In previous posts you may have read about the County CROPS program. If you were saying to yourself, “I’d like to do that!”, then this is your chance. Farmer Dan is looking for a regular volunteer to help out on the farm a few days per week. See the the description below to see if this is something you want to do.
Project Title: Grow Fresh, Local Vegetables for Hunger Relief (County CROPS)
Description: Learn to grow vegetables using small plot intensive methods with urban farmer Dan Bravin (of City Garden Farms and POP Farming). You’ll learn and explore intensive vegetable gardening/farming while providing fresh vegetables to the Oregon Food Bank. This is a volunteer position. No monetary compensation is available. This is an opportunity to learn more and get hands on experience in small scale, intensive agriculture.
You will have the opportunity to learn:
- Organic gardening and small scale agriculture techniques
- Soil management for intensive growing
- Relay cropping and succession planting methods
- Season extension techniques
- Specialty tool use (collinear hoe, Earthway seeder, broadfork, etc)
- Many other on-farm skills
Your tasks will include:
- Assist with regular maintenance of the larger 2 acre plot through the end of the season (Nov ‘09).
- Material sourcing/acquisition for the farm. (i.e. asking for donations).
- Maintain a 2500 sq ft Small Plot INtensive (SPIN) style area located within the 2 acre site through the end of the season (Nov ‘09) under the guidance of an experienced SPIN grower. Documentation of input and output will be closely monitored and documented to show the productivity of a very small plot.
- Documentation of all work done on the farm (spreadsheets, handwritten logs, photographs, etc).
Time commitment:
- You must be able to commit to 3 to 4 hour shifts twice per week for a total of 6 to 8 hrs per week. This commitment will last through November 2009. Days are flexible. However, a regular schedule will be required.
Requirements:
- You must be at least 18 years of age to apply. Students in agriculture/sustainability studies/environmental studies are encouraged to apply.
- able to lift 65lbs
- be willing to work physically hard
- be detail oriented and be able to follow complex instructions independently
- have skills sufficient to maintain communication with an audience through social networking (facebook, twitter, blog)
- have skills sufficient to create, update and maintain spreadsheets and other documents in Microsoft Office and/or OpenOffice
- supply your own heavy duty boots, gloves and appropriate dress for the tasks of farming
Brief description of the project:
County CROPS is an emergency food garden grown on underutilized Multnomah County surplus property that will be farmed to grow fresh, local, organically grown produce for hungry Oregon families. Our produce will be distributed through hunger relief organizations like the Oregon Food Bank network to provide hunger relief to our local community during the current economic crisis. We are maintaining this two-acre plot across the street from McMenamins Edgefield on the site of the old poor farm (“The Pig Farm”) for the next 2 years. Come help us make the first year of this project a huge success.
Contact Farmer Dan if you are interested in this opportunity.
