Farm Internships are Filled for the 2010 season.
General Farm Description: Loon Organics is a 40-acre certified organic farm located 70 miles west of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. We grow 6-8 acres of produce for a 135-member CSA, a large Minneapolis farmers market, and for several restaurants and retail co-ops. Our operation includes 2 hoophouses for season extension, as well as a host of small tractors and implements (including a converted electric tractor) to help us prepare fields and plant, transplant, cultivate, fertilize and harvest our 40+ vegetable crops.
We are relatively young farmers–2010 is our 6th season of farming independently and we are now farming full-time. We’re committed to sharing our knowledge and experience with our interns in hopes that it will enable them to get the farming skills they need to succeed on their own farms one day.
Internship Description
2010 Internships are filled.
Internship #1: May-October. Previous farm experience is preferred and pay is commensurate with experience. Base pay begins at $700/ month (including housing) with possibility of season-end bonus upon completion of successful internship. This internship will cover nearly all production aspects of an 8-acre certified organic vegetable farm. Working closely with us, the farmers, you will be involved with greenhouse propagation, field planting and transplanting, hoophouse management, compost application, irrigation, cultivation, and harvesting, washing and packing produce for CSA boxes and farmers market. In short, you will have the opportunity to learn how we started and run a successful, mid-scale farm. If you already have previous experience on a vegetable farm and want to specialize your learning in a specific area, it is possible that we can set up a specialized internship for you. Contact us and we will discuss this further with you. Ideal work hours are M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Internship #2: June-September. Pay is $700/month (including housing) with possibility of season-end bonus upon completion of a successful internship. This position is a great introduction to mid-scale organic vegetable production. Interns will be involved primarily in harvesting for our CSA and farmers market, in addition to some field transplanting, weeding, and hoophouse management. Ideal work hours are M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Educational Components:
- Experiential eduction in nearly all aspects of organic vegetable production from seed to harvest, cover cropping, rotations, and soil management.
- Bi-weekly dinner discussions with farmers and other interns, if desired, regarding a certain farming topic. Weekly farm meetings outlining farm progression and tasks.
- Involvement with CSA and farmers market activities: selling, marketing, display-making, farm tours.
- Hoophouse management and season-extension.
- Education on financial and budgetary considerations in starting up and running a small-mid scale vegetable farm.
General Considerations: We think our two internship positions to be best suited to people considering farming as a career. We take our work very seriously and expect our interns to as well, but we also try to have a fun and educational atmosphere on the farm. We need to have at least a 3 month commitment from our interns for adequate training and education. Interns must be prepared to do manual labor and repetitive tasks in all types of weather. Farming is often unglamorous work! Rain, shine, wind or snow–the vegetables still must be harvested and delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you enjoy working outside, being very active and eating and cooking with organic vegetables, then an internship on our farm may be an educational, fun and enriching experience. Who knows, you may just fall in love with farming!
Hours: The typical workweek is M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., with an hour break for lunch. Hours can vary depending on weather. On busy, summer harvest days we will start at 7 a.m. but will try to let you leave early on Friday afternoons.
Meals: Vegetables and eggs from the farm provided. Some staple foods (rice, flour, milk) are provided to interns living on farm.
Housing: On-farm housing available for 1 person in refurbished granary. It is rustic and no-frills, but is clean. There is a bedroom and a shared employee kitchen. Housing for a 2nd intern may be available in a camper, and they will share the employee kitchen with other intern. If housing is not needed, then base pay could be increased to at least $800/month for a full-time employee.
Skills Desired: Previous farming or gardening experience is desired, but not necessary (please see internship descriptions above). We will train motivated interns. Some experience with manual labor or working outside is desired, but not necessary.
To apply: 2010 internship positions are filled. Please contact us in late 2010/early 2011 to apply for 2011 internships.