River School Farm Internship Program

Summer/Fall 2013 Internship
June 10th – October 25th, 2013

Applications for our Summer 2013 Internship Program are now closed. Please check back later this fall for details on our Winter and Spring internship programs. The Summer Internship has expanded to a 5 month program beginning in June and ending after the harvest season in late October. Applications are due by April 12, 2013. Earlier applications are encouraged. Please contact monique (at) riverschoolfarm.org for more information or questions.

The River School Farm is a venue for year-round farming, landscape development, special events and educational programs that demonstrate a holistic approach to sustainable living, bioregional design and creative expression. We grow fruit, vegetables, flowers, herbs and we raise poultry, goats and keep bees. Our farm is located alongside the Truckee River where the Great Basin meets the Sierra Nevada mountains in Reno, NV. Our space serves as a venue for community events, weddings, performances and we also host a variety of classes and workshops on a regular basis. Our farming operations run year round utilizing hoop houses, low tunnels, and row covers in the colder months. We grow on our farm on site and also develop and maintain other edible gardens throughout the community of Reno. We also manage a CSA program and sell a variety of value added products to the community.

The River School Farm internship is designed to build skills and knowledge in the practice of deep organic bio-intensive agriculture, edible landscaping, community education and outreach, and sustainable living.

Interns will be exposed to a variety of different tasks in our farm and garden operations, educational programs, special events and as residents of the River School Farm community. We have a lot of things going on here at RSF and try to give interns the opportunity to be involved in many of our different operations while also accommodating the specific areas of interest the intern would like to focus on. We ask each intern to design, plan and execute an internship project during their time at RSF.

Duties

The farm intern will be actively involved with daily RSF operations and assisting in the maintenance and improvement to the entire farm complex. Interns are expected to work 40 hours/week.

Interns will:

• Work under the supervision of RSF staff to develop new skills and receive hands-on training.
• Carry out daily farm chores, operations and facilities maintenance.
• Attend scheduled staff meetings.
• Help with special events at the farm.
• Lead visiting groups on farm tours, field trips and other special event programming.
• Assist with River School Farm’s poultry and beekeeping operations.
• Assist with all aspects of RSF operation.
• Develop a project in a specific area of interest to be completed during the internship time frame.
• Perform farm chores in rotation with other farm interns/staff (these are in addition to the 40 hour work week and include living community responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, etc.)

Farm work will expose interns to a broad range of farm tasks including:

• crop rotation planning
• cover crops
• garden design and building
• assisting with CSA and market programs
• crop harvesting, drying, storing, preserving
• soil amendments
• farm composting
• seedling production
• biological disease and pest control
• animal husbandry (chickens, ducks, bees, and goats)
• care of fruit tree, shrub fruit and grape vines
• value added product development
• herbal storage and preparation
• special event organization, setup and staffing
• educational programming (school groups, summer camps, assisting with workshops)
• edible landscape maintenance

Qualifications

This position is ideal for someone who wants to gain practical work experience working in small scale urban sustainable agriculture. We ask for a 5 month commitment. This is an unpaid internship, but we do provide our interns with housing, partial board, and a modest living stipend.

Desired qualifications are:

• previous experience in farming and/or gardening
• good work ethic and highly motivated to learn
• physically fit and able to lift up to 60 pounds and work in adverse weather conditions
• attention to detail and efficiency
• creativity and love for a sustainable lifestyle
• desire to participate with children’s groups on an occasional basis

This is a full time position, with 40 hours required weekly. Internship housing consists of a private room with shared bathroom and kitchen. Two meals/day are provided Monday-Friday along with fresh farm produce and community bulk foods.