Agroforestry Apprenticeships in New York

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Taylor in Farming, Internships // 1 Comment

Wellspring Forest Farm & School is offering agroforestry apprenticeships for the 2016 season. Spend your summer in the woods and learn the art and business of mushroom growing, rotational grazing of ducks and sheep, and a range forestry skills at one of the Northeast’s premier examples of forest farming.

Positions ideally run from June 1 to Sept 1/Oct 1 (end dates are flexible) and require a commitment of 2 full days of work on farm each week, a share in daily farm chores, and attendance at orientation June 6 – 8. Apprentices get to attend three advanced skills trainings in mushroom cultivation and forestry. Participants can camp onsite or commute to the farm, located in Mecklenburg, NY.

Wellspring Forest Farm, managed by Elizabeth and Steve Gabriel, is a farm and homestead where we are committed to regenerating the landscape to be healthy, diverse and resilient. We believe that trees, forests, and animals form the base of a regenerative agricultural system. We actively promote the long-term health of our land with multifunctional species that benefit the ecosystem while yielding a variety of products.

In practice, we grow gourmet mushrooms (shiitake, oysters, lions mane, and stropharia), tap trees for maple syrup, garden annual and perennial veggies and fruits, plant trees as wind buffers, coppice material, food and fodder, establish ponds and waterways, and graze heritage breed animals (ducks, and soon pigs and sheep). Our work is inspired by the concepts, ethics and practices of Permaculture and Agroforestry. See our systemspage for more details.

Wellspring Farm owner Steve Gabriel is also the author of Farming the Woods, a must read

for anyone interested in Agroforestry.