Apprenticeship on a Mid-Sized Farm in CT

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Apprenticeship on a Mid-Sized Farm in Shelton, Connecticut – 2020

Jones Family Farms, nestled in the White Hills of Shelton, Connecticut is a 400-acre working farm. Presently under cultivation are 200 acres of Christmas trees, 15 acres of strawberries, 15 acres of blueberries, and 25 acres of pumpkins, gourds and squash. The Jones farmers harvest these crops from three different farm locations known as the Homestead Farm, the Valley Farm, and Pumpkinseed Hill. The farm also manages 50 acres of hay land and 50 acres of woodlots. Over ten acres of grapes are in production for the farm’s winery.

Apprenticeship on a Mid-Sized Farm:

The primary learning objective of our apprenticeship is to offer hands-on experiences in modern sustainable agriculture, direct marketing, and following food from field to plate in our farm kitchen.  Apprentices participate on a team that includes farm managers and a variety of seasonal staff. Our goal is to provide hands-on harvest, farm guest interactions, and farm kitchen experience useful to an aspiring market farmer, community dietitian, chef embracing farm cuisine, and/or farm and food educator. Apprentice position will incorporate both our Harvest-Your-Own operations and production kitchen:

Harvest Your Own, strawberry, blueberry, pumpkin and Christmas tree seasons: major responsibilities include harvest-your-own guest supervision, direct marketing operations (farm educator, sales), and farm maintenance tasks necessary for inviting guests onto our farm (such as cleaning, painting etc). Apprentices will gain an understanding of our diversified farming operations through hands-on field experiences (planting, weeding, harvesting, etc).

In the Kitchen: gain an understanding of production kitchen management and record keeping while also learning about commercial food sanitation practices as a key member of our farm kitchen team. Projects include cooking with and preserving seasonal fruits and vegetables as well as baking cookies and sweet treats for our Winery and Harvest-Your-Own guests. Apprentices also have the opportunity to share their experiences and learn alongside our guests while assisting with our Summer cooking classes.

For more information, and to apply for this apprenticeship on a mid-sized farm, please visit our website:

https://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/farm/about-farm/harvest-table-apprenticeship

 

• Learn more about farming and food jobs and internships, or learn how to post a job, internship, or apprenticeship opportunity on beginningfarmers.org by going to https://www.beginningfarmers.org/internship-and-employment-opportunities/