Journeyperson Landscape Horticulturist = Journeywoman Gardener

I have a new credential floating beside my garden self as of March 2013. I passed the national Red Seal Trade exam for Landscape Horticulture, making me a certified Journeyperson. What a mouthful. I in fact prefer to call myself a Journeywoman Gardener, which sounds super.

To the right is a fuzzy pic of the Level 4 Apprenticeship class at Kwantlen Polytechnic out in Langley. I am the fuzzy person in the orange vest on the far left.

All of this came together rather suddenly in the fall of 2012. I decided I wanted a horticultural update, looked around, and discovered I could 'ladder' into the Kwantlen Landscape Horticulture Apprenticeship program, thanks to my previous schooling and experience.

Usually, apprentices work for a mentor and attend 6 weeks of schooling in the winter over 4 years. Because I was already certified through Capilano College, Kwantlen gave me credit for the first two levels of the apprenticeship. By luck, levels 3 and 4 were being offered back-to-back in January through March. Perfect--I could get it all done in one swoop!

Then I was able to contact all my old employers and mentors to sign off on my work experience with them, and together with a signed affidavit stating my self-employed hours, I fulfilled more than the required work experience hours (equivalent to 4 years full-time). It was also a pleasure reconnecting with my original employers and sharing perspective and  philosophies about the industry.

So it wasn't until mid-December that I was set to go: study for 3 months (which my not-so-inner-plant-nerd was particularly excited about) through my off-season, in preparation for the Red Seal exam at the end of Level 4.

In a final cosmic push, my longtime clients Jim & Wren spontaneously offered to lend me their 1992 Toyota Corolla to carry me the 50 km to Langley on the #1 Highway every day!  It's hard to describe how grateful I was and am for this generous gesture. Just grateful. Carrying it forward.

And so I have emerged from the experience, officially 'Sealed.' Ork ork.