Farm Internship in Oregon – Flying Coyote Farm

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Farm internship in Oregon: Flying Flying Coyote Farm is a family-owned and operated farm nestled in the foothills of Mt. Hood in Sandy, OR. We use organic and biodynamic growing practices on our 3-acre farm to raise high quality produce, meat and dairy. We grow produce in a one-acre market garden for our CSA members, farmers’ markets and local restaurants and groceries. We also have an extensive livestock program: we raise dairy goats and sell their raw milk and make cheese for home consumption. We raise pigs, goats and chickens for meat, and laying hens and ducks for eggs. Each year we process between 100-200 broiler chickens for our house and for sale, and we generally raise and process 4-6 pigs and 1-2 goats annually. We also grow berries and fruit mainly for on-farm use. Lili Tova is the owner and manager of Flying Coyote Farm. She has been working as a gardener and farmer for ten years in Florida, California and Oregon. She is a graduate of the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz. During her second year in the program, she worked as the Assistant Manager of the five-acre farm site, helping to manage and coordinate a 150 member CSA, farm stand, and restaurant sales. She has a passion for mentoring and has taught farming and homesteading skills at UC Santa Cruz, at Aprovecho Research Center where she worked as the Garden Manager for two seasons.

Interns at Flying Coyote farm will be expected to work 30-50 hours a week on all aspects of the farm. This generally means a 5-6 day workweek with 1-2 days off per week. We will also strive to give each intern 1 week off during the season. Interns will share in all animal chores including, milking, feeding and watering animals, collecting eggs and animal processing and packaging. Daily garden work will include seeding starts in the greenhouse, watering, weeding, greenhouse work and harvesting and processing produce for sale.

Generally our weeks are broken into harvest days, garden workdays and market and delivery days. Spring will focus on seeding and transplanting, summer will see an increase in harvesting and processing, and fall will bring canning, wood splitting, animal processing and putting the garden to rest.

There will be opportunities to work farmers’ markets, coordinate the CSA program and participate in restaurant and grocery deliveries. Our farm is known for our attention to quality, and the freshness and beauty of our products. Interns will learn about harvest and post-harvest handling techniques to ensure that produce is harvested, processed and stored to maintain the freshest and highest quality product.

Interns will also participate in building and infrastructure projects around the farm, which can range in scale from maintaining animal shelters to fencing and irrigation work. Interns will also be encouraged to participate in homesteading projects such as canning, herbal medicine making, sauerkraut making and cheese making. We try to process enough canned food to last our family through the winter and cheese making is a regular weekly farm chore.

Start Date: 4/18/16

End Date: 10/28/16

Number of Positions Available: 2

App Deadline: 3/1/15

Minimum length of stay: 6 months

Farm Internship in Oregon – Details:

Housing: Housing will be in our vintage trailer, two rustic cabins, or camping if you prefer. The farmhouse will be available for bathrooms and the community/living room, and we will also have an outdoor kitchen, outdoor shower and composting toilet available.

Meals: The farm will provide all meals for interns. Interns will also help with daily meal preparation and house chores. We eat a fair amount of meat, dairy and wheat and will try our best to cater to other diets, but we also expect people with special dietary requirements to provide some of their own alternative foods. No vegans please! as we eat a diet that is heavy in dairy and meat and don’t feel vegans would be comfortable sharing meals on our farm.

Skills Desired: We are looking for people who have a passion for farming and a desire to be involved in an agrarian lifestyle. Farming is hard work but also incredibly rewarding so a positive attitude and good work ethic are a must. We are always looking for people with carpentry skills or general handy man/woman skills although enthusiasm to learn is really the only requirement.

Educational Opportunities: Educational opportunities will be mainly informal and will happen throughout the season as interns become integrated into the farm. The hows and whys of our farming practices will be clearly explained and interns are fully encouraged to ask questions and take on personal projects that will be supported by the farm manager. Our hope is that by the end of the season interns will leave feeling more confident in their ability to run a small diversified market garden and to manage various aspects of animal husbandry.

Stipend: A $250/month stipend is provided to each intern

Preferred Method of Contact: Please contact us by email flyingcoyotefarm@gmail.com.

Application: Please send a cover letter and resume outlining your experience. Tell us why you think you’d be a good fit for our farm, what skills or interests you bring and what prior farming/gardening experience you’ve had, please also include anything else you think might be of interest and a photo if you have one handy!

Flying Coyote Farm

Lili Tova, Owner/Manager

19779 SE Langensand Rd

Sandy, OR 97055