There are two opportunities to live and work at SpringRain Farm. The farm is a collaborator in the Jefferson County FIELD Program and hosts interns during the program running from March to November. We also accept short term visitors to the farm through the WWOOF program.
Our Farm Business
In order to be a sustainable as well as organic farm, it is important that our farm operations be financially sound so that we can continue them. We have a holistic and ecological perspective to farming and we hope that interns think critically about the various aspects, economic, biophysical, social of farm enterprises and business activities. Our market is local where we seek to provide high quality products produced in a sustainable and ethical manner.
We raise layer poultry to produce eggs and high calcium manure for composts and mulches. We wash and pack between 100 and 250 dz eggs per week. We raise free-range broiler chickens for meat and we process and sell between 200-300 birds every 3 months. The broilers are part of our orchard IPM program. We hatch and raise turkeys for sale in the fall. Where interest and opportunity permit we also breed and raise our chickens. We also have a small flock of Katahdin sheep for meat, and a growing pastured rabbit project initiated as an independent project by a former intern.
We raise honeybees for honey and pollination services on the farm. Interns with strong interest are encouraged to adopt and manage a colony through the season under John’s guidance and support. Honey is incorporated into the fruit jams and syrups that we produce as well as being bottled and sold direct.
We have a young orchard of apple (mix of heirlooms, disease resistant, and cider cultivars) and pear (mostly Asian, some Europeans). 2012 will be the first harvest year for some of the older trees. We do full management of the trees with the interns. We graft and plant new trees annually. We are certified organic and are developing our IPM program each year. We have a 2400 plant blueberry field which will have its first commercial harvest this coming season. We grow greenhouse and field raspberries, black raspberries, a variety of black berries and blackberry-raspberry hybrids, gooseberries, currants, and Josta berries. Interns participate actively in all parts of the operation though we may hire additional dedicated pickers at specific points in the season.
We grow asparagus, onions, and garlic beds, however the majority of any annual crop production that we do is for on-farm consumption by the interns, Roxanne and John. Interns will be expected to participate in the establishment and maintenance for the farm’s use those vegetables we all want to eat.