Flower Garden Apprentice

Legacy Farms offers a 7-step Train-to-Work Process to support your goals in transition to workplace independence. Whether working with us on a volunteer basis as a trainee or as a paid apprentice, you will experience all seven steps tailored to your specific needs:

STEPS 1-3: Introduction to the Organization & Workplace

1. Application and Interview

2. Ten Weeks of Initial Training

Begin by participating as a trainee, gaining an introduction to key qualities and skills needed for new employment. The Legacy Farms training in the garden includes an introduction to garden work and cultivating an understanding of your professional interests, personal strengths, and areas for development. Garden work takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 am – 11:45 am, from March to November.

3. Review/Transition

At the end of your first 9-10 weeks, we’ll sit down to review your progress, discuss personal goal-setting, and your interest in continued training/volunteer work and/or paid work responsibilities, depending on your work with the organization so far and what you hope to get out of your experience with us.

STEPS 4-6: Ongoing Trainee Work and Paid Apprentice Projects (next 9-10 weeks, Summer or Fall)

4. Responsibility Agreement and Personal Development Goal-Setting

Based on your training with us, we’ll assess your background and work so far. Many of our trainees continue in the same capacity, following a learning path that gives them more time to acquire self-regulation and master basic work skills before the added responsibility that comes with paid work deliverables.

Some apprentices are ready to engage in paid work, requiring review of official documents, W2, direct deposits, and daily deliverables consistent with the demands that come along with paid work responsibilities. In both cases, apprentices receive mentoring consistent with their personal stage of development.

The goal at this point is to identify what’s best for each candidate to support their progress, and to give each plenty of time to meet the demands of training and/or work engagement in an effective and supportive way that bridges between therapeutic programs prior to Legacy Farms and future workplace employment, where there may be little understanding of neurodiversity.

Whether an apprentice continues in an educational training capacity or a paid capacity, we will review our agreement with one another and discuss responsibilities. We will identify personal development goal(s) in areas of self-awareness, self-regulation, organization, or personal advocacy.

You’ll sign an agreement and begin your paid or volunteer job.

5. Mentorship On the Job

You’ll work with trained mentors on the job, as well as on teams with other apprentices, as we grow, tend, and prepare produce, flowers, and herbs for delivery to partners or for sale at our farmers’ markets.

Trainees will continue to add to their skill sets and receive self-regulation support alongside paid apprentices as they increase their experience in delivering work output and communicating personal needs.

Paid apprentices will work towards independence in delivering work output consistent with expectations in the general workforce while also developing self-regulation skills, flexibility, communication, and self-advocacy in new environments.

6. Time-tracking, Invoicing, and Paperwork

Apprentices learn the basics of organizational skills required on the job.

All apprentices are trained and expected to use our LifeSherpa app for time-tracking as well as reviewing self-regulation practices, work completed, suggestions for the next day’s tasks, and seasonal reviews.

Paid workers will have completed W2s, direct deposits, and will receive regular paychecks while working with us.

Whether paid or volunteer, we’ll provide performance reviews ongoing on the job and as you wrap up your work with us.

STEP 7: Define Future Goals & Review Performance

We review your personal and professional goals to assist in defining your next steps. This may include further work with us and/or transition to another job.

If Legacy Farms has openings for ongoing job positions that are right for you, either in the garden or other areas, you can apply for them. We are also available to help you with your resume, application, and transition to other jobs in the community as needed.

Sample Duties in the Garden

• Plant seeds, seedlings, and starts in varying weather conditions
• Weeding, clean-up/compost, landscaping
• Water, prune, and harvest
• Prepare deliveries according to order for our distribution clients, for our CSAs, and for Farmers Market

We will work with you to learn more about your individual interests and talents, so that we can consider additional job responsibilities and assignments once we get to know you and you get to know our foundational garden program.

Growing Together Feature Garden Program: Two mornings per week, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9-11:45

When: Garden opens and positions become available in March through November.

Where: Legacy Farms’ primary location is at Temple Hall Farm on Limestone School Road in Leesburg, VA.

Future Opportunities
Once we’ve gotten to know you through our training and garden programs, we’ll discuss your areas of talent and your interest in personal and professional growth. We’ll determine if there are open opportunities in such areas as writing for our blog, sales at our farmers markets, assignments with our partner businesses, design for promotional pieces, photography, videography, and event coordination. Essentially, our goal is to match your strengths with our needs and, whenever possible, open up opportunities for learning and collaboration with an entrepreneurial emphasis.

Tagged as: farming, floral design, gardening, agriculture, horticulture