Company description

Sprout City Farms (SCF) is an urban agriculture and education nonprofit founded in 2010 with a mission to help build a just, equitable, sustainable local food system by: growing and distributing fresh produce locally; providing community education; training farmers; and facilitating ecological stewardship & research.

About the Farm at Jack's Solar Garden: 

Our farm at  Jack’s Solar Garden (JSG) is a unique site with an emphasis on agrivoltaic (or agri-solar) research and education.  On a combined 2.5 acres within a 4-acre, elevated solar array, Sprout City Farms manages two projects: 1) a University of Arizona (UA) research area studying agrivoltaic vegetable crop production, and 2) a ‘proof-of-concept,’ CSA/Market Farm that grows all the seasonal vegetables you would expect to see at a local farmer’s market. We run a CSA, are a vendor at the Saturday Longmont Farmers Market, and distribute our produce through several local food access channels.  

JSG has several other agrivoltaic research & education projects operating onsite including the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center (CALC), Colorado State University (CSU), and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Our farm projects are demonstrations of the potential of agrivoltaics, and our work is of great interest to visitors, thus part of SCF’s work at JSG involves interacting positively with these partners and guests.

Internship description

About the Apprenticeship Position:

We are seeking an agrivoltaic farm apprentice at Jack’s Solar Farm for the fall season 2024. This is a great opportunity for someone with at least 1 season of small-scale vegetable farming experience who is interested in the nexus of sustainable farming, local food production, and renewable energy. The apprentice position will receive the training needed to do a wide array of field tasks to help meet our research and production goals. The ideal candidate will have previous experience that enables them to work efficiently and effectively outdoors in a physically demanding role, and understand harvest-related time sensitivities. The apprentice should expect to be walking, standing, squatting, stooping, lifting and carrying for the majority of the work day.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Understand and help implement annual crop plan. 
• Assist in facilitating harvest to ensure high quality and timely production.
• Participate in and help coordinate all fieldwork activities including bed prep, seeding, weeding, mulching, harvest, cleaning, storage and distribution.
• Assist with leading groups of volunteers in the completion of various farm tasks.
• Assist with food distribution programs and community service programs & events. 
• Assist with recordkeeping of harvest totals and research data.
• Adhere to SCF training in employee manual and food safety plan.
• Basic tool, equipment and facility care, cleaning and maintenance.

Desired Experience and Skills:

• Agricultural field experience on a vegetable farm, or at least one year of experience doing physically demanding outdoor work whether that be farming, landscaping, construction, etc.
• Experience working at a farmer’s market or other food-related retail environment is ideal, but not required.
• Enthusiasm to work on an experimental research farm. Ability to work positively with leadership, for example:  following work plan set by leadership, offering constructive observations, learning from success and failure.
• Willingness to take initiative and follow-through on tasks. Pragmatic and outcome-driven. 
• Genuine interest in learning while doing. 
• Positive communication style and curiosity mindset.
• Physical stamina and flexibility. Ability and willingness to squat, bend and lift repeatedly and  work in a variety of conditions (i.e. endurance to work long days, in diverse weather conditions).
• Flexible availability including working some evenings and weekend events. 
• Preference will go to local residents rooted in the Longmont and surrounding area. Transportation to the farm and a mobile phone with text capability required.
• Bilingual English/Spanish speaking and/or writing skills are an asset.  Please share with us if you have these skills and if you are interested in connecting with the Spanish-speaking Longmont community. 

Time Commitment 

40 hours per week from September 2 to October 31, 2024 including some potential weekends throughout the season. Apprentice must be dedicated for the dates specified above, and committed to working on harvest days. This is a full-time paid position totaling $6,880 for the fall season, which is based on $18/hour plus a monthly $200 health stipend, and apprentices receive a SCF CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share valued at $750+. Requests for time off must be submitted for approval. Approval of requests is dependent upon staff schedule coordination, and the needs of the organization.

Work days will be either Monday-Friday (regular field work and distribution days) or Tuesday-Saturday (to accommodate working the Farmers’ Market on Saturdays), to be determined with the final candidate. The apprentice will be required to work late on 1-2 Thursdays/month (until 6:30pm) for CSA distribution. Members of the farm crew rotate the responsibility of helping with setup, distribution, and breakdown of our CSA pickup station each week and engage positively with the CSA members. These late Thursdays will be offset by a short day on Friday, provided necessary farm chores are completed Friday morning. 

Application Process

We believe that systemic inequalities disproportionately impact BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), women, people from working class backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, and other oppressed groups. Because we believe that these communities must be centered in our work as we fight for food justice for all, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other disenfranchised communities. 

Studies have shown that women and BIPOC are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. Sprout City Farms will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background.

 

Compensation

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

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline