Extended Farm Internship

The Extended Farm Internship is by invitation for interns who have successfully completed the Summer Farm Internship and would like to continue their education on our diversified, community-based biodynamic farm and dairy through all the seasonal shifts. Our educational approach focuses on learning experiences that train the head, heart, and hands to cultivate relationships with the soil, plants, animals, and each other in order to steward and learn from the land.

As an intern, you will have the opportunity to learn:

• Biodynamic principles and practices through experiences on farm and participation in our Biodynamic Course, Mid-Winter Intensive and Bee Workshops.
• Annual Farm planning i.e.. maps, seed order, succession planting, crop rotation, Stella Natura planting calendar.
• Vegetable Production at market garden and field scale from seed to harvest.
• Greenhouse management skills from seeding to transplanting, including preparing for and hosting an Annual Plant Sale.
• Healthy soil regeneration methods through managing and applying Biodynamic compost and field sprays, crop rotation, cover cropping and weed management.
• Biodynamic pest and disease management.
• Proper tractor use and maintenance.
• Cultivation, drying and processing of annual and perennial flowers and herbs.
• Production of value-added herbal products.
• Record keeping.
• CSA share distribution and customer relationship skills.
• Seed saving skills from growing and selecting seed crops to seed cleaning and storage.

As an intern, you will be expected to:

• Arrive on time, ready to work, and prepared for changes in weather conditions.
• Be able and open to learning from mentor farmers, staff members, other learners, animals, plants, the land, and your own mistakes or mistakes of others.
• Share and communicate your knowledge and understanding.
• Communicate learning needs and personal needs clearly and compassionately and hear and take into account the needs of others.
• Bend, crouch, sit, walk, run, stand for long periods of time, and lift at least 50 pounds.
• Assist with children’s activities during school/group visits.
• Assist with hosting the work of volunteers, community members, and other learners in your areas of competency.
• Farm in the context of an intergenerational elder care community.
• Participate in preparing, meal sharing and cleaning up communal meals with Fellowship elders and coworkers.
• Help host volunteer opportunities with Fellowship elders, coworkers, and community members.
• Be willing and able to work with children and people with special qualities.

The Extended Internship runs from the beginning of September through the end of May.

Interns in the Extended Farm Internship receive a stipend of $800 per month, a room in Holder House, a 40-room student dormitory on Threefold’s campus, produce from the farm, as well as enrollment in our Biodynamic Course and all one-day workshops. Attendance in the Biodynamic Course is mandatory as part of your studies of Biodynamics.

Our farm is embedded in a community of elders at the Fellowship Community and is tightly woven into the school communities of Otto Specht School and Green Meadow Waldorf School. In order to protect the vulnerable communities we serve, all farm Staff and Interns are required to show proof of full vaccination as indicated by the CDC or submit proof of weekly negative PCR test. Testing is available on site. Covid protocols and precautions follow current CDC guidelines and are subject to change.

Application for the Extended Farm Internship is by invitation. Successful completion of the Summer Farm Internship is a prerequisite.