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A steward’s role during phase one is to become oriented to the general practices at
Solidarity Farm. We expect the steward to ask questions and demonstrate proficiency
before moving on to the next phase.

Goal One: Demonstrate proficiency in seeding, planting, weeding, harvest, and post harvest
handling for both no-till and row crops.
Goal Two: Become familiar with Solidarity “Farm School” curriculum through participation
in at least three youth activities.
Goal Three: Participate in October agro-tourism activities at Solidarity Farm.

Ellee Igoe, Worker/Owner
Ellee co-founded Solidarity Farm in 2012 and became a full time farmer in 2015. Before the
transition, she was the National Technical Advisor for Food and Agriculture at the
International Rescue Committee where she supported farm training, gardening and food
security programming for more than 1,000 refugees across 12 U.S. cities. She currently
bottom-lines education programs, marketing and bookkeeping activities at the
farm.

During this phase, Solidarity Farm will be hosting a Carbon Sink Farming Convergence, bringing farmers and other stakeholders together from across the region to discuss strategies to build resilience and mitigate for climate change. Steward will participate in the convergence and have the opportunity to interact with many farmers.

Seeding, planting, compost application, drip irrigation repair, harvest, and post-harvest
handling for both no-till and row crop beds.

Each week steward will have a mentor who will engage the steward in learning the
activities listed above. They will have the opportunity to observe, ask questions and
demonstrate competency in each skill area.

Competency of each skill will be recorded in steward’s training notes. Demonstrated understanding of each area will be required to move on to phase 2 of our training plan.

During the intensive training phase, stewards will participate in classroom-style trainings as well as be included in managing the day to day functions of the farm. Stewards will be asked to apply their learning by identifying tasks that need to be accomplished and will be given significant responsibility to achieve tasks independently. Given the time of year, many of the tasks will involve prepping and planning for Spring as well as maintaining winter crops. Stewards will also be invited to select one or two farm based enterprises that they
are most interested in supporting and will receive advanced training in those areas.

Goal One: Demonstrate mastery in seeding, planting, weeding, harvest, and post harvest
handling (for no-till and row crop fields).
Goal Two: Apply classroom based learning to field operations.
Goal Three: Identify core interests at the farm and begin to take leadership in those areas.

Hernan Cavazos, Worker/Owner
Hernan co-founded Solidarity Farm in 2012 and leads production planning and
implementation. Before coming to the farm he was a co-director at a worker-run recycling
and composting facility called Ecology Action in Austin, Texas.

Solidarity Farm will invite stewards to participate in staff morale days, trips to the city to visit friends and tourist sites (as interested), and to meetings/events with other farm organizations as they arise. They will also be invited to participate in our Solidarity Farm School at Willow Tree Elementary School and through on-site youth and family events. Stewards will also participate in harvest season’s agro-tourism activities.

Stewards will improve their general competency in all farm activities and will cultivate
expertise in at least 2 areas of interest. For example, past stewards have focused on
trapping, irrigation repair, composting and organic pest management.

Each week steward will have a mentor who will engage the steward in learning the activities listed above. They will have the opportunity to observe, ask questions and demonstrate competency in each skill area.

Competency of each skill will be recorded in steward’s training notes. Demonstrated understanding of each area will be required to move on to phase 3 of our training plan.

During the Leadership Phase, stewards will become an equal participant in the day-to-day
operation of the farm in order to prepare them for independent farm management when they return home. They will be invited to participate in planning, implementation and evaluation of production and marketing activities.

Goal one: Exhibit self-sufficiency in basic farm management activities.
Goal two: Understand evaluation techniques for each crop.
Goal three: Participate in point-of-sale activities at markets and/or farm stand.
Goal four: Identify sales channels to pursue at home and design branding/marketing strategy.
Goal five: Create a basic business plan for home farm operations.

Hernan Cavazos, Worker/Owner
Hernan co-founded Solidarity Farm in 2012 and leads production planning and
implementation. Before coming to the farm he was a co-director at a worker-run recycling
and composting facility called Ecology Action in Austin, Texas.
Ellee Igoe, Worker/Owner
Ellee also helped co-found Solidarity Farm in 2012 and became a full time farmer in 2015.
Before the transition, she was the National Technical Advisor for Food and Agriculture at
the International Rescue Committee where she supported farm training, gardening and
food security programming for more than 1,000 refugees across 12 U.S. cities. She
currently bottomlines education, marketing and bookkeeping activities at the farm.

Solidarity Farm will invite stewards to participate in staff morale days, trips to the city to visit friends and tourist sites (as interested), and to meetings/events with other farm organizations as they arise. They will also be invited to participate in our Solidarity Farm School at Willow Tree Elementary School and through on-site youth and family events. Stewards will also participate in strawberry season’s agro-tourism activities.

Farm box planning, harvest, and delivery and real-time evaluation and business planning techniques.

Each week steward will have a mentor who will engage the steward in learning the activities listed above. They will have the opportunity to observe, ask questions and demonstrate competency in each skill area.

Competency of each skill will be recorded in steward’s training log. Demonstrated
understanding of each area will be required to move on to final phase of our training plan.