Sirius Community

Last Updated On: December 1st, 2023 at 10:11AM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
72 Baker Rd
Shutesbury , Massachusetts, 01072

Primary Contact: Llani Davidson
Secondary Contact: Marianne Oconnor

Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 413-230-4905
    Email: intern.program@siriuscommunity.org

    Email: education@siriuscommunity.org

Website: https://siriuscommunity.org/

Internship information

General Farm Description: Our community was founded in 1978 by former members of  the Findhorn Community, is a spiritual intentional community located in the foothills on 90 acres of land in western Massachusetts. We are a non-profit educational center with a fourfold purpose as an intentional community, a conference center, an aspiring eco-village and a place for spiritual growth and development. We practice organic gardening, natural building practices,  attunement to nature and meditation in our daily lives in hopes of living more lightly on the planet. The garden is two acres which includes two fruit production orchards. We do all our work without tractors in a raised bed system using the principles of permaculture, attunement to nature, companion planting and biointensive agriculture. The garden now in its 46th year of production, supplies food for the community kitchen and the surrounding neighborhood. In the garden, participants help plant, water, weed harvest and eat our amazing produce. They get a taste for community living, learn new skills and often grow internally to gain new insights about themselves and their life goals. 

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: April 2024
Internship Ends: November 2024
Number of Internship Available: 6
Application Deadline: Rolling until filled.
Minimum Length of Stay: Several months preferred but we do have short term volunteers

Internship Details:

Please inquire about the 2024 season. I had a great 2023 with several volunteers and would love to invite more volunteers.
I will review requests starting in January.

We host 6 interns at a time with an occasional 7th volunteer, Some of our other projects aside from food production in 2024 may include building a shed for our backhoe, making firewood, cutting lumber on the saw mill, erecting our 10 kw wind generator, restoring an 1850s school house, learning the basics of our wood working shop and power tools, driving the tractor and helping with any other task that may arise. We occasionally also support the conference center programs through preparing guest rooms and cooking in the kitchen.
We have over 50 pine tree trunks to mill into lumber, plus all the regular weekly tasks of planting tending and harvesting our garden including making compost, caring for the fruit trees, and processing all the food we gather.

The volunteers work Tuesday-Saturday midday with the rest of the time off. Our main goal is education and we offer a once a week sit down class along with a check in, plus regular hands on teaching sessions each day as we go about our work. Some the the topics include: introduction to permaculture, how to gardening, food preservation, green and natural building, biodynamics, herb processing. community living, spiritual growth etc.
Volunteers interact with community members and participate in community life. We have a sauna on the land, a small swimming pond and our own system of hiking trails.

The surrounding area is a college town with places for outdoor recreation including hiking trails, swimming holes, canoeing and mountain bike trails. The pioneer valley has a thriving food culture with local CSAs, farm tourism and festivals. The college culture provides a late-night scene with restaurants, local music, dancing and open mike nights.

We always have great interest in our community and hosted many great participants in the last few years. We are now accepting interested applicants arriving in the spring beginning in April. The program continues until Thanksgiving. Ideally participants would stay for several months as there is as always more to learn with the seasonal changes. Longer stays for the entire growing season are encouraged.
If  you are interested in coming, please be in touch. I usually arrange an interview to learn more about you and if you would be a good fit.

Please browse our website at www.siriuscommunity.org for more information. Thanks!

Certifications: We use all organic practices but since the produce is consumed here and among our neighbors, we have not felt a need to certify .

Internet access available

Educational Opportunities: Wednesday Afternoon Classes The sit down class and weekly check in gives us a formal weekly pause. We learn how you are doing, get feedback about logistics and your experience and offer and in depth look at one of the topics we have brought up during our hands on work. This creates depth of learning and helps you absorb and understand the material. While some of the classes are the same yearly, input from the current intern group will steer the curriculum. Some Class Topics: Introduction to Community Living Introduction to Green and Natural Building Introduction to Wood Carpentry and Power tools Pruning Herbal Teas and Tinctures House Construction Basics Permaculture Principles and Design Seasonal tasks for Vegetable growing Basic Cooking with Fresh Produce Composting and Soil Systems Biodynamics Financial Permaculture Food Preservation Seed Saving Propagation and Grafting Attunement to Nature Candle making Orienteering Shiitake Mushroom log cultivation Bike Repair What is it that you truly want for yourself? Non Violent Communication and Mediation Transformational Kinesiology Inter generational Constellations Small Scale biogas Reiki Reflective Journaling Yoga

Skills Desired: We are a program geared towards beginners. Our main purpose is to educate while also meeting our needs for getting the work done. While we don't require a lot of skill, the work is often physical. Our best participants are people willing to learn who want to expand their skills sets and don't mind working and playing hard and spending most days outdoors

Meals: We eat vegetarian meals and rotate cooking responsibilities for community meals of about 5 -15 people. Participants are asked to cook as part of the community rotational cooking system (ROTA). Often participants choose to cook their ROTA meals in pairs. Further, participants use the community kitchen to cook their own breakfasts.

Stipend: No stipend

Housing: Housing for intern participants is either a small private room, shared dorm accommodations or tenting.

Preferred method of Contact: Email