Learn to grow your own food on an organic minded farm in Louisa, Virginia, USA

Detalhes

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  Descrição

  An organic minded farm focusing on veggie production, pastured beef and lamb, honey, niche fruits/flowers/herbs. We have a small CSA, online store and participate both a city and online farmers market.
  
  This is a real working farm. We currently have 16 beehives, a flerd (cows and sheep) that we direct market as grassfed beef/lamb. Our farm grows over 40+ different veggies, with our crowd favorite crops including carrots, baby ginger, hardneck garlic, and lettuce mix.
  
  The farm is managed by Jesse (M) 29 years old, he has been educated in horticulture and business management and been managing the farm since 2016. He is close to his parents, who occasionally out on weekends or with projects and help manage one of our pick-up locations near Richmond. The farm is also blessed with great neighbors!
  
  Jesse loves real food and knows how to grow some delicious produce! He tries to combine ideals of permaculture into a production farm. It is hard growing veggies for retail sales and has learned that some aspects of permaculture are better suited to smaller scale production. The farm uses smart tillage practices, grows lots of cover crops to keep our organic matter levels up, relies on rain for irrigation using smart cultivation efforts and tries to balance soils for nutrient dense veggies with organic amendments.
  
  We also avoid single use plastic, known as plasticulture, which is mainstream in organic production.
  
  The farm is recovering from growing to big to fast and working on sustainability in the balance of labor to what sales our difficult markets bear. Our culture of convenience makes retail sales of a high quality product to be labored over in the kitchen less desirable to the masses. But the customers that we find are a blend of friends centered on the love of great food!
  
  Through our recovery we discarded the laying hen operation of 500 laying hens and are so happy that we did. We have a few hens out with the animals for our delicious farm breakfasts.
  
  Current projects include maintaining the vegetable operation and marketing/sales/packing efforts.
  
  Future projects include building a second high tunnel, setting up a nursery space for plant/shrub/tree sales, expanding and maintaining fences for the animals, setting up a wild simulated mushroom yard (shiitake, lion's mane, oyster) in the woods, building a processing barn for the veggies with additional cold-storage space, and just generally starting to think about ideas to develop the woods but without destroying the habitat to all the wildlife (hogs, cabins, trails, other ideas?)

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  Tipos de ajuda e oportunidades de aprendizado

  Projetos artísticos

  Ajuda em projetos ambientais

  Jardinagem

  Construção/faça você mesmo

  Ajuda em fazenda

  Ajuda a cuidar da casa

  Manutenção geral

  Ajuda com computadores/internet
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  Oportunidades de intercâmbio cultural e aprendizado

  Helping on a farm, you soon learn to wear many hats as they say. Joining our farm you could learn anything from cultivation science, dry farming methods, how to repair small engines, how to drive a tractor, how/why we grow cover crops, when to plant veggies and much more.
  
  Our culture is centered around growing nutrient dense food, veggies, pastured meats, & honey. And of course eating delicious food along the way. Jesse is great at teaching not only how, but why we do things especially in regards to soil health. You can also learn how to manage the pastures and sheep/cows. The best thing to do is ask questions! We are glad to share our thoughts and ideas on our practices.
  
  Our participation in a nonprofit based in Richmond, also opens up access to 50+ other farms, bakeries etc that you can shop with or maybe get to know.
  
  We grow the majority of our diet and Jesse is a great cook and enjoys using up leftover or excess veggies each week. We eat communally taking care of all our our guests meals and hope that you don't need to spend any money to be here to make up for the lower wages. Also you are welcome to forage in our woods, we have loads of edible mushrooms growing through the season and hope to wild simulate mushrooms in the future.
  
  Our project manager, Tom, loves to help out on the farm when his weekends are free. He also loves to plein air oil paint and is a great teacher. The farm is his favorite subject to paint so if you want a lesson, it would make his day!
  
  We try take off 1 day a week and try to do something fun such as play pickleball at the community center in town, go hiking in the woods, hiking in the mountains, go swimming in Lake Anna or down to the Rappahannock River.
  
  When we have free time the farm has a pond, 100 acre woods, the Appalachian mountains are an hour drive away for hikes and Lake Anna State Park is a 30 min drive from the farm.

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  Anfitriões que oferecem uma remuneração de acordo com o salário mínimo do país.

  Este anfitrião oferece acomodação e remuneração.

  O anfitrião indicou que vai pagar um valor equivalente ao menos ao salário mínimo do país por hora trabalhada e a acomodação também vai ser fornecida. Está buscando ajuda com um estabelecimento ou atividade comercial. Entre em contato com o anfitrião pelo sistema de mensagens para obter mais informações sobre o pagamento oferecido. Qualquer acordo deve ser combinado com antecedência com o anfitrião.

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  Ajuda

  In exchange for your help we are offering a private room/bathroom with shared living/cooking space. (See more info on food in section on cultural exchange!)
  
  Main growing season:
  The months we are looking for more help will be March- November, with the busiest months being May-early September. We are looking for help a minimum of 25 hours per week, max of 40 hours depending on the time of year. This will be a paid position of $12/hr. Typical growing seasonal help involves packing orders, harvesting, cultivating, watering, landscaping, setting up fences and moving the sheep and cows!
  
  Each week there is a harvest list of what we sold online and then everything ends up either packed for online store orders or individually labeled for the online farmers market we take part in. The online farmers market is over 50 producers distributing produce to about 20 locations around Richmond, and a customer can order just one bag of carrots. SO to avoid massive confusion, each item any producer sells on there needs a farm logo and customer ID logo, this translates into lots of packing time for us! This packing typically takes place each Wednesday, so having open Wednesdays is crucial if you are thinking of reaching out!
  
  The other area where we really need help is cultivating the veggies. We have a cultivator that requires a tractor driver and then a cultivator driver, so we basically just drive over the crop and kill the weeds and keep the soil moisture in!
  
  Those are the main focuses and then if there is any time leftover to help there will probably be options as to what you would like to do. From starting seeds, to moving the flerd, to watering plant babies, to making deliveries there are plenty of other areas to help and learn!
  
  We try take off 1 day a week and try to do something fun such as play pickleball at the community center in town, go hiking in the woods, hiking in the mountains, go swimming in Lake anna or down to the Rappahannock River.
  
  Cooking/cleaning are part of living in the same house and are not counted towards paid time. We cook/clean communally and want the kitchen to remain clean!
  
  Our ideal candidate:
  Has a desire to learn how to run a farm. Current skill level is not important, but at a minimum, an interest in farming is needed! We eventually hope to find someone to help grow the business and path of the farm. Is flexible, with the changing climate we try to work when it makes sense for our bodies and not just punch in from 9-5.
  
  
  QUALIFICATIONS:
  -no degree, or prior experience needed. Interest in farming preferred
  -Must be willing to learn familiarity with a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, and a willingness to learn and expand knowledge
  -Valid driver's license / clean driving record
  -Strong communication and interpersonal skills
  -Ability to help independently; self-motivated, critical thinker/problem solver
  -This position is for someone who has a positive outlook and wants to help outside. Intern will be alongside Bibb's current employee, Jesse (male).
  -Applicant who is honest, trustworthy, dependable, flexible, good-humored and genuinely interested in growing delicious nutritive food

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas
  Inglês: Fluente
  Espanhol: Intermediário
  Holandês: Iniciante
  Português: Iniciante

  Este anfitrião oferece intercâmbio de idiomas
  Este anfitrião indicou que tem interesse em compartilhar seu idioma ou em aprender um novo.
  Entre em contato com ele para obter mais informações.
  
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  Acomodação

  -Private bedroom 12'x14' with twin bed/ full bathroom with shared living spaces/kitchen/dining areas/front and back porch
  
  -Private bedroom with shared bathoom

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  Algo mais...

  We have delivery days 1x per week and market in Charlottesville on the weekend and you can ask to get dropped in or around Richmond or Charlottesville, say if you wanted to take the weekend to explore part of Virginia. Or do activities from 8 AM- 1PM on Saturdays in Charlottesville and return to the farm when the market ends.
  
  The town of Louisa is a 5 minute drive from the farm, with a Food Lion and 2 pharmacies you are in the country but also close to town. Virginia has lots of great hiking trails, skyline drive is just under an hour from the farm. Lake Anna state park is 30 min drive away, Charlottesville city center is 40 min drive away, Richmond is an hour away, and DC is about 2 hours.
  
  The cheapest way to get here we have found is to fly into New York and then take a train either to Richmond or Charlottesville if you are traveling on a tight budget!
  
  I am happy to come give our guests a ride from either Richmond or Charlottesville which are about an hour away from the farm.

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  Mais alguns detalhes

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    Acesso à internet

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    Acesso à internet limitado

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    Temos mascotes

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    Somos fumantes

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    Pode hospedar famílias

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  Pode hospedar nômades digitais

  We now have high-speed internet with Starlink

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  Espaço para estacionar campervans

  Este anfitrião pode fornecer espaço para vans.

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  Quantos Workawayers pode acomodar?

  2

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  Horas previstas

  25-40+ hours/week

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