Our Apprenticeship Program
We understand that there is a tremendous amount to be learned from farming, so our apprenticeship is all about us sharing our farming knowledge with you, while you in return help us meet our production goals of growing for our CSA and tailgate market customers!
Currently Accepting Applications for 2009!
We are in our ninth year of production and offer two apprenticeship positions
NOTE: We provide $25 per week food allowance. We expect that the food allowance will be used for personal items, your breakfast and dinner, and for those other things not found on the farm. (In the core season, there is plenty of food from the farm so your $25 goes far!)
Our Production
The majority of our production is in vegetables with about 4 acres in production; however, we are expanding our production of flowers and herbs both for spring plant sales and cut flowers in summer. We also have increased our flock of laying hens to 80 birds so that we can offer eggs.
We grow about 200 different cultivars and are always looking at refining our production by adding or removing a cultivar. Our primary markets are a 40 member CSA and 2 tailgate markets.
Housing
We provide housing for our apprentices in an apartment constructed in the top floor of our barn complete with a full kitchen, bathroom and a private bedroom for each intern. The apartment includes a spare room with a stereo system and couch so that on your days off you can have the much needed rest from farming if you don't find yourself on a hike or rafting down our amazing rivers! Internet access is available for email and web surfing; however, we are unable to watch videos. Sorry but we do not have reception for TV shows!
What You Learn
Our apprenticeship will give you a first-hand knowledge of what it takes to run your own farm. You can expect long hours as our normal work week is Monday through Friday. We ask for only those in good physical shape to apply as you will find yourself hoeing in hot weather for long hours at at time, harvesting early in the morning in the rain or shine, bending over hand transplanting veggie starts to the field and doing whatever job is needed just to help keep a continuous production for the CSA and tailgate market. We ask that you help every other Saturday at our main market in Asheville and in return you may have off Wednesday afternoon the following week for personal time. We may on occasion ask for help with a festival or at a special farmers market event but we would not make it a requirement.
Work is hard, with little monetary rewards, but a great satisfaction from working with the earth. You will gain experience with greenhouse production, planting, cultivating, irrigation systems, using farm equipment such as tractors and their implements, and tending to livestock (chickens, goats, horses). In addition, you will see the marketing and business aspect of farming by participating going to tailgate markets, making deliveries to the CSA, and recordkeeping.
Our Work Week
Farm work is honest, hard work and days begin early in the morning. Our normal work day on harvest days, currently Tuesday and Friday, begins at 7 AM and ends around 5 PM. Non harvest days we begin at 8 AM and finishing up around 5:30 PM. Occasionally we need to work a little longer to complete a task for the day but we typically work between 45 and 50 hours per week. We also realize that there is a tremendous amount to learn about farming and being self sufficient and that we can all learn together. We are looking for individuals who are serious about learning how to farm and in return we take seriously our roles as educators. We feel strongly that apprentices should have time to take advantage of all the great outdoor activities, such as rafting and the Appalachian Trail, and social activities in Hot Springs and Asheville. Therefore, if you would like to take an occasional three day weekend we are flexible and ask that you be available on harvest days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday). Also, in the middle of summer, we start earlier and take a longer midday break to escape the heat.
Meals
As far as meals are concerned, we eat lunch as a group so we share the cooking and cleanup chores for lunch; however breakfast and dinner is the intern's responsibility to coordinate cooking and cleanup. This arrangement has worked well by keeping the group together during the workday while providing everyone their own time and space. We try to supply the majority of the produce from the farm but for those things that we don't have, we figure part of the stipend should cover that.
Keep In Mind
As far as pets on the farm, we ask that you not bring them. We have two dogs and two cats and that seems like a sufficient amount for the farm. In addition, our chickens are just too tempting for dogs that have not been around them. We have two riding horses which you are welcome to ride, however, they are not dead headed trail horses and you would probably need to be considered an "experienced rider" to feel comfortable on them. We are located in a fairly remote rural area which is an hour's drive from Asheville so you will need your own transportation and because of our remote area and the high cost of fuel, your options for driving into town for social night life are limited. Lastly, we do ask for a commitment to work for the period of time agreed upon; however, if your circumstances were to change, we ask that you give us advance notice so that we can find a replacement.
Apply now for one of these Apprenticeship positions
We require that you complete our Job Application. Once we receive your completed application, either via postal service or electronically, we will be in touch with you to schedule a time to further discuss with you our apprenticeship positions!