entry (it's a good way to learn). Which leads to A SCHOOL The goal of our ever-shifting community is to develop a Paradise Garden and live in it, and to learn how to do it by doing it, and to share what we learn. I have assembled an extraordinary collection of resources. We are all students and all teachers. Learning - developing your knowledge and skills - should be your primary reason for coming. Preference will be given to applicants who bring new skills and knowledge. Having completed at least one gardening apprenticeship (or equivalent life experience) is a prerequisite. ******************************************* VISITING / WWOOFING If we have room, you are welcome to visit for up to 2 weeks, extendable by mutual agreement. Visitors should anticipate sleeping in a tent.

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