ORGANIC FARMING

Positions: Farm apprentices
Farm: The Quarry farm
Location: Salt Spring Island, BC
Accommodation: private bedroom provided (see below)
Type: private bedroom, some shared meals plus $400 stipend

The Quarry Farm is a small community of growers and nature lovers on beautiful Salt Spring Island who were gifted with the opportunity to look after 35 beautiful acres of forest, wetland, mountain bluffs and developing cultivated areas. We have a beautiful free standing intern accomodation with all modern amenities and a shared community house. We have lovely swimming lakes nearby the farm and are 10 min away by car from Ganges and Fulford.

The farm is in it’s sixth year now and produces a variety of vegetables grown on approximately 1 acre for 30 summer and 20 winter CSA boxes. We don’t sell at market but have a few other outlets we sell to at peak times.

There’s a small tractor used for tilling in cover crops when necessary, other then that we do everything by hand.

We are certified organic and try to grow our veggies according to the biodynamic principles. We like to use as few machines as possible and we would like to see the farm being self-sustaining and regenerative of the natural ecosystems.

Since this year we are one half of a COOP, the other half being a veggie start nursery. If interested there might be the option of helping out in the nursery at times.

DESIRED QUALITIES

We are looking for energetic people who are really keen to learn more about growing food, small scale farming and working together in a small team/community, with the ability to do physical work 4 days a week and have decent communication skills. We value creative thinking and the ability to work independently.

APPRENTICESHIP TASKS

A large variety of tasks, including bed preparation, seeding, transplanting, weeding, watering, harvesting, compost making, etc.

INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION

There will be at least one experienced farmer working alongside the apprentice at the start of the season. Later on the apprentice will hopefully be comfortable performing certain tasks independently.

There is access to an instructional masterclass online the apprentice is encouraged to watch, and that we’ll watch together.

There are books and online resources available, and community members can help out with a variety of skills.

APPRENTICESHIP DETAILS

Duration: Approximately 5 months. Start asap until the end of September.
Hours per week: 4 week days of 6 hours
Stipend: In addition to room and board we can offer you a $400 stipend.  For details please contact us.

ROOM AND BOARD 

The private bedroom we provide is in a lovely building (the Treehouse) that has a shared living room, kitchen and bathroom (+laundry). The space is shared with 1 other person. We will have most of our morning meetings and lunches in the treehouse. The apprentice is encouraged to be part of the lunch making once a week. These meals will be vegetarian and often vegan. Bulk food is provided for interns.

TO APPLY

Please email a cover letter and resume to info@thequarryfarm.ca

Please indicate you saw this posting at GoodWork.

Check out our website: thequarryfarm.ca