We are now accepting applications for full-time and part-time internships for the 2016 growing season. Do you want to get dirty, sweaty and bone tired? Farming isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who love it, there is nothing more satisfying than turning sunlight and soil into good food. If you want to get an education in sustainable agriculture, first hand experience on a working farm will give you real life skills and training as well as a sense of the farming lifestyle. Prospective farmers who choose to intern over the whole season will experience how management decisions impact the farm months later. Our 2015 intern Chris Peterson of Loch Holland Farm says:
“my time spent as an intern with Josephine and Randy was indispensible to my education as a farmer. Jo and Randy are actually making their living by farming. The primary reason to choose Tubby Creek Farm over other internship opportunities is that your experience will give you an accurate picture of the multitude of hats you will have to wear as a small farmer. Moving into my second season operating my own farm, I can attest that this direct involvement in every facet of operating a small, sustainable farm—from planning to profit—is easily the most value for money that you can get as you start on your own farm journey.”
Why do we have interns? Certainly we benefit from the work that interns do on the farm, but that isn’t the whole story. I got my start as a farm intern my first year out of college at Philadelphia Community Farm in Osceola, Wisconsin. Without that experience, I doubt I would be farming today. Besides the multitude of practical knowledge, I also got a sense of the flow of the seasons, life on a farm, and the challenge of making critical management decisions every day. I wasn’t sure if I had the chops for farming. It seemed too risky, too hard. But I was bitten by the farming bug, and ten years later, here I am. And working with interns is fun! We enjoy the opportunity to share our successes and failures with folks who really want to learn.
Click here for details about becoming a Tubby Creek Farm intern
