A Short Update

On Tuesday, a few hours after I updated the blog, I got a call from the Vermont farm that was looking for more experienced interns. The farm's owner, who I had spoken to previously, told me that the farm would not be able to take me on as an intern this year, but might consider me after I had "had my hands on the lines" (of draft horses). This was nothing unexpected, and I did not feel particularly disappointed. I have some good opportunities available, and I think that his decision was probably best for both parties. In addition, this gives me a potential opportunity for next year, one which might be very appropriate for me after I have some experience.

Still Waiting

Last Monday (the 19th), the Oregon farmers that I mentioned previously sent me an email saying that they had spoken to some of my references. In the same email, they asked for my phone number so that they could call me and talk about their internship program. I happily gave it to them, and I have been anxiously waiting for a call for the last seven days. Unfortunately, they have not yet called, as the title of this post would suggest, and I am still waiting. Perhaps today will be the day. Or perhaps not.

A few days ago, I contacted an intern reference from the friendly Maine farm (which is the only Maine farm seriously in the running at this point) that I mentioned a few posts ago. She said that she loved working with them, and that she thought that there would be many horse opportunities at their farm. I asked her more about the meat chicken aspect of the farm, as that is what worries me most, and I am waiting to her more from her about that.

My list of potential farms has grown shorter as the time nears for me to make a decision. I may have to "write off" the Vermont farm that was looking for interns with more experience, as they have not responded to my emailed reference or to a phone call placed about two weeks ago. The modified list is now as follows, in approximate order of preference:

1. Friendly Maine farm
2. Oregon farm
3. New York farm (that has received my resume but has not contacted me back about it yet)
4. Vermont farm that I visited this summer
5. New Jersey living history farm

People written off:
1. Maine farm that required visit
2. Maine farm that seemed unfriendly
3. Vermont farm looking for experienced people (?)

I believe that that accounts for everyone. The first two on the "potential" list are the ones that I am most seriously considering, and the last two are not very strong choices, for various reasons. I hope that I will have a decision within a few weeks. It is the time of year to finalize things for the upcoming season, and doing so will put my mind at ease after a long search.

I Wish I Could Visit

On Sunday, I had yet another phone conversation with a farm that I had contacted through MOFGA. I had thought that this particular farm might be a great choice, based on its description on the organization's website, but my conversations with two of the farmers there have been somewhat uncomfortable, and I am left feeling that I might not want to end up there after all.

This farm is a family operation, mostly kept up, from what I could understand, by an older farmer and his son's family. The older farmer's son was the person that I talked to yesterday, and he was not the most talkative of farm hosts. He did give me an overview of the internship situation, describing the farm's vegetable operation and markets, and telling me that there would be several other interns and family members working on the farm. I got the impression that this farmer's son (the grandson of the oldest farmer), who is apparently very interested in the use of work horses, might get first place in working with the animals. Thus, I am not sure that I would get very much horse experience at this farm. I also feel that I might be uncomfortable approaching these farmers to ask questions and have conversations about the management aspects of the farm. When I have talked to both this farmer and his father, I have not felt particularly welcome, and I get the impression that they may be a rather stern family. Though I understand this, I do not know if I would want to work on a farm that gives me this impression.

Of course, a phone conversation can only convey so much. Perhaps if I met this farm family, I would feel completely differently about them and their attitude. However, I do not have the luxury of traveling across the country to meet with the farms that I am contacting.

Some farms do not seem to appreciate this fact, however. When I checked my email this morning, I saw that I had received a message from another Maine farm, which had seemed very friendly and welcoming on the phone. They have decided that I am not an acceptable candidate because I cannot visit them. They turned me down quite politely, never explicitly stating that they were rejecting me, but instead wishing me luck in finding employment on another farm for the season. I responded in kind, wishing them luck in their search for another intern.

This Might Sound Familiar...

...but I recently received another unexpected reply to one of the emails that I sent out over a month ago. I have now come to trust that farms will respond, however slowly. The farmers apologized for their "slow paced reply," and I certainly forgive them, given how friendly and informative they seemed, and how quickly they contacted at least one of the references that I gave them. But perhaps I should back up a bit and explain.

I had contacted this farm after seeing their listing on the website of Rural Heritage, one of my favorite places to search for internships. At the time, I was concerned that some of the other farms that I had contacted might not reply--or might not be interested in me for various reasons--and I thought that this farm seemed a pretty sure bet. First of all, they do not require a visit from a prospective intern, which would have made working with them impossible, as they are located in Oregon. Secondly, they do not require previous experience with horses, which are a very important part of their operation. Finally, they have a large acreage and a variety of crops, which can only add to their appeal, in my view.

Being an eastern Oregon farm, they rely on flood irrigation for much of their crops' water requirements. However, I feel confident that they focus on sustainability in their water use, as they are certified organic, and they have adopted other sustainable technologies, such as the use of draft horses for power. Their major crop is alfalfa (or lucerne), which is adapted to a dry climate and an alkaline soil (which is much more common in the West than in the East, where soil acidity is the major pH problem for most farmers). Thus, I do not feel as guilty as I might otherwise feel about working on an irrigation dependant farm. Indeed, I am an irrigation dependant gardener, so I understand how difficult it can be to produce food without water in excess of what natural conditions can supply.

As I mentioned, one of my references told me today that he had already been contacted by this farm. He has not yet been contacted by any other farm that I have given his name to, so I am very impressed that this Oregon farm contacted him so quickly. This lends weight to my original feeling that this couple would be good farmers with which to work and learn.

A Good Choice

I spoke with another farm on the phone on Sunday evening, January 11. This is one of the farms that I had contacted through the MOFGA program, which I have alluded to in previous posts. I had listed this farm with some hesitancy, as they mentioned that the farm raises meat birds, something that I still feel some hesitancy about. However, after talking to one of the young farmers on the phone, this farm has climbed to the top of my list of potential farms for the season.

The farm is in Hancock County, and the surrounding area receives what must amount to hordes of visitors every summer (according to the farmer, several million). It raises and sells draft horses, which also provide a significant source of traction for its vegetable fields, the fruits of which are sold to local restaurants and shareholders in the farm's "community supported agriculture" program. If the farm included only those two elements, it would be quite a good opportunity. However, the farmers also raise laying hens, meat chickens, sheep, angora goats, and a family cow, making an apprenticeship there an even better learning opportunity.

I found the farmer that I talked to on the phone friendly, enthusiastic, and very willing to answer questions and provide information. He described himself and his wife as "easy going," and I certainly got that sense from my conversation with him. He did not seem to mind that I had not had any serious horse exposure, and he told me that the only qualities that he and his wife required in an apprentice were a willingness to learn and work.

Thus, I would now list this particular Maine farm as a top choice amongst the seven farms that I am seriously considering. During my conversation with the farmer, I got the sense that I was being offered a position, if I wished to take it, something that I am obviously considering. I will certainly keep this encouraging farmer conversation in mind when I start making decisions. As it is, I feel obligated to wait to make any final decisions until other farms start to make their own decisions in February or later this month. In fact, I still need to call another Maine farm, something that may be on the agenda for tomorrow.

An Unexpected Email

A pleasant surprise showed up in my inbox yesterday: an email from a farm in Southern Vermont that I had not expected to respond to me. I had emailed the farm in the middle of December, and I was not expecting a response after three weeks of silence. I visited this farm while I was in Vermont for my internship, as their posting (now removed) on the website of Rural Heritage (where I find many of my internships) had said that they required people to visit them before taking an internship. I must have been likable enough, because they told me that I should send them a letter of interest describing "the times that [I am] available, what [I] would like to get from [my] internship and what strengths [I] bring to the farm." Their farm specializes in rotational grazing and organic meat and egg production, something that might seem exclusive of my current veganism. I am not vegan because I do not believe in the production of animals for food, however; I simply want to be involved in the raising of any animal that I am going to eat or eat the products from.

This farm also runs well-known (at least to the draft horse crowd) draft horse workshops, and they seem to be very passionate about their Suffolk Punch horses, members of a rare but very sturdy breed of farm horses. I think that the farm would be a good place for me to learn the basics of the difficult skill of driving and working with horses, and to learn more about sustainable animal production.

Phone Conversations

I had two phone conversations related to my apprenticeship search today. The first was unexpected, and the second was one that I initiated by leaving a phone message a few days ago.

During the late morning, I got a call from a farm in Vermont that I had previously emailed. The farmer had said at the time that he was done making hiring decisions, and that it was probably too late for this year. He said that he would hang onto my email just in case something came up. Something apparently did come up, so the farmer called me to talk to me.

He runs a horse-powered farm that includes a bakery, grain fields, and various livestock, and his farm sounds quite ideal. I was disappointed, however, when he made it clear that he would really prefer someone with horse experience, mostly because he wanted to be sure that the prospective intern would be comfortable with horses, and able to form a good working relationship. I got the sense that it was not as much that he was concerned about the intern's knowledge of harness and hitching, but more that he was worried about his/her inherent aptitude for horse work. He believed that some people are just not cut out for the work, and that a person (i.e., me) really cannot know if they are right for working with the animals without experiencing it. He still said that I should send my resume via email, so I did. I am hoping for the best, because I tried to make it clear that I am very dedicated to working with horses, and that I understand all of the challenges that I will face. I hope that he got that sense of passion from our conversation, but I am not sure. In fact, I am quite doubtful.

In the evening I got a call from one of the farms in Maine with which I had left a message. The woman who talked to me was very friendly and easy to talk to, and she made it clear that I did not have to have horse experience to work on her farm. She, too, mentioned that some people don't enjoy working with horses, but she did not seem to have the same attitude that some people simply cannot do it well. I really appreciated that, and I hope that I made a good impression. However, she did say that the farm was reviewing the applications of many applicants, and she said that she would prefer it if the intern could visit the farm before taking a position (which I obviously cannot reasonably do, as I live over a thousand miles away).

Though I have become a better "phone-talker" over the last few years, talking on the phone always makes me feel a bit nervous, as I have a hard time telling what kind of impression my words are making on the person on the other end. It is especially difficult if I am trying to make a very good impression in hopes of getting a job. I feel drained after all of these phone conversations. I am always left doubting whether I did a good job of making my case effectively. Additionally, the first phone conversation left me feeling very worried about the thought that I might not be a "horse person," and the concept that I might not know until I do it. I certainly hope and feel that I can be a very good horse person, but the Vermont farmer jolted me a bit with his lecture.

I have to keep up my morale. At least I have a good chance of being hired by the living history farm, if that is all that comes my way. And perhaps I made a better impression than I realized.

Get with the Program

There are a number of programs for would-be apprentices. The explanation that follows is not exhaustive, I'm sure, but it outlines what I have found in looking for internships.

Though you can simply contact a farm that interests you by searching for it in a database like ATTRA Internships or Organic Volunteers, you can also send your application to farms through an organic farming agency like Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA VT) or Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). With this approach, you will be asked to fill out a standardized form, and you will then choose the farms that you want the agency to send your application to. This cuts down on the time it takes to fill out applications (you don't have to fill out ten different applications from ten different farms) and allows the agency to track your progress in getting an internship and to give you help if you are having problems finding a farm for the season.

There are also more structured, "official" programs such as those run by research centers (some universities have them), living history farms, and organizations. Howell Farm in New Jersey is one such internship. It offers interns the ability to work with trained staff in a supportive environment that is devoted to teaching. Tillers International, an organization devoted to helping low-income farmers use draft animal power, offers another structured program. The downside to such programs is that they may offer a limited view of the planning and management aspects of running a farm business, as it is not their primary goal to make money off of their crops. This is, indeed, a downside for a person who is looking to own a commercial farm.

Finally, Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) offers a directory of farms (which you have to pay for) willing to take short-notice, generally short-term, part-time or full-time workers. WWOOFers, as participants are generally known, are often more transient than apprentices, which can be either a positive or negative aspect of the program, depending on your point of view. WWOOF operates in many countries, including the U.S.

I have applied to Howell Farm and to three farms through MOFGA's program. On Friday, I had the chance to speak with Howell Farm's internship coordinator on the telephone. I like some of what I discovered about the farm (that it has trained staff who can pass on knowledge, and that it includes a wide variety of crops and livestock), but I was disappointed to hear that synthetic fertilizers are used on some of the fields, and that interns will probably not come away with comprehensive draft-animal driving skills. I want draft animals to be a big part of my experience this year, so this and the fact that the farm is not really a money-making business where I could learn business management skills makes Howell a second choice compared to some farms. It would still be a good option for this summer if nothing else turns out, however, and I do not mean to disparage it in any way. For many people wishing to get a general introduction to lower-technology farming or historical interpretation, it would be a great option.

I also got a list of contact information for farms from MOFGA on Friday, which I used to contact two of my chosen farms via phone (at the advice of the apprenticeship program's coordinator, who suggested that it might have a "personal touch"). I had to leave a message, and I have not yet gotten return calls from either farm. Hopefully I will soon. In the world of farm internships, patience is certainly a useful thing.

The Search

I have started this blog because I noticed a lack of information about what it is actually like to become an intern or apprentice on an organic farm, something that has become more popular for young people recently. Serving on an organic farm in Vermont last summer, I worked with five other young women who had decided to become low-paid workers on a small, sustainable farm. Reasons for their choice varied, and included curiosity, environmental ethics, a feeling that it might be fun or at least interesting, and--for me, specifically--a desire to learn how to farm. Interestingly enough, I was the only one who was totally dedicated to becoming a farmer in the future; while one woman thought that it might be a possibility, none of the others were really considering dedicating their working life to producing food for others.

For whatever reason, many young and maybe (I don't know) not so young people have decided to spent at least a few weeks working on farms. If anyone reads this blog, I would be happy if they came away recognizing some of the challenges that farm interns face, and what their day to day reality is like. If you want to be an intern, or you already ARE an intern, this blog is for you. If you are just plain curious about what it is like to be an intern, this blog is for you too. And if you happened to stumble into this blog by some very unlikely chance, I hope you will read it and get something out of it.

***

I am currently in the first stage of looking for my second apprenticeship on a farm: the search. When I search for apprenticeships, I have a set of priorities that I use to evaluate farms on a few of my favorite internship listing websites (attrainternships.ncat, ruralheritage.com/apprenticeships, mofga.org). I scroll through the listings and see if the farms meet the requirements, which are, roughly:

-Use of draft horses, which I have a keen interest in for a number of reasons

-Mixture of livestock and crops

-The potential for a season-long position

-A friendly tone (whatever seems friendly at the time, anyway)

The first one is so rare that I usually only have a small number to choose from. I send these farms emails and call them, and then wait and see what happens. I have had a number of frustrating experiences in which a farm will never respond in any way--not with a yes or no, not with "we'll see what happens," not with any kind of information whatsoever. I am then left with the difficult decision about whether to "write them off" and assume that they will never respond, or whether to wait and see if they respond months later (which some do, complicating the issue slightly). I know that farms are busy, even in winter (I have experienced farm business, to be sure), but I wish that I could get at least some sort of response in those situations.

I have contacted about eleven farms, but two have not responded, and three have been "dead ends" (which means that they did not have the opportunities I was looking for), so I now have a working list of six. I am in the "wait and see" position as yet.