Internship
2023 Internship
We are still open to interns or apprentices coming to work and learn with us on our diversified farm in Northern California.
We grow food for a 50-member CSA, our local community, and local meal-sharing organizations using biodynamic and permaculture techniques with an emphasis on agroecology
At Golden Rule Gardens,
We believe in the productivity of a small, intensive, low till, minimally mechanized, mostly human powered, biodynamic farm. We are dedicated to using regenerative farming practices that include building all of our own compost, using mostly open pollinated seeds, making our own potting soil, using minimal tillage techniques, utilizing cover crops, and more! Interns will get a complete experience working from seed to harvest. We believe in the CSA model of farming, and while we do utilize some market farming strategies, growing veggies for farmers markets is not a focus on the farm and will not be a major part of this internship.
While farming is for sure hard work, it can be the most pleasurable and rewarding vocation with the right attitude and perspective. We try to embody the philosophy “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life”. Therefore, we try to bring joy, gratitude, and FUN into our work day as much as possible. We are seeking an intern that would like to join us in the cultivation of this positive attitude as we attempt to work in the right reciprocal relationship with the earth.
Dates
4/1/2023 - 11/15/2023. There is some flexibility in the start and end dates. Interns will also be able to take a week long vacation in August for rest, travel, or personal projects.
Hours
We are seeking 1 full time intern to join our team of 6 who will work 40 hours a week, mostly in our gardens, but depending on interest may spend some of that time in our community kitchen doing meal prep and cleanup as well as food processing. There are also weekly work parties in the community (outside the gardens) that we often participate in.
Compensation
The intern will be provided with free shared housing, plenty of veggies, fruits and basic staple foods, and a $500 stipend per month. Also, educational, recreational, and social opportunities abound!
Educational Philosophy
We are dedicated to providing a highly educational experience for any intern that we work with. We want interns to feel that they not only understand what they are doing, but why they are doing it. We want to create space to explain thoroughly and answer all questions. We want to provide full-season learning, and competency in tasks from start to finish. We also will encourage and help arrange field trips, attendance of local workshops, and other continuing education opportunities off the farm as the schedule permits. Being that Ridgewood Ranch is a working ranch with herds of animals, there may be opportunity to learn basic animal husbandry and participate in sheep moving and processing beef. At the beginning of the internship we will make an education plan together to better ensure that all areas of interest are covered.
Biodynamic Education
We make all of the Biodynamic preparations almost entirely from substances that we encounter or cultivate here at Ridgewood Ranch - interns are welcome to participate in this entire process with us. We also have a local Biodynamic chapter, Biodynamic Association of Northern California (BDANC) that has quarterly meetings. The intern will have the opportunity to attend all of these meetings and explore the spiritual side of farming with local experts.
Location and Climate
Golden Rule Gardens is located on the Historic Ridgewood Ranch. The ranch has a fascinating history - it was historically inhabited and tended by the Pomo People. It is now well known for being home to the famous racehorse, Seabiscuit. It is currently the home of 3 vegetable farms, rotational grazing of cows and sheep and goats, two large orchards, a therapeutic horseback riding program, and more! There is a nice community of people that live and work at the ranch. There is also a swimming lake, some hiking trails and a small grove of old growth redwoods.
Willits gets HOT in the summer. During the hottest part of the year we take breaks during the middle of the day, but it can still be brutal. It takes some self discipline to get over the discomfort and learn to lean into the heat. Working in the heat is not for everyone, so please consider this seriously as you consider if this internship is right for you. Willits is a high fire risk area, so there is a chance that we could be evacuated or that the air will be smokey from nearby fires. There is a volunteer fire crew here on the ranch making us better protected than some other areas, but there is still definite risk.
General Expectations
We strive to keep our gardens clean and organized, and will expect interns to do the same. We believe in finishing what you start, putting things away when you are done and doing what you say you will do. We commit to starting the day on time together, ready to work. We commit to striving for punctuality, trustworthiness, tidiness, cleanliness in our gardens and community.
To Apply
Please email the answers to these questions to keithmichalak@gmail.com
1. Why do you want to work on our farm? Do you have any farming experience? What are your long-term farming or gardening goals and how have they evolved?
2. Are you willing to work long hours on repetitive tasks? Can you follow direction, work with limited supervision, and make deadlines? What about harvesting in the smoke in a mask? Or when its 100F?(intern safety is always paramount and we modify schedules during extreme heat events and when appropriate)
4. While the ranch is very close to both Willits and Ukiah by car, it is inaccessible by biking or walking. Do you have a car? If not, how would you deal with a limited ability to get around?
5. Do you have experience living in a communal setting with shared bathrooms and kitchens? Cooking (outside of 3 community dinners per week) will be your responsibility, and some cleaning of the shared spaces will be required of you. How would you feel about such living arrangements? Are you a good cook? Are you comfortable cooking for yourself? How about for 30 people?!
6. How is your health? Do you have any physical restrictions, allergies, or medical problems that would affect or interfere with rigorous work?
7. We agree to not use any hard drugs, and to only use alcohol or cannabis with conscious discretion and humble respect for everyone who lives and works around us - do you have any concern about how this would be for you?
8. Have you ever left a project prior to completion or been dismissed from employment? If so, explain.
9.We strive to maintain an open, honest, inclusive community. Do you have any ideological views that might conflict with our farm operation or life in our community as it is described?
10.Are you familiar with the concepts of biodynamic agriculture or open to learning and practicing those concepts?
11.What are your recreational interests and hobbies? Music? Movies? Sports?
12. In our efforts to constantly evolve and grow together, we strive to be open to receiving constructive, respectful criticism. Understanding that this is an apprenticeship opportunity and that you are coming to learn, can you accept direction without thinking of it as criticism?
13. Do you have any pets that you would need to bring with you? Pets need special approval.
14. What is your favorite vegetable or thing to grow?