Farm Apprentice Position in Maine

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THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED FOR 2020. PLEASE CHECK BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR

Chewonki Foundation

Founded in 1915, the Chewonki Foundation is a year-round, nonprofit nature-based school, camp, and farm based on a 400-acre peninsula in mid-coast Maine. 

“Chewonki inspires transformative growth, teaches appreciation and stewardship of the natural world, and challenges people to build thriving, sustainable communities throughout their lives.”

The Farm Apprentice Position is a year-long position that aids in all aspects of Chewonki’s small, diversified farm, including livestock, pasture, and diversified vegetable production and integrates Chewonki students and participants into all production systems.

THE CHEWONKI FARM

Please see https://farm.chewonki.org/ for more information about Chewonki’s Farm and Food System.  

The Chewonki Farm, on the Chewonki property, is a small and diversified saltmarsh farm; its primary goal is to educate program participants while producing food, firewood, and fiber for our campus community. There are approximately 26 acres of open land; one acre is cultivated for vegetable gardens, 14 acres are established pasture and hayfields, and 11 acres are currently transitioning from forest to pasture. The managed woodlot is approximately 150 acres.  

The gardens are intensively managed and are the primary focus of our work during the growing season, producing 10-15,000 pounds of vegetables annually for consumption in our dining hall. 

We raise livestock for milk, meat, and fiber. We keep two dairy cows that we milk by hand and breed annually, resulting in steady milk production as well as beef for the kitchen. The farm keeps a small flock breeding ewes that produces lambs for meat each spring. We raise around 200 laying hens, free-ranging most of the year. Up to three hundred broilers and eight turkeys are pasture-pen raised in the late summer/fall. Two batches of six to eight pigs are raised annually for meat.

Two draft horses provide much of the power for the farm operation including plowing and garden cultivation; hay cutting, tedding, and raking; winter logging and wood hauling; and a wide variety of other tasks. We are always looking for ways to expand our knowledge and to effectively and safely utilize draft horsepower. Whenever possible, horsepower is emphasized as a sustainable and rewarding method of accomplishing valuable labor. We also have a tractor that we use primarily for moving material, turning compost, cutting hay, and clipping pasture.

As mentioned above, we use a horse to log in the winter months. With the help of a professional forester and the Chewonki community, the farm is responsible for managing 150 acres of woodlot. We harvest about 20 to 30 cords of firewood annually. The majority of the work is timber stand improvement and firewood production and may include maintaining and improving woodlot roads, tree pruning, felling, limbing, slash management, and limited production of sawlogs and pulpwood.

We cut three to five acres of our own hay with a sickle bar mower and bring it in loose. We buy in the remainder of our hay in bales from a local farmer. 

The farm crew, in cooperation with the Facilities staff, maintains the majority of the farm buildings, grounds, and machinery.

Education is central to Chewonki’s mission statement: any individual that works on the farm must consider him/herself a teacher as well as a farmer. Because our working farm is the context for our education rather than a traditional classroom setting, the farm crew needs to be comfortable and adept with teaching as they work alongside students and program staff.    

Responsibilities of the Farm Apprentice Position: 

The farm crew includes three tiers of positions

• Leadership positions (year-round): Farm Manager and Assistant Farm ManagerCrew positions (year-round): Farmer/Educator and Farm Apprentice

• Seasonal crew positions: We hire alumni of Chewonki programs for three- to ten-week positions as Summer Farm Workers during the months of June through August.  

The Farm Apprentice Position areas of responsibility include the following

• Assist with managing the primary production focuses of the Chewonki farm during the growing season:

  • Small-scale, diversified, organic food production

  • Pasture and livestock management

• Integrate workhorse into many farm tasks

• Help with maintenance and care of pasture and harvesting of hay

• Work with and teach Maine Coast Semester students during the academic year through work program and chores

• Work with Chewonki Elementary School students, Boys and Girls Camp participants, and Outdoor Classroom students on various work projects, chores, and lessons during their program season

• Lead projects/tasks with summer farm help

• Organize and maintain tools (mechanized and otherwise) 

• Maintain buildings in coordination with facilities department 

• Attend various staff meetings 

All Chewonki Farmers: 

• Thoughtfully prioritize 

• Recognize and celebrate the farm’s historical context 

• Have the flexibility to grow and adapt systems based in that context 

• Are facilitators of Chewonki’s food system 

• Make mission-driven decisions 

• Use our strengths to support Chewonki’s programs, the farm, and all staff 

• Share the workload and responsibilities fairly 

• Balance production and education within the farm context   

Farm Activities and Responsibilities throughout the annual cycle: 

Farmers are expected to be present for morning chores beginning around 5:00 or 6:00 am (season dependent) through afternoon chores beginning at approximately 4:00 pm. Chores to care for livestock are done at the beginning and end of every day throughout the year. Generally, our workday is between ten to 11 hours daily, five days a week, and can be more during certain seasons. Chore weekend responsibilities alternate with “off” weekends. 

There is a seasonal flow to work on the Chewonki farm, though there is less of an “off” season than on some market farms. An overview of the whole year is given below.  

• February – March: Maine Coast Semester and Elementary School in session, work program, focus on firewood and woodlot work, early hoop house growing, seed starting

• April – May: Maine Coast Semester, Elementary School, and Outdoor Classroom in session, work program, seed starting, garden plowing/cultivating/planting, pasture rotation, mowing, fence maintenance, lambing

• June-August: Boys Camp and Girls Camp in session, Farm Activity support, intensive garden and pasture work, haying, harvesting for kitchen 

• September –December: Maine Coast Semester, Elementary School, and Outdoor Classroom in session, work program, harvesting and storing crops, cover cropping, manure spreading, machinery repair and winterizing, livestock to slaughter, begin wood season preparations, infrastructure management 

• Late December – January: Maine Coast Semester and Outdoor Classroom on break, farm crew takes approximately three weeks of downtime doing only chores and necessary tasks.  Late January farm crew prepares for the Semester and actively manages the woodlot for firewood production.   

FARM APPRENTICE POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

• Interest in education-based, diversified farming 

• Good communication skills 

• Ability to live and work in a small community 

• Ability to oversee a work crew, as well as manage projects collaboratively 

• Experience working with youth

• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with different kinds of people

• Ability to (or willingness to learn to) use draft horsepower on a diversified farm

• Ability to lift at least 50 pounds

• Ability to communicate well verbally and in writing

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The Farm Apprentice Position will be compensated at a semi-monthly rate of $300 through 8/31/2020 and $500/semi monthly 9/1/2020 until the end of the employment term. Room and board are included as part of living on campus. This is a full-time residential position. The Farm Apprentice is eligible for health insurance in accordance with the Affordable Care Act.

 

THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED FOR 2020. PLEASE CHECK BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR

 

• 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/