Internships for Summer 2010
We have 4 internships available this summer. These positions will be unpaid, though interns may take home vegetables from the farm. The positions could be appropriate for a college student or could be arranged through Americorps to provide a small educational stipend after 300 hours of service.
Our staff includes one full-time, year round manager and a seasonal assistant during the summer months. Last year we were also able to hire some refugee youth through the Department of Labor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, to manage the day to day operations of the farm, including weeding, harvest, and marketing. This year we hope to add several part-time interns to the team to work on specific projects as well as to assist as needed with the overall success of the project. It would also be possible to hire several people to share the internship duties described below, if this better suits the interests and abilities of the interns.
Please check our "Get Involved" link for other volunteer opportunities.
Soil Conservation and Composting Intern
Duties:
Oversee our existing composting program at community garden sites and for construction new composting areas at gardens that don’t yet have them.
Construct and manage compost piles.
Transport compost (food scraps) from Boise Center on the Grove and other restaurants to the garden sites, as well as other compostable materials as needed.
Improve the design of composting areas, including assisting gardeners to become more involved in composting by bringing materials to compost and by using the finished compost in their gardens.
Help to set up compost areas in each individual plots with interested gardeners.
Research types of cover crops and suggest methods for gardeners and farmers to incorporate cover cropping into crop rotations.
Help develop curriculum related to soil conservation, including model crop and cover crop rotation plans for Idaho organic vegetable farmers.
Research availability and cost of organic approved sources of fertilizer.
Develop methodology for applying fertilizers to the field.
Order seeds and assist farmers in planting cover crops in their garden or farm plots.
Assist with the planting and maintenance of a cover crop demonstration plot at our new farm site in Starr.
Help lead field days or work days as needed, lead discussions or activities with farmers related to composting, cover crops, and soil quality.
Help plant fall cover crops at the end of the season.
Assist gardeners and community garden managers will fall cleanup and composting of garden waste.
Submit a report on best practices and lessons learned through the soil conservation program.
Assist other interns and staff as assigned.
Qualifications:
Knowledge of agriculture, gardening, soil fertility, and small-scale soil management and/or the desire to learn more about these things.
Coursework in agriculture, soil science, natural resource management or ecology.
Experience building compost piles or planting cover crops.
Experience working with international populations and English language learners.
Interest in physical, outdoor work.
Reliable transportation.
Foreign language skills are a plus but not required, especially Swahili, French, Russian or Bosnian.
Available for part time work, April – September 2010. About 12 hours per week if completing 300 hour Americorps program.
Nutrition and Culinary Arts Intern
Duties:
Organize and teach cooking classes for interested refugee farmers and gardeners.
Discuss with farmers ways they use farm produce, which things they don’t use, which things they use that Americans don’t typically eat, and what they’d like to learn.
Schedule the use of the kitchen at King of Glory Lutheran Church.
Purchase necessary ingredients and/or set aside produce from weekly harvests.
Work with community leaders to advertise cooking workshops and coordinate transportation for participants who may not drive.
Facilitate cooking workshops and group dinners.
Help organize potlucks and/or a fall harvest dinner for CSA members, farmers, and supporters.
Decide on recipes for use in the class that incorporate seasonal produce from the farms and ethnic or American recipes.
Educate farmers on the use and nutritional benefits of vegetables that might be new to them.
Research recipes and/or record ethnic recipes from our farmers to type up and distribute to our CSA members and customers.
Submit a written report on best practices and lessons learned through the culinary arts program.
Assist other interns and staff as assigned.
Qualifications:
Knowledge of cooking, nutrition, gardening and agriculture.
Experience working with international populations and English language learners.
Good organizational skills.
Ability to work independently and be self-directed.
Reliable transportation.
Available for evening and weekend work.
Available part-time, May – September 2010. About 15 hours per week if completing Americorps internship.
Foreign language skills are a plus but not required, especially Swahili, French, Russian or Bosnian.
March/April Horticulture Intern.
(Intended for CWI students needing to complete an internship on this schedule.)
Duties:
Assist with greenhouse work including seeding flats, transplanting, watering, and managing the heater.
Assist refugees with greenhouse work including seeding, coordinating a watering schedule, and checking on their progress.
Assist Somali Bantu farmers with the use of their unheated hoophouse, including using it to start cold season crops and to grow early spring greens.
Carry out spring maintenance of community gardens, which may include reassembling and testing the irrigation systems, shredding waste from last year’s plots, cleaning out areas that weren’t cleaned out last fall, building compost piles and moving compost, assisting gardeners with tilling, and helping refurbish common areas including picnic areas, pathways, and landscaped areas.
Coordinate and participate in weekend workdays with refugee gardeners and volunteers.
Help our partner organizations, mostly churches, maintain their community garden areas as requested, which may include helping purchase supplies, moving compost, coordinating donations of plants and seeds, and participating in work days as requested.
Advise on new community garden projects as requested.
Assist with the establishment of our new refugee farm in Eagle. This may include helping install fencing, sheds, and a wash station, testing irrigation, measuring out plots, establishing a cover crop demonstration area, and assisting new farmers with early spring planting.
Help manage donations or purchase of plants and other materials.
Qualifications:
Knowledge of agriculture, gardening, soil fertility, greenhouse production, and irrigation systems and/or the desire to learn more about these things.
Coursework in horticulture, agriculture, soil science, natural resource management or ecology.
Experience doing greenhouse work and producing vegetable starts.
Experience working with international populations and English language learners.
Good organizational skills.
Ability to work independently and be self-directed.
Interest in physical, outdoor work.
Reliable transportation.
Foreign language skills are a plus but not required, especially Swahili, French, Russian or Bosnian.
Marketing Intern
The primary duties of this intern will be to assist the Somali Bantu Zigua Community with their mobile farm stand project that is new for this year. The SBZ community received a grant from the USDA that will enable them to set up a mobile farm stand that will sell produce at several of the apartment complexes where the farmers live on regularly scheduled evenings each week. The intern will help the farmers organize logistics related to the mobile farm stand, train farmers in customer service, and assist with advertising of the mobile farm stand as needed. The marketing intern will also assist with marketing of the new food stamp program at the Capital City Public Market and assist the farmers with restaurant accounts, CSA pickup, and weekly farmers markets as necessary.
Duties:
Assist the refugees in establishing a regular schedule for times and locations of mobile farm stands, as well as a harvest schedule to supply the farm stand at scheduled times.
Assist with harvest as needed.
Assist with setup of mobile farm stands.
Train and assist refugee farmers in the use of the produce scale and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) equipment.
Assist with the design and distribution of marketing materials, flyers, signs, coupons, etc in the communities where the mobile farm stands will be taking place.
Assist refugees with bookkeeping procedures, tracking sales and income, and reporting to national donors.
Promote program through media outlets.
Communicate with apartment managers as necessary to ensure their support and smooth functioning of the program.
Provide assistance at farmer’s markets and CSA pickups as needed (one staff member should be present on a rotating basis.)
Assist with restaurant accounts, deliveries and invoicing as needed.
Submit a written report on best practices and lessons learned in marketing.
Assist other interns and staff as assigned.
Qualifications:
Experience or coursework in marketing or communications.
Experience with bookkeeping.
Experience working with international populations and English language learners.
Experience/interest in designing promotional materials.
Knowledge of local foods and agriculture.
Good customer service skills and ability to train others in these skills.
Interest in physical, outdoor work.
Availability for part time work, May – September. About 15 hours per week if completing 300 hour Americorps internship.
Availability on evenings and weekends.
Ability to work independently and be self-directed.
Reliable transportation.
Swahili language skills are a plus but not required.
How to apply:
Please send a letter of interest and your resume to Katie Painter, Refugee Agriculture Coordinator, at kpainter@idahorefugees.org. Please let me know which internship you are interested in. You can also contact me with any ques