Blue Hill Berry Co.
Last Updated On: March 19th, 2024 at 09:20AM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:95 Dunbar Road
Penobscot, Maine, 04476
Primary Contact: Nicolas Lindholm
Secondary Contact: Ruth Fiske
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 2072666349
Email: nicolas@bluehillberry.com
Website: https://www.bluehillberry.com
Internship information
General Farm Description: Certified organic wild blueberry farm in rural coastal Maine.CRAFT Member Farm? No
Internship Starts: 3rd week of July
Internship Ends: late August
Number of Internship Available: 8
Application Deadline: July 20
Minimum Length of Stay: 4 weeks
Internship Details:
ORGANIC WILD BLUEBERRY HARVEST CREW —harvesting and processing organic wild blueberries on family farm. Hand-raking and machine harvesting, and fresh-pack line processing. Every summer, 3rd week in July through late Aug. No experience necessary, only a will and desire to work hard with a fun and active crew –will train. Full-time. Good hourly wages, plus end-of-season bonus. Camping available on farm. We have a brand new processing facility that we are moving into this year that we are very excited about! It has a large open room for the winnowing and packing, a CoolBot walk-in and two big walk-in freezers, nice break room/kitchen, bathroom, office, and more….it’ll be so nice to work in!
The harvest season typically runs from the 3rd week in July through late August. We work alongside and train everyone —we usually have 6-8 folks on our crew. Hours are pretty regular, Mon-Fri 9 am to 5 pm, with additional Saturday hours and Sundays off. Rainy weather often means folks usually clock 36-40 hours/week, but we do pay overtime if it goes over 40. Typically, everyone is trained to do all tasks (raking, winnowing, packing, clean-up), although we are moving towards having folks trained and working more focused positions, including having two people who just run the walk-behind harvesters (at a higher rate of pay). Pay for the harvest crew is hourly –depending on experience/maturity, starting wages range from $15 to $18/hr –returning crew we pay $17-$20/hr. Pay for the walk-behind harvesters is weekly, starting at $800/wk. Plus we give an end of season bonus to everyone who stays thru till the end.
We’ve been farming certified organic wild blueberries for 26 years now, currently managing about 50 acres and harvesting and processing 25,000 to 30,000 lbs. per year.
Educational Opportunities: We train and work alongside the crew. Learn farm skills and everything about Maine wild blueberries.
Skills Desired: Prior farm work a plus, but not necessary. Just need the will and desire to work on a family farm with a crew harvesting and winnowing our annual crop. Detail-oriented, repetitive work.
Meals: No --see above.
Stipend: Starting pay range is $15 to $20/hour depending on experience, and we pay higher rate to crew members who run the walk-behind harvesters.
Housing: We have camping facilities on the farm, including outdoor shower, outdoor cooking area, access to internet, some produce from our gardens, use of our walk-in cooler.
Preferred method of Contact: email