Organic Apple Orchard and Music Fest Apprenticeship

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Taylor in Apprenticeship, Farming, Fruit, Organic // 0 Comments

Organic Apple Orchard and Music Festival Apprenticeship in Maine – 2020

MAY 1st-December 1st 2020

Apply by April 1st

Apple Acres Farm is an organic apple orchard and agrotourism business in southern Maine. We are seeking two enthusiastic apprentices to assist us in our work during the 2020 season between May and November. We also run one of the largest music festivals in the North East, now in its 21st year, which receives around 8,000 attendees. Apprentices will get to work at both businesses, and will acquire knowledge and skills in farming, event planning, customer service, and business management. We also host 3-5 weddings each year.

Our season is broken into segments, with May-June being a lot of outdoors farming work (planting, fencing, fertilizing, watering, thinning, mowing, compost building), July mostly being focused on the music festival, August through October being focused on the harvest and running the farm business which includes a farm store, and restaurant/bar and November being focused on cleanup and putting the orchards to bed for the winter. While day to day you will do the same or similar things for many days in a row, overall the six month term will provide a very diverse experience. You will also receive a day each month to work on an independent project (Previous projects have included researching food deserts in Maine, hosting a Cambodian dessert tasting, and creating a podcast, among others). Apprentices also receive reading materials and handouts, and attend farm workshops through the Maine Organic Farmers Association. There is a community of farms and apprentices you will meet, and you will do work days on other types of farms as well. You will also learn carpentry skills as we re-do our commercial kitchen which will be very helpful to anyone looking to run their own farm!

We also like to have fun—kayaking, hiking, going to movies and trivia nights, bonfires, etc. We have a big community of farmers in the area, and within that community we function as a family unit. Our apprentices come back year after year to visit and volunteer.

Apprentices receive housing, a weekly CSA veggie and egg box, and $250/week. Because most of your expenses are covered the typical apprentice is able to save 75% of their income while living on the farm, and is able to earn tips at the music festival while bartending, and at the farm store during the season. We are LGBTQ+ friendly and generally very open and friendly, we work as a team and expect apprentices to take on emotional ownership of the farm and do the work as though it was their own business.

To apply for the organic apple orchard and music festival apprenticeship please send an email to info@appleacresfarm.com with your name, age, relevant work history, and a little paragraph about why you are interested in working at our farm. Please note that since we are an apple farm we cannot accept summer-only applicants. We can however work with your college to give you credits for the fall term, but applicants must be able to stay for most of the May-November season.

Learn more about farming and food jobs and internships, or learn how to post a job, internship, or apprenticeship opportunity on beginningfarmers.org by going to https://www.beginningfarmers.org/internship-and-employment-opportunities/