Stepping Stone Farm EcoCrew

WHAT'S INVOLVED 

Working and learning at Stepping Stone Farm you will be part of a tight knit crew working on all aspects of running a profitable market garden.

Ideally an internship involves a 9-12 month commitment 5 days a week.  We realise however that not everyone can afford to do this and we are happy to find workable, more flexible options for suitable applicants. 

We supply breakfast and a cooked lunch weekdays and have a few cheap/free accommodation options available (Stepping Stone has a rudimentary kitchen and toilets but no accommodation)

Skills will mainly be learnt in the field but there are also scheduled, more formal learning sessions. All work is seasonal so in summer at peak production most of the work is practical. Winter is the time for in depth work on planning and business training.

All interns will be provided with our list of learning outcomes and our goal is to make sure that you achieve competency in enough of them, with our continued mentorship, to be able to start your own sustainable market farming business.

Stepping Stone Farm has to be profitable but it also has to be diverse enough to meet the needs of prospective interns. To be a successful organic farmer the underlying principle is "feed the soil" after that there are an unlimited number of choices governed by land availability, soil type, water, climate, personality, market , etc... Our limitations are 5Ha on borrowed ground without animals.  After that we offer as many possibilities as we can including the possibility of offering committed interns a bed or two of their own on which they can experiment with crops and techniques that fit their individual needs. Here is a summary of the learning outcomes we offer:

  • Work Place Health & Safety
  • Organic Farming Principles
  • Enterprise Planning
  • Market Gardening Design
  • Managing Organic Farms
        Preparing the ground
        Managing plants organically
  • Harvesting & Storage
  • Marketing
  • Business Management
  • Enhancing Profitability

CLICK HERE to download the full list of learning outcomes

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