Phone Number
9738960625
I'm Seeking
Apprenticeship
Best Time to be Reached
3:00pm to 9:00pm
Age
24
Available for Fall Harvest
Yes
Gender
Male
Room & Board
Room and Board
Are you a vegetarian?
No
Available for Winter Work
Yes
Will you eat meat raised at your host farm?
Yes
Time Period for Work
I'm available practically ASAP for work, I'm currently employed full-time at-will, as in with no time commitment. I have an end date of September as I'm thinking of returning to school; however, if I found the right farm would be open to continuing on.
Why are you seeking an apprenticeship or work opportunity on an organic farm in Vermont?
I firmly believe that practical/hands-on skills are a real currency in our ever-changing times. They're the skills that I might value most. On top of that, I spent a summer working on a farm and it was perhaps the most formative time in my life. Being in touch with my surroundings and the rhythms of life made me feel more vital and it was work that I could understand and care about. It was work that I didn't mind waking up for in the morning and felt accomplished at by day's end. I also loved the various nature of the work. For example, any skill you can develop as a farmer, enriches your ability to be productive and accomplish things. In other words, I can honestly see a life in which as a farmer one develops their skills as a carpenter, forester, mechanic, butcher, etc. This multi-faceted and life-long learning and commitment hold endless attraction for me.
I can visit farms to interview for apprentice / farm worker position
Yes
Physical Labor
I love physical labor. Sometimes it can be brutal, sometimes I don't want to do it, but I always feel better having done it and it's an integral part of who I am as an individual and as a member of my family.
Do You Have Transportation?
Yes
How did you hear about the program?
I discovered NOFA last year by searching for farm jobs in New England and talking to folks who I'm friendly with who are also interested in farming.
Are you a smoker?
No
Name an experience that changed the course of your life
Going to college changed my life. Cliche, I know. But I thought I'd leave with all this discrete knowledge, fulfilling my working class parents dreams to have a doctor or lawyer (traditional "successful" person) in the family. I left with more questions and a desire to understand life in my way and from various perspectives. I haven't stopped learning or felt really satisfied since, and I don't think that's likely to change, even if I find something that I want to do for quite some time.
Experience Level
Beginning
References
1) Jim Clark, owner and master carpenter, Clark Builders, [email protected]
2) Dory Overable, house advisor supervisor Spring Lake Ranch, [email protected]
3) Amy Bowen, Director of Tamarack Farm Summer Camp, [email protected]
2) Dory Overable, house advisor supervisor Spring Lake Ranch, [email protected]
3) Amy Bowen, Director of Tamarack Farm Summer Camp, [email protected]
Can You Drive Manual Transmission?
Yes
Apprentice Goals
In becoming a farm apprentice I hope to develop the skill set necessary to either become a farmer or at least raise food for my family and kin one day. At the very least, this is a skill set I think I will use in cultivating a good life for myself, and at most it'll be my life's work. But it's a skill set I hope to keep and develop and share with others.
Work Experience
In the last 5-8 years, I've worked in a vast number of jobs, all of which have some applicability to work on a farm. For example, I worked for my town's engineer in college and developed skills like shooting grades and single-handedly assessed and mapped our towns storm sewer system. I also worked on a small "beef and berry" farm in Vermont, where I serviced some of the machinery, set up pastures for the cow's rotational grazing, tended the garden, helped set up the blueberry irrigation, and more. Since then, I've worked as a house painter, a carpenter's apprentice, worked in an auto/wood shop and sugaring operation (simultaneously assisting folks with mental illness), and now work in a school.
What do you hope to take away from an experience working on an organic farm?
I hope to understand myself better working on an organic farm. I hope to understand the rhythms of a farmer's life better and how they make an organic farm viable in this day and age. I hope to understand how to cultivate healthier food systems, healthier communities, and more delicious and hearty food for people to consume.
Education
I attended Williams College and earned a BA in the Geosciences and Liberal Arts. The Geosciences background has made me a much more critical and practical thinker about the world around me; it has made me better at evaluating how useful things are. The Liberal Arts made me interested in the questions: what makes a complete human being and how do farming and connection to our communities and food and surroundings shape us.
What do you perceive will be your reaction to living and learning with new and unknown people in a rural area?
I've done this before and while it is never easy to adjust to a new group of people and new lifestyle, this is something that I know I can succeed at. When I starting working as a carpenter in rural Central VT the whole experience was new as were the people, and they came to be people I really cared about and from whom and with whom I learned a ton. I relish the opportunity to live and learn with unknown people in a rural area.
Status
Inactive