After the huge success of our inaugural volunteer internship program in 2013, we are looking for two outstanding candidates for our new and improved 2014 program. Please help spread the word to any who may be interested!
Applications are due by February 1st, 2014
Download the PDF description here:
Loutet Intern Description_2014
Urban Farm Volunteer Internship Opportunity
Position: Urban Farm Volunteer Intern
Term: 2 days (~12 hours) per week, March – October*
*hours and length of internship are flexible based on the right candidate(s). We want to offer a full season for the maximum learning potential, but for the right people, we’re flexible!
Organization: North Shore Neighbourhood House – Edible Garden Project, Loutet Farm
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia
Application Deadline: February 1st, 2014
Interviews: February 10th – 21rd, 2014
Submit Application to: gavin@ediblegardenproject.com
Urban Farm Volunteer Interns will assist the Loutet Farm team in running a busy, dynamic urban market garden operation. Loutet Farm is run as a social enterprise, meaning it strives to be a successful urban farm enterprise in all aspects, while also serving as a model of local sustainable food production and providing hands on learning opportunities to the community. Volunteer Interns will have the opportunity to learn all aspects of the enterprise, including farm management, volunteer coordination, community outreach, and education.
2014 will be the fourth growing season for Loutet Farm and our second year running a volunteer internship program. We are always learning and improving our programing, so this season will be better than ever!
Your participation in the Volunteer Internship will provide you with the opportunity to learn and assist in the following:
Planning/Prep (March-May):
- Composting
- Bed preparation
- Crop planning
- Building new beds/cropping area
- Building new mushroom propagation area
- Setting up cloches and low tunnels for early season starts.
Seeding/Propagation (March-Aug):
- Seeding to plug trays in our new seedling greenhouse (propagating starts to sell to the community and other enterprises is an important part of our business)
- Ongoing watering, maintenance, potting up, organization, record keeping in seedling greenhouse.
- Direct crop seeding in the field (in-line seeder and hand broadcast)
Crop and field maintenance (April-October):
- Weeding, thinning, pruning, transplanting, watering, adding amendments
- Composting
- Harvest prep: cleaning, trimming, weighing, bunching, bagging, storing
- Harvesting
Marketing (May-October)
- Assisting at our very busy 2X per week on-site farm gate market table (this is our main marketing channel)
- Preparing orders for restaurants/retail. Making deliveries. Maintaining relationships with chefs/clients
- Helping to develop ideas for a small Community Shared Agriculture/Harvest Box program
Community Outreach (ongoing)
- Chatting/answering questions at market, at community events, and “over the fence”. Learning to be an ambassador for urban farming and local, sustainable food.
- Helping to coordinating volunteers at community workbees and other volunteer events.
- Being a tour leader and educator for school children through our Fed Up program.
Apiculture (optional)
- Experience a full season of honeybee management by helping in our two new honeybee hives.
- Participation in the hives will require membership with the BC Honey Producers Association (for insurance purposes).
This is an un-paid volunteer position. Volunteer Interns will receive a weekly box of the beautiful veggies and fruits grown onsite, along with a structured and dedicated education program.
We are not looking simply for labourers, but for volunteer interns who are keen to learn as much as they can about running a successful urban farming operation. We will have regular meetings and schedule weekly tasks so that volunteer interns get the most out of their experience. Our hope is that our Loutet Farm volunteer interns will leave the program feeling confident that they have a solid base of understanding in how to run a small urban farm operation.
Ideally you will possess these attributes:
- Experience and willingness to do hard manual labour in all weather conditions
- Able to lift at least 50 pounds
- Self motivated and passionate about growing food in the city
- Ability to stay on task while handling multiple distractions
- Capable of taking direction
- Capable of taking initiative and solving problems
- Comfortable working with a diverse group of people
- Outgoing and friendly with the public
- Attention to detail (organized farm site, tool maintenance etc.)
- Organizational skills (record-keeping, planning, managing schedules, e-mail, etc)
- Excitement about learning urban farming skills in a fast-paced, hands-on environment
- An excellent sense of humour
Assets:
- Basic construction skills
- Experience directing volunteers
- Basic horticultural skills
- Experience with outdoor/experiential education
- Foodsafe Certification
Please apply with resume and one-page cover letter, explaining what makes you passionate about urban farming and about this volunteer internship. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. All local shortlisted candidates will be required to fulfill a volunteer shift in February. We want to meet and work with you on the farm to determine a mutual fit for the volunteer internship program.
Completion of a Criminal Record Check is required. We are recruiting two (2) interns for the 2014 season.
Learn more about Loutet Farm and the EGP at: www.ediblegardenproject.com
We look forward to your application! Emily, Christine, Kristi, Jason and Gavin – the EGP team.