Une possibilité de fuite ?

• Description

  ***Currently seeking volunteers from now until early October.***

  Community Farm was founded in 2013 by a group of farmhands and craftspeople dedicated to the goals of the back-to-the-land movement. Our goal is to provide organic fruits and vegetables to local markets while living self-sufficiently and sustainably, in harmony with the natural world. We are starting from scratch on 12 acres of beautiful fields and forest, adjacent to protected forest land and Amish country. A creek and river run along the perimeter of the land. We are 10 minutes from Edmeston, a quaint rural town in upstate New York. We are seeking volunteers interested in disconnecting from the mainstream, learning to support ourselves by growing our own organic vegetables, utilizing natural building methods to construct our barn and dwelling structures, making our own household products like soap and shampoo, and reviving traditional agricultural and lifestyle practices. We are eager to learn new skills, like beekeeping, weaving, and candle making, and welcome volunteers who can teach these practices to the community and improve upon our self-sufficiency. We occasionally hold workshops (building, gardening, soap making, crafts, etc.) for the public and, in the future, we intend to sell our products at local farmer’s markets.

  2015 was our second season in operation, and thanks to all of our friends and volunteers we made huge progress! This year we finished the structure of our timber framed barn, using traditional 18th century New England joinery. Our 150+ fruit trees and berries are now 2 years old, and growing fast! This winter we’ll give them their first pruning. Our garden beds and tree guilds are getting well established too, with perennial guilds of sage, thyme, chives, mint, and lemon balm spreading fast. This autumn we planted our first garlic and horseradish crops as well.

  We are now basically self-sufficient vegetables-wise, growing many varieties of lettuce, kale, and chard, mustard greens, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, radish, turnip, horseradish, cabbage, fennel, peas, dill, cilantro, sage, mint, parsley, edible flowers, and many types of berries – raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, and blueberries, including heirloom varieties. In 2014, we planted many types and varieties of fruit trees – apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, mulberries, apricots. We also forage for wild greens. We have our own eggs from our chickens who roam freely on the property! We never use any pesticides and plan to attain organic certification this winter (2015/16). We supplement our diet with organic American-grown (preferably local or from the Northeast) grains, beans, and other staples. In the interest of learning to live self-sufficiently off of the land, we are currently eating a vegan/vegetarian diet. No meat, alcohol, or drugs are allowed on the property. But you’re welcome to visit the tavern down the road if you’d like to get yourself a burger and a cold beer on the weekends.

  We use natural building methods and source our building materials locally. We get our lumber from the mountain down the road, and our Amish neighbors mill it for us.

  We welcome volunteers with all levels of experience, with a dedicated work ethic, open mind, commitment to sustainability, and desire to learn together as a community how we can forge a new life independent of mainstream consumer culture.

  **We are asking our volunteers to commit to a 3-week minimum stay, with preference given to those who can commit to the full 3 months. We have an application form we ask prospective volunteers to fill out, which both gives you some more information about us and vice versa.**

• Type of help

  Gardening
  Building
  Cooking / shopping
  General Maintenance
  Farming
  Help with Eco project
  Help in the house
  Animal care
  Other

• Help

  Volunteers are required to help 25 hours a week, typically 5 days a week, 5 hours a day.
  In exchange, all organic vegetarian/vegan meals are provided. We also have workers’ insurance which covers all of our volunteers.

  The following are examples of the typical jobs that we do at our Community Farm:
  - gardening/landscape work: tilling soil with gas-powered tiller, planting, weeding, mulching, emptying compost/humanure buckets and tending compost/humanure piles, watering, tree care, lawn mowing, harvesting vegetables
  - natural building: use of power tools to cut wood, heavy lifting, sanding, oiling, measuring and assembly
  - feeding chickens, collecting eggs, cleaning coop
  - cooking communal vegetarian/vegan meals

• Languages spoken

  English, Spanish, Catalan

• Accommodation

  We do not currently have electricity, running water, or permanent structures. We have a double-burner propane camp stove that we use for cooking. We have a screened-in dining tent with a dining table and chairs, as well as a covered kitchen tent with the stove, sink, and cabinet containing food, dishes, and kitchen utensils. All of our food is stored in sealed, animal-proof plastic bins.
  Our property is adjacent to a creek and a river, where we bathe.
  We have an outdoor compost toilet and we provide toilet paper.
  We do not have Internet access or electricity on the property at this time. We typically have good cell phone reception. We understand the need to use electronics for communication, but encourage minimizing usage and instead trying to be more present.
  We usually go to the local library once a week to use the computers and charge cell phones. We also occasionally make trips into town to go to museums, cafes, grocery stores, or get needed supplies.
  We have a company car used for group trips and farm supply runs or other business-related trips, as well as volunteer pick-ups and drop-offs within a 40 minute radius of the farm.

  Since we are still in the process of constructing our dwellings, we’re offering our volunteers the chance to stay in our newly built tiny home this season. It can only sleep 1 or 2 people though (we still need to finish building the fold-down bunks, cabinets and other finishing touches), so we propose that interested volunteers can live in the tiny home for 2-4 weeks each, depending on how many people want to take a turn.

  As for the rest of us, we currently reside in tents throughout the season, set up in a sort of “base camp” near the tiny home, including a big screened-in dining area, easy-ups, an open-air kitchen, central campfire, etc. There are also many secluded campsites for those who prefer some added privacy, in our hemlock forest, under a big stand of elder trees, between our mulberries… ***We are asking everyone to bring your own tent/hammock, bedding, etc.***

  We’re also going to make sure that there are at least 3 volunteers and 2 community members staying on the farm (and a balanced male-to-female ratio) at any given time throughout the season , so everyone can get their social needs met. Our farm is pretty detached from society, which we consider a huge plus (amazing stars at night, lots of peaceful nature, lots of time to unwind and reconnect with the natural world), but we’ve also learned from experience that it can be lonely for social people if we don’t provide a good-sized community. So that’s why we’re making sure we have a community of at least 5 people throughout the season.

• What else …

  We are located in rural West Edmeston, NY, about 40 minutes from Utica and Cooperstown, respectively. We can pick up and drop off volunteers within a 40 minute radius of the farm. Buses and trains travel to Utica and Cooperstown from New York City and other major cities. For ridesharing, there’s a good Facebook page called “One foot in NYC – One foot Upstate” where you might be able to arrange a ride. We also have parking spaces available for volunteers who choose to bring their own car.

• A little more information

  • Internet access

  • Limited internet access

  • We have pets

  • We are smokers

• How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

• Volunteering hours expected

  5 hours/day, 5 days/wk