Are you an aspiring young farmer who wants experience in the growing flowers for wholesale, dried arrangements and herbal teas using ecological practices?Busy Bea Florals could be the apprenticeship for you!
About the Farm
Busy Bea Florals grow dried flowers and herbal teas. They are entering their fifth season on 1/3 of an acre east of Edmonton in Beaver County, after sharing land for the first four years of business.
There are projects for building up infrastructure such as processing facilities, storage, and workspaces.
Their dried goods sales season is generally from September to June, with some wholesale of fresh flowers to florists from June – September.
Busy Bea Florals got their start in the YA Apprenticeship program, and the relationships that we built through the program are the foundation of our success. They want to be able to provide those same experiences for other new farmers. Mentorship requires significant trust and investment from both parties with great reward.
Be sure to check out Busy Bea Florals on social media!
About the Apprenticeship
Dried florals and tea season runs year round, you’ll be joining Busy Bea during their busy months April to October. You’ll be involved in all aspects of growing, harvesting and drying plants for teas and floral arrangement. They start their our own seedlings in February and continue nurturing them until May. The summer months are spent growing, harvesting, drying, and processing the flowers and teas. There will be opportunities to learn about floral arrangements and mixing of dried tea blends.
Mentorship comes during quality time spent together weeding and tending to the beautiful plants. Independence is also encouraged and at Busy Bea and they understand that mistakes are part of the learning process that comes with that growing independence.
The apprentice is encouraged to actively participate in all aspects of farm life as it means a well rounded experience that will benefit their future farm enterprises.
You’ll have the opportunity to gather with other apprentices across the Prairies 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.
About the Farm Mentors
The apprentice will be working alongside a variety of folks. Josephine is on the land full time and will take on the majority of the mentorship role. Josephine is an artistic generalist, which is what makes growing and playing with flowers such a great fit! She plays guitar, sings, knits, artistic mending, sewing, and pysanky writing. She is super outgoing, but enjoys solitary time on the farm too.
Her husband Collin works in the city during the day but is around during evenings-weekends working in the garden and on general property maintenance. He enjoys technical work and building systems, which is super useful on the farm! He also has a music diploma in Jazz Drums Performance. He makes time for various musical projects throughout the year.
Susan, Josephine’s mom is almost always around too. She has over a decade of experience as a commercial beekeeper, is a skilled gardener, and our resident pro builder/fixer-upper. She is a great person to learn from too!
Skills this farm has to teach
The following skills are being offered by Busy Bea Florals. While you’ll get exposure to many of these areas, it is likely that not all will be covered. Apprentices will work to identify the skills they want to develop to a learning plan with their mentor.
| BIODIVERSITY OF FLORA & FAUNA | dRIED HERBS & TEA BLENDING |
|---|---|
| market gardening | Seed saving |
| assessing soil health | Biodiversity & RegeNErative AGRICULTURE |
| Florals propagation | cut flower production & sale |
| rainwater harvesting | compost/compost tea brewing |
| Farmers Markets | irrigation set-up/use |
| Farm start-up | Customer care |
Skills Required of the Apprentice
Curious, friendly and self-driven person who is willing to do repetitive tasks, and work outdoors in all sorts of weather. The ability to lift, bend and move with the work. Planning and organization is a growing edge for the business this year, the ability to adapt to changes and communicate needs is highly recommended. A class 5 driving license, and a love of campfires and community potlucks will make the season extra sweet.
Housing, Wages, and Duration
There is a 10×12 cabin in a clearing that will be available for our apprentice to have space to themselves. It will be simply outfitted with power, a bed, desk and a place to hang your clothes.
Shared amenities in the house including kitchen, bathroom with a shower, washing machine and clothes line. There is internet at the main house and doesn’t currently stretch to the cabin. There will be access to an outhouse for the cabin.
There is access to all the garden vegetables. We enjoy cooking and sharing meals. We would like shared meals to be part of our apprentices’ experience of the farm, and are open to what that could look like.
We have been sharing space with people on farms for a number of years now. We are open to welcoming short term guests and pets on trial. We have a dog on the property who would need to approve of any animal additions. We practice music and have social gatherings that can be loud, but we also need some quiet time. As long as there is open communication and consideration we are happy!
Work hours are Monday to Friday with one or two day weekends, depending on seasonal work load. Other days off are flexible with previous discussion. An hourly wage to be determined. Food and housing costs to be paid separately.
About the Community
Busy Bea farm is on the east fence of Blackfoot Recreation Area, just South of Elk Island National Park, and an hour east of Edmonton. They have a gate right into Blackfoot Recreation Area which is amazing for hiking, biking and cross country skiing. Islet lake, a great paddling spot, is about 10 minutes down the road. They are also in the Beaver Hills Biosphere, lots of migrating birds and dark skies to see.
The closest town is Tofield, with all amenities. Sherwood Park is about 40 minutes away. They are friendly with the neighbours, but most of their rural friends are 20-30 minutes away. They go for parties and potlucks a few times during the summer and host one or two on their farm.
More Details about this Apprenticeship and How to Apply
Application due: January 31, 2025.
Interested in an Apprenticeship but this isn’t quite the right one? Check out other Young Agrarians Alberta Apprenticeships being offered in 2025 here.
