The pre-apprenticeship program is in partnership with Pasa Sustainable Agriculture for those who have little or no growing experience but are interested in exploring a farming career. This is a two-year program, where participants will volunteer four hours per week on our farm sites doing a variety of farm tasks and receive a share of vegetables as well as free admission to relevant workshops and conferences.
Applications for 2025 will open up in February.
To submit your application, download the above pdf and return your completed application via email to nick@growpittsburgh.org or print and return to:
Grow Pittsburgh c/o Nick Lubecki
6587 Hamilton Ave. #2W
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
What is the Pre-Apprenticeship program?
- The pre-apprenticeship is a program in partnership with Pasa Sustainable Agriculture for those who have little or no growing experience but are interested in exploring a farming career. Completing this pre-apprenticeship will give you the required experience to participate in Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship, which provides paid intensive farmer training by pairing participants with farms with a proven track record and a farmer-led, expert-designed curriculum.
- The curriculum is based on the core duties and skills for Pasa’s vegetable farming apprenticeship program such as plant propagation, soil fertility, crop planning, harvest and post-harvest handling, and more. More details on the pre-apprenticeship can be found here: https://pasafarming.org/soil-institute/farmer-training-development/diversified-vegetable-pre-apprenticeship/
- Participants commit to at least 4 hours a week from April 10 – Nov 4, 2023. There are two categories of positions: Field work and Harvest. The idea is to switch in the second year to gain exposure to all aspects of the farm. This may involve helping with: preparing fields, plantings, cultivation, harvesting and packaging crops to be distributed in the communities surrounding our farms at farm stands.
- To graduate from the program, a pre-apprentice must complete 225 hours of on-the-job training and 25 hours of related technical instruction. Please note that this is a two year program. In order to complete the hours required for a pre-apprenticeship participants will need to complete a second season with Grow Pittsburgh.
Benefits
- Participants receive a weekly CSA share of our produce in exchange for 4 hours of help.
- Membership to Grow Pittsburgh. Membership includes: free admission to relevant Grow Pittsburgh, membership to our Garden Resource Center, and a free t-shirt.
- Free admission to: Pasa workshops and the annual PASA conference in Lancaster, PA
- Participants gain valuable experience working side by side with Grow Pittsburgh farmers.
Requirements
- Volunteers must be prepared to work outside in all types of weather including heat and rain, where you’ll be on your feet and moving for hours at a time.
- Requires bending, kneeling, squatting, or lifting loads up to 40 lbs.
- Pre-apprenticeship opportunities are limited in number and require a contract to be signed in advance.
- Must commit to the whole season