Garden Internships
APPLICATIONS FOR 2021 SEASON NOW CLOSED
Are you interested in joining The Working Centre Market Garden for a season? Want to learn and practice community-based market gardening?
The Working Centre is offering a unique internship opportunity in community-based urban ecological farming in Kitchener, Ontario.
The Working Centre
The Working Centre is a non-profit organization that gives individuals access to tools and opportunities to become involved in productive community building projects. It offers diverse programs that collaboratively fill gaps where available supports do not meet people’s needs.
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As one of the Working Centre’s Community Tools Projects, the Market Garden is a volunteer-driven community enterprise engaged in ecological food production, hands-on cooperative work, and knowledge-sharing. The garden is a space for cultivating relationships among gardeners through the work of building a more sustainable community-based food system.
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Internship Position
Position: Internship
Time Commitment: Full-time (35 hours/week), Monday to Friday
Duration: 4 month (May through August) OR 6 month (May through October)
Remuneration: Volunteer (Includes honorarium of $1000/month)
Application: Please send a copy of your resume and a cover letter to Vanessa, Adam, and Rachael at: garden@theworkingcentre.org
What should I expect?
Interns work alongside staff and volunteer gardeners to grow vegetables, flowers, and fruits using a small-plot farming model on about 1.5 acres of land. Interns join a community of gardeners to learn community-based market gardening skills and contribute to our shared work.
What will I learn?
Everyone brings different hopes and contributions to an internship role. All gardeners, whether staff, interns, or volunteers, are a part of the team. Each day is filled with opportunities for "on-the-job” and self-initiated learning, which is supplemented by guided learning and field trips to other farms. Gardeners support one-another as we pursue our individual learning objectives and explore particular interests that ebb-and-flow with the seasons.
This is an opportunity to be immersed in planting and nurturing crops as we explore what it means to farm sustainably in community. The garden uses organic practices (not certified), though we tend to refer to our methods as “ecological farming” or “regenerative agriculture”. There is lots to explore! Soil-building; cover cropping, crop rotations, and composting; irrigation and efficient water use; pests and insects; seeds, seeding, and transplanting; fruit and perennial crops; and a whole lot more!
Interns will also be involved in harvesting, preparing, and distributing vegetables, fruits, and flowers through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share program, which feeds over 160 member households each week during the summer. There are also opportunities to develop transferable leadership, entrepreneurial, and organizational skills associated with active participation in a lively and diverse community-enterprise. Interns commonly work alongside other volunteers, hosting them in the garden and directing their work as appropriate.
Is this for me?
The details of each internship are shaped by the interests and needs of each intern, as well as the needs of the project, through an ongoing process of conversation and relationship. We work to overcome barriers to involvement and aim to be flexible and open to each interns' unique circumstances to the extent that we are able.
We understand that access to ecological farm work is not equitable and we are looking to build a diverse team! If you identify as BIPOC or face other accessibility barriers to traditional farming opportunities, we highly encourage you to apply.
Experience: All you need is an interest in gardening and growing food! Previous experience is not required. We are hoping to meet anyone who is excited to join the garden community for a season and learning market gardening skills in a unique community project! For those seeking a career in farming, 6 month internships are recommended.
Time Commitment: Interns join the garden full-time for a 4 month or 6 month period. Generally, the garden operates Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm, with a 1-hour lunch break.
Remuneration: The internship is not paid, but we are able to offer an honorarium of $1000/month in recognition of each interns diverse contributions to the garden and in appreciation of their passion for growing. We recognize that this poses a barrier to many applicants who may otherwise be well-suited to this internship program. If this describes you, you may be interested in volunteering at the garden as another way to join in the work, but without such a significant time commitment.
How do I apply?
The application process is intended to be accessible and conversational. To start, please send a copy of your resume and a cover letter to Vanessa, Adam, and Rachael at: garden@theworkingcentre.org
For your cover letter, we are particularly interested to hear a little about you. For example: What excites you about this opportunity? What do you hope to contribute? What do you hope to get out of it? How can we support you?
We will host video conversations with applicants in early-April. Internships are slated to begin Monday, May 3rd.
We are adaptable and friendly folks who are excited to meet you! Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you are having trouble putting together a resume and cover letter.
519-575-1118
garden.theworkingcentre.org