Spreadwing Farm
Last Updated On: May 14th, 2024 at 12:30PM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:2563 Rumsey Canyon Rd.
Rumsey, California, 95679
Primary Contact: Michael Smith
Secondary Contact: Cathy Suematsu
Primary Phone:
Type: Home
Number: 530-796-3714
Email: farmers@spreadwingfarm.com
Website: https://spreadwingfarm.com
Internship information
General Farm Description: We are an organic farmstead in the amazing Capay Valley, north of Davis, supporting 2 families (4 adults and 3 children ages 11-17). We grow about 1 acre of veggies and 4 acres of diverse orchards (apricots, peaches, plums, pluots, persimmons, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, citrus). We sell produce at a weekly farmer's market in Sacramento and to several wholesale outlets. We also keep milk cows and steers, goats and chickens and sell small amounts of eggs, milk, meat and cheese. We do most of our work by hand or with a small walk-behind tractor; we are transitioning our garden to low-till and no-till methods. We spend a lot of time processing food for our own consumption: making cheese, making bread and corn tortillas starting from the raw grains, fermenting krauts, kimchi, pickles and olives, drying and canning fruits and veggies, etc. We are also constantly upgrading our infrastructure, including buildings, fences and irrigation systems. Check out our web site: spreadwingfarm.comCRAFT Member Farm? No
Internship Starts: May or early June
Internship Ends: rolling
Number of Internship Available: 2
Application Deadline: until position is filled
Minimum Length of Stay: 6-12 months preferred
Internship Details:
Interns participate in all aspects of farm life, including vegetable production, orchard and animal care. Tasks may include milking cows and goats, making cheese, raising chicks, cleaning the chicken coop and barn, slaughtering animals for food, mowing, weeding, planting and harvesting, pruning fruit trees, harvesting and packing produce for sale, and attending weekly farmer’s markets. Interns also rotate with the 2 farm families through meal cook and clean shifts. We have a weekly meeting to coordinate schedules, discuss upcoming projects, and troubleshoot any difficulties that have arisen, and we are also open to meeting with interns in a formal learning setting to facilitate their learning goals. Altogether we expect around 40 hours of work per week, which can be condensed into 4 days/wk for interns who want more time for personal projects or off-farm income (there are often opportunities to pick up extra paid work on neighboring farms). We have had interns stay anywhere from 1 month to more than 1 year. We find that 6 to 12 months is ideal to get the most out of the experience. We typically have 2-3 interns at a time, year round, and we like to line people up as far in advance as possible, so feel free to contact us if you’re interested in working with us at a later time.
Educational Opportunities: We love to share our over 6 decades combined experience with homesteading, farming, food preparation and natural building. There are lots of opportunities for picking up specialized skills such as cheese-making, fermentation, butchering, pruning and grafting, seed saving, and building. We occasionally host and teach natural building workshops: see www.strawclaywood.com. We also have an extensive library that is available to interns. For those who would like a more formal study component to their internship, Spreadwing farmers are available to meet with interns periodically for lectures, demonstrations, discussions, reading and research assignments. Areas of learning concentration could include: Beneficial and pest insects Carpentry Chicken management Cheesemaking and dairy Dairy cow management Farmers market management Goat management Greenhouse management and plant propagation Introductory botany Invoicing and accounting Irrigation systems Natural building Orchard management Rotational grazing Soil analysis and fertility management Slaughtering and butchering Vegetable production
Skills Desired: The most important attributes are enthusiasm about the work and lifestyle, commitment to learning, and a willingness to work hard. We do appreciate some background in farming, gardening, animals, and/or construction. Candidates should be used to physical work and comfortable working outside in various weather conditions, including our very hot summers. Interns should be enthusiastic about food and comfortable in the kitchen, since so much of our time centers around food production and preparation. Clear and honest communication are also important to us. It's very helpful when candidates are clear what they want to learn during their internship, so we can facilitate those aspects of their education. Stipends vary depending on previous farming experience.
Meals: 3 organic meals per day are shared with our family, sourced primarily from our farm and neighboring farms. We prepare nearly everything from scratch, including grinding our own flour for bread, making masa for tortillas from our own corn, rendering lard, making cheese, and lots of fermentation projects.
Stipend: We provide a monthly stipend plus on-site housing and high-quality organic food. Rather than a job where earning money is the primary goal, this is an opportunity for interns to learn-by-doing the many tasks required at a diverse small-scale regenerative farmstead. There are often opportunities for interns to pick up extra paid work on neighboring farms, which also gives a good introduction to the wide range of local farming operations.
Housing: Interns generally have their own room or one of 2 small stand-alone cabins. Our house is close by the cabins and the kitchen and bathroom are always available. We also have a composting toilet and we're working on a solar shower.
Preferred method of Contact: email