Birch Creek Ranch and Talkeetna Grown CSA

Last Updated On: diciembre 13th, 2019 at 12:02PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
Box 685
Talkeetna, Alaska , 99676

Primary Contact: Brian Kingsbury
Primary Phone:
    Type: Home
    Number: 907-841-7885
    Email: brian@talkeetnafarm.com

Website: http://www.talkeetnafarm.com

Internship information

General Farm Description: Our 40 year homestead farm is on the road but off the grid near Talkeetna, Alaska. Birch Creek Ranch is a small family farm with a diversity of retail plants, produce, flowers, and u-pick berries located near Talkeetna, Alaska. We provide area residents and restaurants with flower and vegetable starts in the spring, Fresh produce through the summer and upick berries in the fall. We work hard to maintain the agricultural and rural value of the land. My better half owns and operates the "Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe" where we have a primary residence. We collaborate and supply all produce possible for restaurant use, and this is our main CSA share pickup location. We are serving approx. 70 CSA share customers and several restaurants in addition to one weekly farmstand. This past year we suffered the loss of our main farmhouse. We have moved into our guest house and will be striving to rebuild this house over the next 3-5 years, hopefully completing a new foundation in 2020. We need a good crew to allow us the extra time to put into this project where we will try to involve many of our summer visitors and guest helpers that bless us every year.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: Farm Manager Apprentice- April 1st-October 15th
Internship Ends: Farm Apprentice May 1- September 15 two month min.
Number of Internship Available: 2-3 depending on length of stay
Application Deadline: open until filled
Minimum Length of Stay: 3 months

Internship Details:

We are seeking one or two energetic, organized, team-oriented Farm workers to help run our vegetable production operations. Wage is based on previous experience and on-farm housing is required. Farm worker participates in all aspects of growing and marketing vegetables at Birch Creek Ranch. He/she may work directly with the Owner /Farm manager, often independently and sometimes lead a small crew of short term workers or volunteers. This is a paid position and a great experience for those wanting to pursue a future in CSA/market vegetable operations. One full season position available April 1st to October 15th. One partial season full time position available May 1st through June 30 primarily planting
Duties to include soil preparation, planting, irrigation, weed management, harvesting, CSA and sales order box packing, and cleanup. Will work with self powered and tractor driven equipment. Valid drivers license is required with manual transmission exp a plus. Must be able to lift 50 lb and maneuver heavy items or power equipment. Will direct short term and volunteer labor in weeding, harvesting, tending plants and running markets. Knowledge and awareness of basic plant care and needs is required.

Call Brian at (907) 841-7885 or e-mail brian@talkeetnafarm.com

Educational Opportunities: A variety of northern latitude growing methods are used. Medium tractors and mechanical methods are used for field preparation, and pumped drip irrigation are used in feilds and tunnels. Intern will get broad experience with all aspects of CSA and market vegetable production, northern growing techniques, marketing, and evaluation of operation economics. We are on the edge of the wilderness and economic sustainability. The many challenges we face are all excellent learning opportunities. I am always willing to share the why's of our ways, as long as I have the time in the moment and can make something up really fast.

Skills Desired: Looking for person with one year minimum experience on a CSA or market vegetable farm and some education looking to advance their career for the farm manager apprentice. Motivated individuals with some volunteer experience for shorter term farm worker positions. Non Smokers Only!!!, no Drugs, and good driving record required. The following list of personal qualities was borrowed and edited, but can't be said better as the qualities we are all looking for: • Physically fit — Much of the work is repetitive and you can spend hours at a time bending, kneeling, stooping, or standing. It is important that you are physically fit and able and willing to work outdoors in all sorts of weather. You must be able to lift 40-50 lbs regularly. • It is very important that you are able to be deliberate, careful, thoughtful, and detail oriented while being aware of speed and efficiency • Able to work quickly—Can you set a quick pace and keep it up for the whole task? Can you focus everything you have on doing the task at hand or do you get easily distracted? • Able to work independently — Do you lose momentum if you work alone? • Able to work as a team — Do you enjoy learning from others, teaching others, and working together to get a task done? Can you work quickly while still having fun? Or do you slow down as you talk? • Able to plan ahead– Are you good at seeing the bigger picture, can you look ahead during a task, anticipate the next step so time isn’t lost in getting more supplies or changing jobs? • Communicate clearly — You cannot be afraid to ask questions if you do not understand what needs to be done. It is important to communicate if a job doesn’t get finished or if something went wrong or if you are not sure if something is correct. It is also important to communicate if you are unhappy or have a disagreement. What is not known can't be fixed. • Positive Attitude — perhaps the most important quality. We recognize that employees will not necessarily arrive with all the skills that they need to be superhero workers, but a good attitude can sure help them get there. When you try your best and are willing to listen and learn, it makes all the difference. Also, we like to have fun while we work. • A sense of humor and appreciation of the absurd are also strong assets! After a long hard day it can get a little goofy around here. Humorous is a very important soil component that cannot be neglected. • We encourage you to be an advocate for your learning while understanding the overall imbalance of life on a working farm. We are happy to work with you to identify and build specific skills and areas of knowledge while you are here, but you need to realize we are a commercial business. • If you come with experience from other farms we ask that you recognize that every farm is different, and that you learn how tasks are done here before attempting to change them. That being said, we always welcome questions and suggestions for improvements.

Meals: Shared cooking facilities. Weekly food orders through our restaurant for staples. Vegetables available when in season.

Stipend: Hourly depending on experience. Partial trade for food and housing negotiated.

Housing: Dry cabin with outhouse or a camper. Shared cooking facilities, common area, laundry and showers.

Preferred method of Contact: e-mail