Company description

Located in Amagansett, NY on the East End of Long Island, Quail Hill Farm is a stewardship project of the Peconic Land Trust. Since its first season in 1990, Quail Hill Farm has grown to 30 acres in production situated on a 220 acre agricultural preserve. Quail Hill Farm was an early adopter and champion of organic, regenerative and biodynamic agricultural practices on the East End, and played a large role in the early days of the Community Supported Agriculture movement in the U.S.

Quail Hill Farm serves over 300 Summer Share member families through a highly unique biweekly pick-your-own CSA model as well as a 70-family Winter Share. During the pandemic shutdown, we turned our focus to food access programming, and in so doing rolled out a sliding scale fee structure for our CSA members and also grow for a 200-family Farm-to-Food Pantry program with a local partner organization. QHF also markets produce to restaurants, natural food stores, and a farmers' market. The Quail Hill Farm crop list contains over 500 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

Internship description

The goal of the Quail Hill Farm apprenticeship is for beginning farmers to develop their farm management skills and understanding of organic farm systems. We design this position in the interest of bridging the gap that commonly exists between first or second year farm apprenticeships and the skills required for more advanced farm management positions.

Our apprenticeship is designed to allow each member of our crew to experience many aspects of our farm management system, learning through the course of a full season on a diverse, multi-species fruit and vegetable farm. Through a unique rotations system, apprentices will cycle through leadership and management of certain aspects of our farm, including: propagation, water wheel transplanting, harvest coordination, post-harvest handling and marketing, and cut flower harvest and arranging.

We prefer candidates with a full season of mixed vegetable farming at 5+ acres. We ask that they are hard workers, are self-motivated, and have a penchant for positivity in all weather conditions. Apprentices must be able to work and communicate well with a diverse group of co-workers, volunteers, and farm members.

Participation in mandatory tractor safety and defensive driving courses, time management skills, commitment to quality and efficiency, and a sprightly sense of humor are essential. Apprentices typically walk away with 50-75 hours of tractor operation after their first season. Current driver’s license is required, and the ability to operate manual transmissions is very helpful.

In exchange, we offer:

• Free shared housing (about 4 miles from the farm), wifi not included
• $15/hr, with overtime paid out over 40 hours per week)
• Cell phone reimbursement
• Educational stipend, and free attendance to NOFA Summer Conference
• Paid time off
• Produce and flowers from the farm, and a beautiful summer close to the Atlantic Ocean.

We follow a Tuesday-Saturday work week, and in the high season work approximately 42.5 hours per week. Monthly weekend duties are scheduled in advance. Other educational opportunities include weekly classes on a variety of topics in spring and fall, participation in local CRAFT events, access to the farm library, and farm walks with our managers to discuss different topics in our fields. Being a project of a Land Trust, we also offer our advanced apprentices the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of various land conservation issues.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, $15-20/hr

Application instructions

Deadline

February 15, 2023