Room/board/stipend

We are a bio-intensive, acre micro-farm serving a small CSA program in our fourth year of operation on an 80 acre horse boarding facility. We have one position for a FULL-TIME farm intern from March 2012 through January 2013. You will learn by performing all aspects of farming for the CSA.

Private accommodation provided, along with $100 weekly stipend and a 1-person share in the CSA. Our internship is modeled upon the Western SARE farm internship program. Unless successful candidate makes arrangements, there will be no academic credit obtained at the end of this program. This position is physically demanding and sometimes requires working outside of normal business hours. Successful candidate must be able to follow directions and protocols, be well organized, attentive and be able to work independently.

$500-$1000 Term Completion Bonus!

Please send resume, 3 references and cover letter explaining why you are interested in this position to
hearteyelandtrust@gmail.com

The farmstand will continue selling bedding plants, mostly tomatoes and peppers at this point, for a while longer, and we will also start selling extra produce as the harvest comes.

The weather turned hot too fast and it seems that Spring has passed us by.  The weeds are coming on strong.  Thanks to all of our working shares for putting in their time!

That’s all for the blog this week.  Check back for updates about the upcoming boxes and more news from the farm!  Have a great week!

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It continues to warm up out there and we are adding more and more seeds to the beds every week.  So far we have several successions of leafy greens and root crops growing, along with different varieties of summer squash (including Patty Pans!), winter squash, and tomatillas.  Yum!  By the end of this week we hope to have some tomatoes set out under walls of water to protect them from any cold nights we still have ahead of us.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for the signs out by the road for when the farm stand opens.  We will be selling tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash and melons that you can take home and plant in your own garden!  Have a great week and enjoy the Spring weather!

Some people walking around the property have stopped to ask, “Why are those black tarps on the ground?” and “Why are those white sheets over the rows?”

Well, those black tarps are weed barriers.  They help shade out the weeds, as well as block the sun to keep the soil underneath moist.  We will plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil, squash and beans in the holes cut into the woven fabric and hopefully they won’t have to compete for space with weeds.

The white sheets are row covers.  They float over the crops to help diffuse sunlight, keep off pests, and also to help reduce water loss due to evaporation.  Although it may be nicer to look at growing crops rather than these long pieces of fabric, they really do help the garden stay healthier, reduce water use, and cut down on labor.

So what is coir?  Those white tubes weighting down the row cover on the sides are filled with coconut husk fiber.  Although there aren’t any palm trees growing coconuts anywhere around here, we salvage these coir bricks from a commerical tomato grower.  They use them as a hydroponic medium to grow their tomatoes and then throw them out every year in a big pile.  We have gone and reclaimed them not only to use as weights for our row cover, but also incorporating the coconut fiber into our beds.  It helps with water retention and eventually the coir will decompose, adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil.  Coir can hold more than 5 times it’s weight in water!  It is also being used as a replacement for peat moss, which is usually harvested from bogs and swamps at an unsustainable rate.  Coconut trees grow and decompose very quickly, making coir easy and economical to produce.

Well, that is all for this week.  We have the 2nd succession of planting in the ground and finally got some rain!  The radishes and snow peas are already sprouting and soon there will be growing plants under all that row cover.  Have a great week!

The drip irrigation system is all set up and fighting off the dryness we have had to help soak the ground.  Signs of green outside are popping up every day.  Trees are starting to bud out and some weeds are already taking root.  We should be able to start putting out row cover this week and maybe even direct seeding some carrots, beets, radishes, leafy greens, snow peas and turnips.

As always, thanks to everyone who has helped out at the work parties and we hope you have a wonderful week!

In the picture, you can see the unbroken blocks of coconut fiber (coir) on the right and the ones on the left already incorporated into the raised beds.

Biointensive methods recommend minimum turning of the soil in order to conserve the natural processes and biota that live beneath the surface. Earthworms, nematodes, and millions of bacteria are working hard to naturally improve the soil for us. Using heavy mechanized tillers disrupts their work and although it may make the soil easier to work this year, in the long run, we would be damaging future crops by aggressively turning over the soil. Instead, we use what is called a broadfork or U-bar.  This handy tool makes it easy (well, it is still a bit of a work out!) to loosen the ground so water and organic matter can be mixed in with the raised beds.

That’s all for now. We should be able to start planting cool-weather veggies in a couple of weeks!  Thanks to everyone who has helped at our garden work parties!  Happy Spring!

Room/board/stipend

We are a bio-intensive, ¼ acre micro-farm serving a small CSA program in our third year of operation on an 80 acre horse boarding facility.  We have one position for a FULL-TIME farm intern from March 2011 through October 2011 (possibly through December).  You will learn by performing all aspects of farming for the CSA.

Private accommodation provided, along with $100 weekly stipend and a 1-person share in the CSA.  Our internship is modeled upon the Western SARE farm internship program. Unless successful candidate makes arrangements, there will be no academic credit obtained at the end of this program.  This position is physically demanding and sometimes requires working outside of “normal business hours”. Successful candidate must be able to follow directions and protocols, be well organized, attentive and be able to work independently.

Please send resume, 3 references and cover letter explaining why you are interested in this position to tracy@localsustainability.net

Enjoy,

Tracy

Enjoy,

Tracy

Enjoy!

Tracy