Looking for the following:
Type of opportunity:
Internship / Mentorship, Employment with Transfer.
More info: I'm a young farmer. I've been living and working on farms for the last six years, in Hawaii for two years, North Carolina for the last four years. My dream is to steward a piece of land of my own, I want to, need to know what that feels like. The vision to create an absolute Garden of Eden supporting a family, my neighbors, the community and the neighbors and community supporting me as well. Being a young farmer, I have little financial savings. What I have is a vision and a dream and a lot to offer by way of energy and passion. It may be a crapshoot but I'm interested in inheriting land from someone who shares the same vision or can sense that their land would be in great hands.
Equipment & infrastructure:
Barn, Fencing, Well / Pond / Other water source, Greenhouse, Livestock facilities, Farmer housing, Farm equipment, Processing facilities, Irrigation equipment, Cold storage (cooler/freezer).
More info: Equipment could be helpful. Though I'm a low-tech kind of farmer, I appreciate the slow pace of doing things by hand and think that the earth could use some slower paced farmers. I'm more interested in infrastructure. Water is big, a barn would be very very nice, fences and livestock facilities would be ideal but not wholly necessary because they could all be built.
Current production on farm:
Field crops, Flowers, Herbs, Orchard, Poultry (Broiler/Layer), Sheep/Goat (Dairy/Meat), Vegetable production, Woodlot or forest products.
More info: Most of my experience comes in organic vegetable production. This is what I started with in Hawaii, along with orchard work (on exotic fruit), raising broiler and laying birds and flowers. North Carolina has expanded my knowledge of vegetable production, caring for orchards, caring for milking goats, chicken care, growing culinary and some medicinal herbs, growing field crops like wheat and barley. Not to mention mushroom production in the woods which I fell in love with and it took over my world for a couple years. I love working with logs and mushrooms.
Current farming practices:
Ecological production but not certified.
More info: No till, no spray, heavy mulching, lots of compost. Like I mentioned above I'm a low-tech kind of guy.
Qualifications and goals:
Previous farming experience:
Volunteer, Employee, Manager
Number of years experience:
6
Other qualifications:
More info: Education includes hands on experience, lots of experimentation, books, workshops on cultivating mushrooms, workshops here and there at sustainable agriculture conferences.
Production goals:
Field crops, Flowers, Hay or pasture, Herbs, Hogs, Orchard, Poultry (Broiler/Layer), Sheep/Goat (Dairy/Meat), Vegetable production, Woodlot or forest products.
More info: I want to be diverse, in fact I need to be diverse. If I were just farming wheat or corn I'd be bored as hell. Many products will support the farm financially. Vegetables, berries, mushrooms, milk/cheese, meat, seeds, etc.
Personal experience and production goals summary:
I feel like I've described most of my personal experience above but to clarify. I really began working with the land in Kansas where I grew up on a landscaping crew for two years. Next it was off to Hawaii to begin my farming career where I worked on organic production farms for two years. Then to North Carolina for an internship, I was an intern for 3 months before being hired as garden/farm manager, a position I have served for the last three years.
My production goals are to cover my financial needs and the farm's financial needs, to support a family, the neighbors, the community. The real vision is really to live in a village like setting where everyone supports and takes care of each other, takes care of the earth, creating heaven on earth by tending to the land.