Are you a young, aspiring farmer interested in learning about different sales streams for over 40 vegetable varieties? Amaiza Farm may be the apprenticeship for you!
About the Farm
Amazia Farm is a Gap certified, certified organic no-till vegetable farm, with a small amount of animal integration to bolster their regenerative goals.
Originally they set out farming for Farmers Market sales, with the long term goal of building a core Community Supported Agriculture model (CSA) to drive sales. By the third year their farm focus was mainly on supplying our local restaurants, managing a small CSA and a weekly farmers market. Today, they supply two organic grocery stores as well as local restaurants.
The farm produces lettuces and leafy greens consistently from May to October, and follows the rhythms of season to produce over 40 different crops throughout the season.
Learning some hard lessons over the past 8 years, and had to reinvent the farm a few times in order to stay in business. This experience has given them a lot of insight into the different farm models and the pros and cons to all.
Amazia are also focused on being a community centered, educational farm, collaborating actively with with Senpokchin “First Light of Day” School on their school farm and by hosting farm visits.
Be sure to check them out online @Amazia_farmer
About the Apprenticeship
The apprenticeship season runs from May to November. Tasks follow a seasonal cycle with the spring being focused on crop planning, seeding, planting, building compost piles and farm infrastructure.
Summers include tending to the vegetable rows – weeding, planting, bed succession, harvesting, and packaging for sales. As soil health is crucial to growing veggies regeneratively, sampling and analysis happens throughout the seasons. Fall its time for wrapping up the season, harvesting crops, cover cropping, farm season reviews, cleaning up the fields and general maintenance.
Apprentices are expected to use their labor for the daily work of the farm as a major part of their learning experience. Apprentices work in all aspects of farm production from soil preparation to harvest, seeding to cultivation, tractors to hand hoes, and farm planning to marketing.
You will meet with other apprentices across the province 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
As an apprentice you’ll be working alongside a variety of folks. Your main mentor Michael Kosaka grew up farming in a hydroponic family run greenhouse in British Columbia. He also has experience as an owner-operator of olive farms and vineyards in France for a little over a decade. Michael purchased raw land in 2016 to start Amazia Farm. His dynamite skills include crop planning and layout, seed provisioning, packaging, inventory management, soil testing, tractor and implement instruction, to name a few.
Leah de Felice- Renton joined our farm in 2023 as the Manager. She has a Masters in Viticulture and Oenology from Brock University. She is a great role model and has own aspirations to have a farm of her own one day. Her farm super powers include irrigation, job assignments, seeding and transplanting, harvesting, record keeping, direct seeding and bed prep.
Anja Husarek has farmed with Micheal since 2020, and her organizational skills in shipping, packing, quality control and record keeping are top notch. Originally from Germany, she brings a wealth of experience from the purchaser’s side of agriculture as she was the store manager for an organic chain for 12 years.
Skills this farm has to teach
The following skills are being offered by this farm. While you’ll get exposure to many of these areas, apprentices will work to identify the skills they want to develop through a learning plan with the host farm.
| Crop planning and rotations | hand tool operation |
|---|---|
| Pivoting farming models | basic operation of tractor & truck |
| assessing soil health | Profitable farm business practices |
| Sustainable agriculture practices | Retail and restaurant sales |
| irrigation set-up/use | compost making/processing |
| greenhouse management | Multi-variety vegetable production |
| Gap certification process | Team work & Organizational skills |
Skills Required of the Apprentice
We are looking for a collaborator, not just a farm worker. The motivation to learn about regenerative vegetable production, adapt to changing conditions and a desire to do well. We want someone who wants to grow alongside us.
The ability to do physical labour on a day-to-day basis is essential, so being physically fit and able to lift weight in the range of 30 to 80 pounds is essential.
Being able to comfortably make decisions, execute tasks, and train others in a diverse and dynamic working environment. After training and onboarding, the ability to work quickly, efficiently and calmly in physically challenging contexts for long hours in variable weather is essential to enjoying work on the farm.
Housing, Wages, and Duration
Food and accommodation are provided on the farm. We have trailers and one tiny house on farm. Many of our volunteers will stay in tents (glamping). All food is provided, and this year, we are recruiting a farm cook to prepare lunches and dinners Monday to Friday. There is an expectation that everyone on the farm take a turn cleaning up, and keeping common area tidy.
We have shared and individual trailers. Priority is given to those who stay longest with us. The farm has a plumbed outdoor heated shower and toilet facility, as well as a shower and toilet in the house.
Although we have had people stay year round in the trailers, they are most comfortable from March-November.
If you have a partner or friend that is in town for the weekend and wants to stay at the farm we are happy to roll them into the dinner plan etc.
Laundry and internet are provided. We also have a fleet of bicycles available. We also have a lot of tools available to learn on and use.
Furry friends are welcome. They must stay in one acre, a fenced area around the house, and outside of production zones. Furry friends need to have manners, be well behaved, and the owner must sweep for feces daily.
Apprentices will be paid an hourly wage and will need to pay for housing and food separately. Pay will be 18.00/hour, FTE (40 hrs/week). Two days off/week. One week off in season can be organized.
The ideal length of apprenticeship is May 1 to October 15, 2025.
About the Community
We are located on the unceded territory of the Syilx people. Located 5 km from the town of Oliver, Canada’s wine capital. We are lucky to be in a destination town, so, although we have a population of 4500 in Oliver, we host the amenities and events of a much bigger town.
Most of our farm crew lives on site with us. The farm will host as many as 15 volunteers in the season, and has a number of part and full time employees. Some of them live on farm as well. As we are hosts to volunteers, we frequently try to expose our farmstays to local culture (rodeo, fall fair, Penticton Pow Wow, open mic in town).
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 Prairie Apprenticeships being offered in 2025 here.