Organic Farm Internships in Massachusetts

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Organic Farm Internships in Massachusetts at Charlies Redhouse Farm – 2020

This internship is no longer available. Please check back next year.

Hello everybody! We are Charlies Redhouse Farm, a Certified Organic farm located in Winchendon MA, about an hour outside of Boston. We are surrounded by a beautiful New England landscape, great for hiking & biking, including miles of bike paths and several state parks. The farm itself consists of 64 acres, 44 of which are forested while the other 20 are a mix of hay fields, farmland, and a pond. We have 12 greenhouses of various sizes, adding up to ~.75 acres, and these are our main growing areas. We also raise laying hens and have a diverse and ever-changing barnyard with goats, horses, geese, turkeys, and pigs.

Organic Farm Internships in Massachusetts

The summer of 2020 will be our 10th growing season and is quite an exciting time to be a part of the farm. We have worked with interns from the very beginning, and love to interact with and educate a wide variety of people and cultures. We have had 6 interns stay with us for longer than a year, and many others stay for a few months at a time. We consider this a ringing endorsement and are looking to invite a few new faces to the farm next summer. One intern, Lynn, who stayed with us from 2018 through June 2019, is a woman in her 50s who now owns her own farmstead in Maine. Another, Evan, is a guy in his early 20s who quit his job to volunteer for us back in 2018 and is now a full-time employee going into his 3rd season. You do not need to be a farming expert; Kees, the farm owner, is an experienced teacher and you will be surprised by how quickly you pick things up.

Generally, interns will be asked to work 5 days and 30 hours a week, while covering for us one weekend a month to let us get off the farm from time to time. We can offer comfortable accommodations in our 5-bedroom farmhouse, three delicious meals a day, and a stipend of $150/week. We aren’t expecting you to be an expert! This is an educational experience and part of our job is to help you grow and improve. We will work together as a team to expose you to all the farm has to offer and help you find your likes and dislikes. We are hoping for long term stays (4-6 months), but feel free to reach out and ask about something shorter.

If you are curious about farming and wonder about if it could be in your future, we are the place to be. The farm will expose you to everything that is involved in farming and allow you to experience the whole picture. Some things that you’ll learn while on the farm include:

• Sales, invoicing, project management
• Soil preparation, fertilization, and no-till farming
• Which crops are best for New England, and when/how to plant them
• How to harvest, process, store, and sell a variety of produce
• Basic carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and small engine repair
• Experience growing with and without greenhouses
• Basic animal husbandry (We breed most of our animals)

This internship is no longer available. Please check back next year.

https://www.facebook.com/Charlies.Redhouse.Farm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjvdSDGatik&t=2s (Farm Drone Tour Link)

 

• 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/