Farming Internship in Virginia at ShireFolk Farm

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Farming Internship in Virginia at ShireFolk Farm in Palmyra – 2021

ShireFolk Farm is a family-owned and operated farm in Central Virginia that offers pastured proteins and naturally grown produce and mushrooms to several Richmond and Charlottesville-area markets, as well as select stores and restaurants.  We raise chicken, turkey, and lamb, and ducks on pasture and hogs in the woods for meat.  We have an egg laying flock of 300+, and we have about 3/4 acre of garden in permanent raised beds, as well as high tunnel production space for greens and tomatoes.   

Please check out our Instagram to get a feel for our farm.

Farming Internship in Virginia at ShireFolk Farm

This year we are offering 2 paid internships with a focus on our garden and poultry systems. We are narrowing our vegetable focus this year to greens (salad and large leaf greens such as kale and chard) and roots (beets, carrots, turnips, radishes).  We will grow other, more classic vegetables for ourselves (potatoes, onions, squash, etc.) but we need to pare down the retail offerings this year to get the garden to a more profitable and manageable state. We will work 5 days/week (typically Tues-Sat but we may change this around a bit or stagger days off) and we want everyone to schedule a week or long weekend off for themselves once or twice during the season.  We will schedule these early-on so we can all plan ahead. Get thee to the beach!

Included in the internship are required processing days, which means that we need help turning all of our birds in the field into birds in the freezer.  This is non-negotiable. Typically it will be 2 days every 3 weeks, but can be more depending on seasons, rotations, etc. There will be plenty of opportunity to learn about the animal systems, from chicks to fried chicken.  Egg washing will also be required as a team activity. 

We will take field trips to other area farms to see what they’re getting up to, we’ll have lots of potlucks with other local farmers and neighbors, we’ll take trips to the river to cool off after the hot days in July.  We’ll work hard, have tons of fun, and learn lots.

You can Expect to Learn from this Farming Internship in Virginia:

Logan and Emilie have backgrounds in Natural Resources Management, Permaculture Education, Economics, Forestry, and whitewater rafting.  We are very intentional about teaching our interns and wwoofers, striving always for you to understand the “why” of what you’re doing.

• How to manage permanent raised-bed gardens
• Crop planning
• Weed control methods
• How to operate a BCS tractor
• Body mechanics for the garden
• A basic understanding of Permaculture
• Tree planting
• High tunnel management, including vertical tomato trellising and pruning
• Oyster mushroom care and cultivation
• How to operate a farmer’s market stand
• Harvesting and post-harvest handling
• How to live outdoors (an underrated skill)
• All about how nerdy the Tweardys are
• How to process chickens, turkeys, ducks
• How to properly use, move, store and charge portable electronetting in animal systems
• A bit about rotational grazing
• Serious farm to table culinary skills
• Knots and tarps
• Grant-funded projects
• So many other things…

Stipend:

$500 – 600 (DOE) per month is paid semi-monthly, plus great food and glamping.  For the right, experienced team, we might consider a profit share of the garden-based sales.  This is in no way gauranteed, and is entireley dependent on the ability of the team to work independently and self-manage.

Housing:

Private glamping tents (check out Bell Tents online to get a picture) are available in the woods in our back 30.  We have a composting toilet in the camping area and are currently installing an outdoor shower.

Policies:

Apprentices and volunteers are subject to a 2-week trial period and review.   We reserve the right to dismiss workers at will. (This has not happened before)

We are liberal-minded folks, building a diverse network of friends in the area.  We are GLBTQ friendly. We embrace diversity of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and ability.  Extremely conservative folks might feel at odds with our culture and lifestyle. We believe in openness and tolerance, and hateful rhetoric of any kind is neither tolerated nor welcome here.

How to Apply for a Farming Internship in Virginia at ShireFolk Farm

Please email the following to ShireFolkFarm@gmail.com:
1). A resume
2). Three workplace/character references
3). A letter stating motivation for your interest and how you are qualified for the internship.

4). A photo of you doing something you love (optional).
5). Answers to ALL of the following questions:
  
How old are you? Do you have transportation?
Are you interested in volunteering?  Or apprenticing?
What is your availability? How long are you interested in staying and do you have any time that you can’t work?
Are you travelling with any pets? We strongly prefer candidates with no pets.
What interests you in ShireFolk?
What specifically would you like to learn while you’re here?
How would you describe your communication style?
Our housing is an outdoor “glamping” setup.  Are you comfortable living outdoors?
How do you feel about helping us process poultry?
Do you have any special dietary needs?
What’s your general experience level in the kitchen?
Describe your relationship to your cell phone.

This will sound obscure but we’ve found it to actually be extremely relevant – do you have any experience in competitive sports? If not, totally fine, but have you worked in any job, on any team, or had any experiences where it was necessary to hustle?  We have tons of fun here, and we don’t run ourselves into the ground or anything, but there is a sense of urgency when we’re working. Mouth breathers need not apply! We are often on a timeline, particularly on harvest days before markets, and on processing days with the poultry. What experience do you have that lends itself to the hustle?

Bonus Points For:

What’s your favorite book?
What are 5 words others use to describe you?
What are you nerdy about?
Thanks for your time and interest!

You can also find all of the application information and a few more details on our website at: http://www.shirefolkfarm.com/join-the-team.html

 

• Learn more about farming and food jobs and internships, or learn how to post a job, internship, or apprenticeship opportunity on beginningfarmers.org here.