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Week 2 · Soil & Seed · Apprentice (ages 15–18)

Why Won't My Pumpkin Grow?

Role: Plant Detective

Briefing

Apprentice, your community has empty lots, hungry neighbors, and disappearing seed varieties — and you have one season. Write a full permaculture + heirloom seed plan for a real piece of land (your family's or someone else's, with permission). Include water, fertility, labor, harvest plan, and the start of a regional seed-saving co-op proposal: how 5 families could share heirloom seeds across a 50-mile area.

Evidence File

  • EX-01Permaculture designs work in zones, from 'most used / closest to the house' to 'wild / least visited.'
  • EX-02Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated varieties bred over generations — they can be saved and replanted true to type, unlike hybrids.
  • EX-03Less than 5% of historic U.S. vegetable varieties from 1900 are still in commercial use today.
  • EX-04A regional seed library can preserve genetic diversity AND adapt varieties to local conditions over decades.
  • EX-05Successful seed co-ops have: a host, a catalog, annual swaps, germination testing, and labeled storage.
  • EX-06Permaculture water elements (swales, ponds, rain barrels) reduce irrigation needs by 50–80%.

Weekly Milestones

  1. Day 1
    Pick your real site. Walk it, sketch boundaries, mark sun/water/wind. Interview the owner about goals and constraints.
  2. Day 2
    Map permaculture zones 1–5 onto the site. Plan water flow (swales, rain catchment, pond if relevant).
  3. Day 3
    Design plant guilds with at least 5 heirloom varieties chosen from a regional seed catalog. Document why each variety was chosen.
  4. Day 4
    Draft the seed co-op proposal: 5 host families, catalog format, swap schedule, germination testing protocol, storage standards.
  5. Day 5
    Share the full plan + co-op proposal with a real local steward — master gardener, extension agent, or homestead mentor — and revise based on feedback.

Your Deliverable — Apprentice

Ages 15–18

3–5 page permaculture + heirloom plan for a real site including: scaled site map with zones, water plan, plant guilds with 5+ heirloom varieties, 12-month labor and harvest calendar, fertility budget, and a 2-page regional seed co-op proposal.

Other tracks tackle this same case at their own depth — see the catalog.

Rubric

Specificity

Every recommendation is tied to the actual site's soil, slope, water, and exposure.

Heirloom selection

5+ varieties chosen from real sources with reasoning (climate fit, seed-saving ease, family value).

Water + fertility

Plan reduces irrigation and external fertilizer through design, not just inputs.

Co-op proposal

Names roles, schedule, and storage standards a real group could adopt this year.

Community

Plan reviewed by at least one real outside expert and revised in response to feedback.

Badge

Apprentice — Seed & Soil Steward, Bronze

  • ✓Site-specific permaculture + heirloom plan delivered.
  • ✓Seed co-op proposal delivered with 5 named (real or hypothetical) host roles.
  • ✓Plan reviewed by at least one outside expert, with revisions documented.

Notes for the Parent / Mentor

This is a real-world deliverable. Help your apprentice find a knowledgeable adult outside the family — county extension, a local farmer, a homestead neighbor — to read and respond to the work. The conversation with that adult is the most valuable part of the entire mission.