Community Farm Internship in NY

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Community Farm Internship Opportunity in Walton, NY for 2019 at East Brook Community Farm: a Regenerative Farm and Intentional Community

Community Farm Internship Opportunity

Location- East Brook Community Farm is in the Western Catskill Mountains of New York, 2.5 miles to the Village of Walton, a small bustling town on the West Branch of the Delaware River. We are 5 years on this beautiful 92 acre former dairy farm, with springs coming out of the mountainside to feed the house, garden, young fruit trees, chicken & ducks. The beautiful & clean East Brook runs through this ecologically diverse property.

Our Intentional Community-

• We are a community of 8 people who live and work together, most of whom are income sharing. We are still in the formative stages of our community, and meet often during the growing season to discuss and make decisions about important aspects of community life.

• Our infrastructure is expanding for our growing community, and there will be community-led construction happening throughout your time with us.

• In addition to our farm business (description below), we as a community manage 40 laying hens & ducks, young fruit & nut trees around the property, honey bees, and shiitake mushrooms. We enjoy wild crafting and food preservation (fermenting, drying, canning, and freezing). Aside from homesteading, we like to eat together, meditate, take walks on the land, learn new things, play games, make art, write poetry, and have bonfires!

• As a community, we expect & support each other to actively strive toward showing up with our whole selves (sharing about our emotional, spiritual, and creative sides with each other), to embody healthy leadership, considerate decision-making, healthy collaboration, self-management, an ability to listen and appreciate differing points of view from our own, and meet people where they’re at.  We’re fostering these things here by doing different forms of personal growth practices – collectively and individually.

The Farm Business- We operate a 2 acre no-till farm and an herbal business (medicinals and skin care). We market through our CSA, two local farmers markets, and wholesale to local stores and restaurants. We practice permaculture and holistic management. We care about giving back to the soil and land we grow on. We work collaboratively with a focus on each other’s health, well-being, and empowerment.

Community Farm Internship Description:

Beginning as early as April 1st and as late as May 1st. Ending Dec. 1st with flexibility

(Let us know when you can be here, and we’ll see if it works for us!)

1. Interns participate in the day to day work of the farm, focusing primarily on the vegetable operation. Over the season, this includes greenhouse work, direct seeding, transplanting, cultivation, disease & pest management, no-till bed building and bed preparation, compost making, potting mix making, watering, planting, cultivating, thinning veg seedlings, and more. Our garden also has perennial vegetables and herbs to care for and your participation here can include learning about that as well.

2. Assisting our market manager with our Sunday off-farm market is a key part of the internship. This includes morning harvest, loading vehicle, traveling 25 minutes to market, unloading and setting up, participating in selling the produce at the market, packing up at the end of market, traveling back to the farm and unloading the vehicle, including caring for unsold produce (10 hr days).

3. While there are these necessary farm tasks, we welcome you taking on responsibility in your areas of interest/expertise. We encourage you to use your skills while you are here and be empowered to share your knowledge.

Ideal Community Farm Internship Candidate – You are: someone who sees themselves as an efficient and strong worker. You are excellent with physical work (including in unpleasant weather conditions) , good with time management, and are a quick learner.  You have a good amount of initiative, like working with others, can follow direction, and can work independently. You know your limits, are self aware, and are on a journey to continue furthering your self awareness. It’s important that you’re good with people, can assist in leading volunteers, and have a friendly, energetic and interested demeanor at farmers markets. Must have the ability to lift 50 lbs. You are interested in living in community with others. It’s helpful if you have some handy skills, like to cook/process food, research needed aspects of farming, and have a driver’s license. Previous farming/gardening experience is not required.

Accommodations and Benefits (Room/Board):

This is a work trade / unpaid internship. We are committed to offering as much support and as many resources as we are able in exchange for your labor here, including the following:

Housing- You will be tenting for the majority of your stay. There are several options of what that could look like depending on what is most comfortable and available for you. If you have a tent you like, you should bring it. We will have an indoor bunk space available for you to transition to in the Fall when it is too cold to camp. We all share a compost toilet, outdoor shower, and 2nd floor bathroom inside the community farm house.

Food- Our eating habits are centered around what we grow. We have a community kitchen in a shared farmhouse. We eat our own produce, herbs, eggs, and beef, and supplement with purchased grains, beans, oils, and other staples. All food items are communal unless otherwise noted. We can easily accommodate dietary restrictions and preferences. We have daily community dinners, and value eating together. Breakfast and lunch are on your own, but we often cook for each other and eat together for those as well.

Other-

• Educational opportunities are all around every day as well as some organized. Each of us manages different areas of the farm and community and are interested in sharing our knowledge.
• Our local NYFC (National Young Farmers Coalition) Chapter also connects area farmers / homesteaders through regular meet-ups, farm tours, and other educational events/opportunities.
• We have bicycles, a creek to swim in, and 92 acres to roam.
• We’re 2.5 miles outside of town, which has amenities including a library, theatre, post office, grocery store, thrift store, & coffee shop.
• There is a bus to and from New York City from a nearby town, Delhi.
• Our region of the Western Catskills offers lots of outdoor recreational opportunities, a vibrant arts scene, and more.