Patchwork Gardens

Last Updated On: December 20th, 2023 at 09:00AM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
9057 W. Third St.
Dayton, Ohio, 45417

Primary Contact: Larissa
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 6055191960
    Email: eat@patchworkgardens.net

Website: https://www.patchworkgardens.net

Internship information

General Farm Description: Patchwork Gardens is a mid scale farm and market located in Dayton, Ohio. We grow year round on our combined 15 acres of vegetable garden with the widest variety of produce we can manage. We cover all the garden favorites: spring salad greens, summertime tomatoes, autumn's root crops, and everything in between. We make a concerted effort to provide local produce to our customers year-round using a combination of heated and unheated greenhouses along with growing lots of storage crops. We also start all of our own transplants in our dedicated seed starting house. We grow our food without the use of any chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Our approach to agriculture favors hard work through diligent cultivation and a culture of healthy soil biology. These make for healthy plants. Our goal is to spread good food and good farming practices within our community. The farm is in its thirteenth year now, and growing more productive every year as we learn from our collective experiences. Most of what we grow gets directly distributed to our favorite folks — the hungry, healthy membership of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. CSA members receive the vast majority of each week's harvest, a box of produce picked and packed according to what's most ready in the garden. The CSA runs year-round, with a 500-member Summer program and smaller memberships in Fall and Winter. We also have a brick and mortar farm stand that operates May-November.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: April/May, 2024
Internship Ends: August - November, 2024
Number of Internship Available: 4
Application Deadline: April 1st, 2024
Minimum Length of Stay: 3 months (May - August), with longer stays preferred - we still have lots of work into November

Internship Details:

We offer several internships for those dedicated to learning how to grow copious amounts of high-quality vegetables for our CSA program. Our internship programs run from May through August with an opportunity for extended work into November. While previous farming and gardening knowledge is welcomed, we also believe that people with backgrounds in outdoor labor (landscaping), physical activities (sports/hiking) and fast paced work environments (restaurants/warehouse) make great candidates for this position.

All interns will experience weekly work in the field harvesting, transplanting, and weeding. There is also opportunity for interns to work in other areas such as our Seedhouse, Wash and Packhouse, Deliveries, Irrigation, and Trellising. Work here can be very enjoyable to many folks, but we want to make clear that it is challenging work!

Examples of Various Intern Tasks:

-Harvesting summer squash/cucumbers/tomatoes 2-3x a week (approximately 2 hours per crop of picking, lifting, packing)
-Bunching greens/herbs/roots etc. in an efficient, high quality manner
-Planting weekly rounds of lettuce, brassicas, nightshades, etc. Using transplanting equipment (done with a team and a tractor)
-Weeding various 100-300 ft. beds of crops by hand on typically hot afternoons with attention to detail and speed
-Safely delivering CSA boxes to customers’ homes using a Patchwork Gardens delivery van
-Quickly, yet carefully assisting in the process of starting up to 25,000 transplants a week in the Seedhouse
-Helping in the Wash/Packhouse to clean and package vegetables for weekly CSA boxes
-Weekly trellising of our multiple rounds of tomatoes and peppers both in the field and in greenhouses
-Working in a group to harvest large quantities of potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, and other root vegetables. Bulk harvests must be done using farm-specific methods. Safety must be a priority when machines are used for the harvest.
-Customer Service and stocking of our farm market!

Educational Opportunities: There's always a lot to learn from working on the farm! We enjoy sharing our knowledge. We are a small staff and enjoy discussing all things gardening. Employees will often have a chance to experience other departments and to learn something new throughout the days. Orientation will be provided on farm best practices including but not limited to harvest techniques, transplanting techniques, data entry and general farm safety.

Skills Desired: Interns will report to and work alongside the farm’s managers and/or crew leaders to complete our wide array of day-to-day tasks. Respect, a positive attitude, clear communication skills, teamwork, and efficiency are all necessary qualities of any Patchwork Gardens Staff Member. We are looking for interns with the following qualities: -Strong work ethic and desire to learn -Sincere desire to do physical work outside even when weather is less than desirable (I.e., hot, raining, etc.) -High attention to detail and efficiency -Ability to work well on a team with others -Willingness to learn and implement farm’s preferred techniques

Meals: Delicious lunches are provided featuring produce from the farm along with healthy meat, milk, and bread from local farmers. For those staying on the farm during the summer, then access to all food and cooking facilities are included.

Stipend: Interns receive an hourly wage of $11.00 (with an opportunity for a raise with demonstrated ability), along with free membership in our CSA program (a $1,200 value). On-farm housing may be available for the growing season (May through November) if needed. On farm lunch is provided during the work week. For those living on-farm, all utilities are provided along with full use of the kitchen and pantry.  This is a seasonal opportunity, and the hours are 8:30AM – 5:30PM Monday – Friday.  (Part-time arrangements may be possible if requested.) Work throughout the season is consistent, however there may be rare times where weather or lack of tasks will cause us to call off work for the day or afternoon. Saturday market work is also an opportunity but not required!

Housing: Summer housing is available (May - November).

Preferred method of Contact: email