Phone Number
8042488560
I'm Seeking
Apprenticeship
Best Time to be Reached
Any time after 10/28/18
Age
20
Available for Fall Harvest
Yes
Room & Board
Neither
Are you a vegetarian?
Yes
Available for Winter Work
Yes
Will you eat meat raised at your host farm?
Yes
Time Period for Work
November 2018- May 2019
Why are you seeking an apprenticeship or work opportunity on an organic farm in Vermont?
I eat food all the time, but very rarely have I had an opportunity to witness and participate in the entire process of food creation. I believe in the value of living intentionally and consciously, and a big part of this for me is countering the harmful modern conventional farming practices which mass-produce food in an impersonal way.
I've lived in Vermont for two years now, and I have appreciated the abundance of local food outlets and farm-supportive programs. Helping my fellow Vermont community members is very important to me, and I would love to help a business that is itself helpful in providing good food.
Being able to grow and sustain crops, study food systems and production firsthand, and understand methods of farming alternative to conventional fashions are skills that I want to learn so that I can use and pass on to others.
I've lived in Vermont for two years now, and I have appreciated the abundance of local food outlets and farm-supportive programs. Helping my fellow Vermont community members is very important to me, and I would love to help a business that is itself helpful in providing good food.
Being able to grow and sustain crops, study food systems and production firsthand, and understand methods of farming alternative to conventional fashions are skills that I want to learn so that I can use and pass on to others.
Other Food Restrictions
Lactose intolerant
I can visit farms to interview for apprentice / farm worker position
Yes
Physical Labor
I have spent the past several months cutting trails and constructing mouldering toilets on various Vermont state park lands. This work takes place for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and involves moving lumber, hiking, and digging and grading trails on variable surface conditions.
Do You Have Transportation?
Yes
How did you hear about the program?
I googled "Vermont Farm Classifieds" and this seemed to be the best resource for that.
Medical Issues
I sustained a leg injury last summer that makes my left leg very sensitive to trauma and slightly weaker than the right leg. Also, I have been clinically diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders and PTSD, but all of this is managed with medication and other coping mechanisms which I have perfected over the last several years of living with this diagnosis.
Are you a smoker?
Yes
Name an experience that changed the course of your life
Leaving the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, where I grew up, and moving to Vermont to attend college was a permanently life-changing experience that I am very grateful I got to have. Being independent from the microcosmos that I knew and understood, and being alone in a new place, forced me to fend for myself and figure out how to function as a part of a whole. I realized that I did not support or agree with the consumerist suburbanite lifestyle I was raised under, and since then I have been trying to explore more wholesome and holistic approaches to existence. I'm now taking time off of school to live and travel and meet people and try new things.
Experience Level
Novice
References
Maddison Shropshire, VYCC Crew Leader- 802-585-0989
Susan Hicklin, General Catering Manager of Meriwether Godsey at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden- 804-502-0485
Michelle Basile, high school orchestra director and music mentor- 610-952-5886
Allison Daniel, longtime friend and mentor- 804-334-4115
Susan Hicklin, General Catering Manager of Meriwether Godsey at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden- 804-502-0485
Michelle Basile, high school orchestra director and music mentor- 610-952-5886
Allison Daniel, longtime friend and mentor- 804-334-4115
Can You Drive Manual Transmission?
No
Apprentice Goals
I hope to soak up as much knowledge and experience about organic, sustainable farming as I possibly can, so I can use and share this knowledge later in life. I want to learn how to care for edible plants to make them as nutritious and delicious as they can be. I would also love to learn the general workings of farm management, and how to operate a productive farm that can support a community. I understand that farming is very difficult and unremitting work, but I recognize its importance in population sustenance and well-being of communities, and I plan to work hard to help the greatest number of people I can.
Work Experience
Over the last few months, I have served AmeriCorps on a carpentry and trail crew under the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. The prior summer, I fund-raised door-to-door for a Virginia-based environmental nonprofit, and before that, I worked catering events at a botanical garden in Richmond, Virginia.
3 Skills
1. When confronted with a problem that hinders the continuation of a task, I am good at leading a group to consider possible solutions and decide on a course of action. This is a skill that I have fostered over the last several months of AmeriCorps work, when many of our projects have encountered obstacles and a solution has to be implemented.
2. I am hardworking and committed to completing tasks to the best of my ability. I am patient and persistent during the completion of tasks because I appreciate the knowledge and experience gained throughout the endeavor. Hard work does not discourage me, because I know that if something must be done, it will be done one way or another.
3. I am good at identifying plants and understanding their growth cycles and needs. This mostly applies to trees, because they are my expertise, but in various college classes I have studied and learned about differentiating between plants based on sometimes minute characteristics. I understand how finicky yet simple plants are, which is something I expect to come up a lot in the organic farming process.
2. I am hardworking and committed to completing tasks to the best of my ability. I am patient and persistent during the completion of tasks because I appreciate the knowledge and experience gained throughout the endeavor. Hard work does not discourage me, because I know that if something must be done, it will be done one way or another.
3. I am good at identifying plants and understanding their growth cycles and needs. This mostly applies to trees, because they are my expertise, but in various college classes I have studied and learned about differentiating between plants based on sometimes minute characteristics. I understand how finicky yet simple plants are, which is something I expect to come up a lot in the organic farming process.
What do you hope to take away from an experience working on an organic farm?
I would feel most fulfilled by an organic farming experience if I left with knowledge of edible plant ecological and cultural systems, a strong work ethic centered around dedication to and understanding of tasks, and specific farm upkeep and operation skills.
Education
2 years at University of Vermont
-B.S. Forestry w/ minor in English for Second Language Learners and Wildlife Biology
-training in forest health assessment and measurement, sustainable forest harvest, ecology, environmental science, environmental studies
-B.S. Forestry w/ minor in English for Second Language Learners and Wildlife Biology
-training in forest health assessment and measurement, sustainable forest harvest, ecology, environmental science, environmental studies
What do you perceive will be your reaction to living and learning with new and unknown people in a rural area?
My most recent job required living and learning with new and unknown people in a rural area for one entire month at a time. The prospect of this was really daunting to me before I started the job, but it ended up being a very positive challenge wherein I got to interact with people unlike me and learn a lot about myself in the process. I am now excited to meet and work with people who are not like me in some way or another, to solve problems with differing perspectives, and to find common ground on which to bond.
Status
Active