Innisfree Vegetable Garden Internship in Virginia

Innisfree Vegetable Garden Internship in Virginia

General Description:

The Innisfree Village Vegetable Gardens are part of Innisfree Village, a working and life-sharing community with adults with intellectual disabilities. The Village is located at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia and is host to people from across the country and world. The Veggie Garden is one of many workstations that provide therapeutic work opportunities for folks living in the Village; other workstations include a bakery, woodshop, weavery, herb & flower garden, farm (focused on raising animals), and more. In the veggie garden, the main goals are to grow good food in a healthy and responsible way with the help of each member of our gardening community.

The Innisfree Veggie Garden is committed to caring for the 3+ acres of land it cultivates for vegetables and subscribe to traditional organic principle, including multi-season cover cropping, large scale composting, beneficial insect habitat, and crop rotation.

The distribution is CSA-style (mainly to the houses in the Village) and also includes a Village-wide market, a local farmers market, and the occasional sale to a local grocer.

Skills Desired:

Interns with previous growing experience who are looking for a change of pace from the production farm mindset are the best fit for the gardens. Interns should be aware of and interested in working at a flexible pace with the needs and abilities of fellow gardeners with disabilities; Innisfree growing methods are unique because of the goal of including everyone in the process.

Interns should be community-oriented with a strong interest in intensive organic vegetable gardening.

Given the long, hot days of summer and the community’s mission to be both therapy- and production-oriented, Innisfree looks for hard-working and responsible people with positive attitudes and good leadership skills. Interns should be capable of engaging and supporting their fellow gardeners when working together, but should also show initiative when working on their own.

Educational opportunities:

Interns will have opportunities to learn about integrating different populations into farming work, and can work with the head gardeners to focus their internship around their personal areas of interest and development. Innisfree Gardens are also active members of the local CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliances for Farmers in Training) community.

Internship Details:

Interns support seasonal needs of vegetable operation beginning with greenhouse planting and spring bed preparation. Throughout the season, interns focus on planting, weed management, harvesting, irrigation (drip), and vegetable distribution via shares or markets. They will also be involved in supporting others in their gardening tasks. Interns work 5 days/week, which typically amounts to 40-45 hours/week. Our workdays lengthen as the season peaks, however, which can lengthen our hours to approximately 55/wk. Shared weekend watering duties are also expected.

Interns live in shared housing in the village and may be living closely with other volunteers and people with disabilities. This may include some sharing of house responsibilities like preparing one meal a week for everyone in the house. Food and housing are provided along with a stipend of $450/month.

This position begins April 1st (or if possible, a few weeks earlier) and ends

November 1st.

How to apply for the Innisfree Vegetable Garden Internship:

Please email a resume and short cover letter to Susanna at innisfreegardens@gmail.com. 

Deadline:   Position open until filled