Job description

Coveyou Scenic Farm is a 138-year old family farm that grows vegetables, fruits, and potted flowers for direct sales to the public in the northern Michigan coastal town of Petoskey. We sell through our on-farm retail market and our 50-share CSA program, at 4 farmers' markets and to a variety of restaurants, grocery coops, and retail outlets.  

Located on a hill overlooking Walloon Lake, the farm is ~300 acres with 14 acres in diverse synthetic spray free vegetable production, a small orchard, 3 greenhouses, 7 high tunnels (including 5 moveable tunnels), and potted field flower and greenhouse flower production.  

Each year, Coveyou Scenic Farm offers internships to individuals interested in gaining hands-on experience in all aspects of growing and marketing sustainably produced vegetables. This is an ideal position for someone looking to gain the extensive knowledge needed to start their own farm.

Interns on our farm get a wide and varied experience of working all aspects of the farm from field prep, seeding, planting, growing, harvesting, and sales preparation of a wide variety of vegetables along with strawberries, apple orchards and potted flowers.

Over 150 different varieties of vegetables are grown on the farm with more being added each season.   We focus on superb quality produce and put effort into understanding the soil, water, and chemical properties behind delicious, sustainable food production.  

In addition, we use many season-extension techniques, innovative high-tunnel production methods, drip-irrigation, and carefully designed crop rotations with cover crops.  We are expanding our operation to grow three seasons with our moveable high tunnels.

Sustainability and energy efficiency are a major focus on the farm and interns will be exposed to four major on-farm initiatives: our geothermal walk-in vegetable cooler and market table system, solar-assisted greenhouse heating system, soil moisture sensor irrigation system and a solar PV netmetering system installation this year.

For 2013, we are seeking 4 hard-working interns to work between 3-7 months (April/June – October/November).   Additionally, we are looking for one potted flower horticultural intern to work mostly with our potted flower production on the farm. 

Lodging is provided in one of our two on-farm 3-bedroom/2 bath homes located in a quiet area of the farm near the edge of an old-growth forest. Meals will be prepared on your own, with fields full of meal opportunities a short walk from your back porch. A weekly stipend of $150 is also provided.  

The farm is located roughly 2.5 miles from downtown Petoskey, making biking or driving an easy option. This area of northern Michigan is usually bustling in the summer with numerous festivals, concerts, and other cultural/recreational opportunities. The region is known for its abundance of lakes, beaches, cherries, and extensive Lake Michigan coastline, and the farm is an hour south of Mackinaw City and an hour north of Traverse City. 

Interns learn by working directly in all aspects of our farm operation. The work is hard, the experiences are rewarding. We give interns a lot of responsibility and they are key members of our vegetable growing team.

Successful interns are generally self-motivated, have a positive disposition, work well with others, think creatively to solve problems and are good at working independently. Experience working on a farm is extremely helpful. This internship is not a classroom learning experience, and the ability to handle multiple tasks and manage time is very important.
You will get dirty, hot, tired...and by the end of the season be rewarded with the breadth of knowledge you attain.  

We welcome applications for the internship from hard-working individuals from diverse backgrounds; the internship is designed for individuals with a serious interest in gaining the skills necessary to farm, though prior farming experience is not necessarily required. Anyone with a serious interest in agriculture and the physical ability to work the long hours of a farming schedule will be considered. 

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