Gael Roots Community Farm

Last Updated On: November 1st, 2023 at 01:39PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
734 Cattail road
Livingston Manor NY, New York, 12758

Primary Contact: Iris Fen Gillingham
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 8457012803
    Email: seeds@gaelrootsfarm.org

Website: https://gaelrootsfarm.org

Internship information

General Farm Description: The Gael Roots Community Farm is a collaboratively run educational farm located in Livingston Manor, NY. Gael Roots offers educational opportunities centered around land stewardship practices and farm sustainability through hands-on programming for community members of all ages—including internship and mentorship programs. Gael Roots will also host artists and activists, and is working towards supplying the local school and community with organic vegetables grown on-site. Our farm Our mission: Gael Roots Community Farm nurtures the interconnection of people to their natural environment through traditional agricultural practices, intergenerational knowledge sharing, reciprocal relationships with the land, and the encouragement of a dynamic creative culture

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: May
Internship Ends: November
Number of Internship Available: 2-3
Application Deadline: April 1st 11pm
Minimum Length of Stay: somewhat flexible

Internship Details:

Intern on a Catskill mountain farm with a focus on education, wild and cultivated food, community, culture, and social and climate justice.

This is an opportunity to get to know a place on the edge of the beautiful Catskill Mountains. As an educational farm, we take the time to teach our farm crew skills, provide practical explanations of agriculture and food systems, have philosophical conversations, and cultivate a deeper understanding of homesteading by spending time at our neighboring farm, Wild Roots Farm. Since our farm is involved in the local community, our interns are able to experience many aspects of what it means to create vibrant communities, work collaboratively, and vision for future programming. This is an emergent program that is also shaped by the interests of the farm crew. Gael Roots is a product of community members creating an educational farm. We are a new startup adjacent to Wild Roots Farm with a solid foundation built by programs and community relationships established over the last 66 years.

Dates: May 1st through November 21st (We are willing to work with college students whose semester interferes)

Food and Lodging provided
Small stipend available
Work weeks are based on farm activities and weather conditions. The general work week is 5.5 days. Days off usually fall mid-week and are not always back to back.

The program: Interns will be involved in the physical farmwork, animal care, garden-to-table process, off-grid living, running programs, behind-the-scenes tasks, curriculum development, farm administration, and elements of a non-profit farm. Interns will learn to work closely with sheep and cows, complete daily tasks including watering, moving fences, maintaining the vegetable garden, rotational grazing management, soil health, orchard care, harvesting of produce, processing, drying, canning, as well as eating. Interns will have access to several hundred acres of woods to explore and will learn local ecology and foraging practices. The internship also offers the opportunity to be exposed to fiber arts, the uses of medicinal herbs and making herbal remedies, wild food foraging, log dovetail and timber frame building projects, advocacy for climate justice, fighting fossil fuel extraction, and learning about traditional ecological knowledge.

Our farm crew will also have the opportunity to be part of our Dził Yijiin to Catskills Farm Exchange. This exchange is a program rooted in both Diné (Navajo) and Gael Roots farming practices and gives participants an opportunity to experience a small part of our rich heritages. The exchange takes place within the months of July and September. Our farm crew will be joined by our 2022 intern Annie, and fellow Diné young people to experience life in an entirely different food ecosystem from the desert. Annie brings incredible knowledge and wonderful perspectives based on growing up in a traditional community filled with Diné culture and foodways. The exchange of knowledge and collaboration through living and working together is an incredible part of this experience. The exchange offers 4-5 weeks in July in the Catskills and the potential of an exchange in Dził Yijiin, Black Mesa, helping with harvest. The Diné, Navajo Program is advised by Diné Fiber Artists and Farmers working with Tó Nizhóní Ání Food Sovereignty program, which is directed by Nicole Horseherder and the indigenous climate justice organization Tó Nizhóní Ání, Sacred Water Speaks.

Safety: We follow CDC guidelines when there is covid exposure or illness on the farm, otherwise we live and work together closely. There is a preference that applicants be vaccinated for covid.

Apply: Applications are due by 11pm April 1st. The application is posted on our website and on this google document. After reviewing applications we will request a zoom interview. See the details and application on our website  https://gaelrootsfarm.org/internship-program

Educational Opportunities: Foraging, farm to table meals, animal husbandry, gardening, herbalism, organic/sustainable/agroforestry/biodynamic agriculture methods, fiber arts, Catskill ecology, alternative leadership styles, working together with others, intercultural relationships, social justice, non-profit farm management, off-grid living,

Skills Desired: Comfortable working with others, experience working outdoors or on a farm, interest in learning, and dependable. Applicants with previous farming or homesteading experience are encouraged to apply. We can support interns to expand on their past farming experiences and offer opportunities to step into leadership roles and take the initiative on projects within their capacity. This internship is open to all experience levels, though we do take into account past farm/homesteading when choosing interns.

Meals: Yes! Meals will be made together in the Wilding Village Outdoor Kitchen, the Gael Roots Farmhouse, over the fire pit, or in the Wild Roots outdoor wood-fired bake oven. Food will change throughout the season based on what we are growing, harvesting, and foraging.

Stipend: Yes, we hope to offer a very small weekly stipend

Housing: Yes! Each intern will live in their own small, off-grid cabin in Wilding Village, located on Wild Roots Farm, within walking distance of Gael Roots. The cabin accommodations are rustic and do not have electricity or plumbing. There is an outhouse, wash station, and outdoor shower with solar shower bags.

Preferred method of Contact: email