Blue Barrens Farm
Last Updated On: November 1st, 2023 at 01:39PM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:11 High Street
PO Box 242
CHERRYFIELD, Maine, 04622
Primary Contact: Millie
Secondary Contact: Lisa
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 2078124051
Email: bbfarmcommunity@gmail.com
Secondary Phone
Type: -----
Number: 2078125703
Email: bbfarm@me.com
Email: bbfarm@me.com
Website:
Internship information
General Farm Description: "Blue Barrens Farm is a family run organic blueberry farm that focuses on community dynamics in the work place and living spaces. We work, eat, play, live, and relax together, striving for a summer camp feeling amongst harvest work."CRAFT Member Farm? No
Internship Starts: July 15th, 2023
Internship Ends: September 5, 2023
Number of Internship Available: 10
Application Deadline: rolling
Minimum Length of Stay: at least half of the season
Internship Details:
“We’re looking for bright, positive, and hard working interns to help out along side our family to get our annual blueberry harvest in. We offer three main positions that each person gets trained in, allowing the community of interns and family to shift among each job, keeping the work place as equal as we can. We harvest blueberries, mainly with a tractor but with a little bit of traditional hand raking as well; this is a more solo job, with two interns sharing the tractor out on the blueberry fields all day. We process the berries in our barn, which is the more communal job on the farm, allowing interns to socialize while working with good conversations, fun podcasts, or sharing music. Lastly, we deliver berries throughout New England, and that can be a great opportunity for interns to get off the farm and see more of Maine and surrounding areas.
Some specific points to hit would be that each intern gets at least one personal day off a week, and we take a community day off for a group fun activity if weather permits. We’re a dairy free vegetarian household and encourage all interns to share and participate in cooking and/or prep. Additionally, all interns share a dorm style setting and a shared bathroom. The harvest goes from July 15th to September 5th, give or a take a few days, and we require interns to stay for half or all of the season; any less we’ve found disrupts the community.
This job is definitely a lot of hard work, but we’ve found that working closely along side fellow people can be a wonderful healing experience and a fun time for all those involved.”
Educational Opportunities: "If you want to learn every aspect of managing an organic communal wild blueberry farm, this is your chance."
Skills Desired: "Most important is the ability to work well in a group, to find your place in the flow of activity and fill it out. We enjoy our work and enjoy sharing it. We like to make sure everyone working with us is having a meaningful experience and is contributing their best. It would be good, too, if you were physically fit, able to lift 35 pounds or so, and reveled in hard physical labor. Contributing to the group dynamic in a positive way is the most important thing; that, and the ability to find joy in working with a diverse group. The perfect intern for us is a single person in high school or college who's eager for a fresh adventure. You don't need to have experience. If you're a person who strives to do well, then you'll work out great. "
Meals: All meals are communal, except your day off, unless you choose to eat with us on that day too! We are dairy free vegetarian household.
Stipend: $100 a day, $50 for half day, and so on, which includes room, board, and meals. Days off are unpaid and weather can sometimes get in the way of consistent work days.
Housing: Live here at our farm. We have lovely rustic dorm settings, and a tent you can borrow if you need a night alone! There is also a cabin along a wild river and one on the coast available for occasional use.
Preferred method of Contact: email