Open Gate Farm Internship Program
At Open Gate Farm we raise animals for meat, eggs, milk and cheese, and grow vegetables, herbs, berries, and fruit. Every day we are grateful for a life that is connected closely to the land, in tune with the seasons and requires physical labor and ingenuity. It is great learning old skills and integrating them into new farming practices. We also love feeding friends and family such fresh, delicious and nutritious food.
We are dedicated to the local, sustainable agriculture movement. Our country needs more small family farms and we want to help people learn to be farmers.
We are active participants in our local agricultural community, and we encourage our interns to participate along with us.
In exchange for gaining experience on a diverse working farm, we’ll benefit from your enthusiasm, good ideas, and hardworking help with the many chores that make a farm.
We are interested in someone who is physically fit, likes to work hard, wants to learn sustainable farming/homesteading, and who has a good sense of humor.
For this to be a positive experience you should have a strong desire to learn about managing small farm production and marketing and enjoy working with plants and animals. For our part, we’ll do our best to make your experience fun, challenging, rewarding and highly educational.
Expectations and schedule: Hours of work in exchange for teaching will be arranged to suit both our schedules and will vary based on the season.
We’re not all-knowing experts, but we are happy to share what we’ve learned about starting and maintaining our farm. We want to give you the basic knowledge, skills and experiences so you could start your farm, too.
Below is an outline of what you’ll learn from your time on Open Gate Farm.
I. Animal husbandry
Food, water, shelter, protection from predators, breeding and the
advantages of heritage breeds, hygiene and health, and waste management for:
Pigs
Goats
Cows
Chickens – both laying hens and broilers
Guineas, ducks, turkeys
II. Pasture management and supplemental feed
Soil, nutrients, energy and water cycles
Plant growth
Fencing
Water management
III. Gardening
Soil, nutrients, water, planting, harvesting, organic weed and pest control for growing vegetables, herbs, berries, fruit
IV. Processing farm products
Slaughtering and dressing broiler chickens
Milking goats and processing the milk
Cheese making
Canning, freezing, and drying fruits and vegetables
Bread making
Curing and smoking bacon
Cleaning and packing eggs
V. Marketing and community outreach
Product sales
Farm tours and educational programs
Volunteers and interns
Connecting with the local farming community
VII. Business management
Setting goals
Financial recordkeeping
Assessing the farm operations
VIII. Homesteading
Use of tools and life skills for:
Building improvements and maintenance
Equipment repairs
Firewood
Maintaining an aesthetically pleasing farmscape
Maybe the most important lessons of all are learning to pay attention to the natural world in a deeper way, seeing the connections, enjoying the beauty of a simple, purposeful life growing good food.
If you are interested in exploring an internship on Open Gate Farm, please email or give us a call. We do not have living quarters for interns on the farm. Internships can begin at any time of year.
We are dedicated to the local, sustainable agriculture movement. Our country needs more small family farms and we want to help people learn to be farmers.
We are active participants in our local agricultural community, and we encourage our interns to participate along with us.
In exchange for gaining experience on a diverse working farm, we’ll benefit from your enthusiasm, good ideas, and hardworking help with the many chores that make a farm.
We are interested in someone who is physically fit, likes to work hard, wants to learn sustainable farming/homesteading, and who has a good sense of humor.
For this to be a positive experience you should have a strong desire to learn about managing small farm production and marketing and enjoy working with plants and animals. For our part, we’ll do our best to make your experience fun, challenging, rewarding and highly educational.
Expectations and schedule: Hours of work in exchange for teaching will be arranged to suit both our schedules and will vary based on the season.
We’re not all-knowing experts, but we are happy to share what we’ve learned about starting and maintaining our farm. We want to give you the basic knowledge, skills and experiences so you could start your farm, too.
Below is an outline of what you’ll learn from your time on Open Gate Farm.
I. Animal husbandry
Food, water, shelter, protection from predators, breeding and the
advantages of heritage breeds, hygiene and health, and waste management for:
Pigs
Goats
Cows
Chickens – both laying hens and broilers
Guineas, ducks, turkeys
II. Pasture management and supplemental feed
Soil, nutrients, energy and water cycles
Plant growth
Fencing
Water management
III. Gardening
Soil, nutrients, water, planting, harvesting, organic weed and pest control for growing vegetables, herbs, berries, fruit
IV. Processing farm products
Slaughtering and dressing broiler chickens
Milking goats and processing the milk
Cheese making
Canning, freezing, and drying fruits and vegetables
Bread making
Curing and smoking bacon
Cleaning and packing eggs
V. Marketing and community outreach
Product sales
Farm tours and educational programs
Volunteers and interns
Connecting with the local farming community
VII. Business management
Setting goals
Financial recordkeeping
Assessing the farm operations
VIII. Homesteading
Use of tools and life skills for:
Building improvements and maintenance
Equipment repairs
Firewood
Maintaining an aesthetically pleasing farmscape
Maybe the most important lessons of all are learning to pay attention to the natural world in a deeper way, seeing the connections, enjoying the beauty of a simple, purposeful life growing good food.
If you are interested in exploring an internship on Open Gate Farm, please email or give us a call. We do not have living quarters for interns on the farm. Internships can begin at any time of year.
