Pennsylvania

Spring Meadows Farm, Andy Lyon, RR 2 Box 57, Millerton, PA 16936, 570-537-2128, . Experienced farmer setting up a new operation marketing to two small college towns: Mansfield, Pennsylvania, and Elmira, New York. Farm is located on the road connecting these two towns. More than a dozen farmer’s markets are in the area, and the farm is less than an hour from Ithaca and the Finger Lakes. The farm encompasses two enterprises—vegetables in summer and forestry in winter—and also a strong application of pasture management, grassfed livestock, raw milk, fermented vegetables, wines, and cheese, all with an eye on making them additional products for sale.

My farm design adapts traditions I grew up with to modern materials, technology, and markets. The four windows of husbandry and other age-old troubleshooting tools guide me to sustainable design. A tractor is used only to mow field edges once a year. Hogs do all the primary tillage. I have worked with livestock since I was four; trained hunting dogs since I was 15. Five years ago I quite the hobby of dog training and took up oxen as a serious work animal. I spent the past three winters teaching third graders to care for and drive oxen.

This apprenticeship is structured for intense but less than full-time farming hours, allowing the apprentice time to reflect, read, research, and refresh to experience a supportive learning environment. Two days of vacation are allowed for each month worked (must not miss any work), and the apprentice is free to use this vacation time between August first and mid March. An additional one day per month is allowed for working on other farms or going to workshops; these days do not accumulate.

Farming is a high-skilled profession needing deep understanding. Come and start on a path to world class food production and husbandry of natural resources.

• Source of power: oxen, tractor.
• Oxen are used for: haying, logging, gardening, manuring, and anything needing to be hauled around the farm.
• Acreage: 225; 1.5 in intensive high yielding garden, 32 in pasture, 40 in pasture/hay field, 180 woodlot.
• Other livestock: milk cows, hogs, and laying hens.
• Skills offered in: grassfed dairying, grassfed meat, pastured pork and poultry, organic vegetables, full vigor forestry, wild crafting/hunting, and effective health care with nutrition and homeopathy; 14 topics dealing with sustainable management skills are presented in written form and by example; at completion, apprentice will be able to work at a number of new jobs, potentially leading to a variety of careers.
• Work hours: 6-9.5/day; 43/wk.
• Terms: room and board provided; 1 apprentice or couple at a time, any time of year, any length; an apprentice who finishes a full year earns the bonus of a bred dairy heifer, or side of beef, or pork of one hog, or pair of started 6-12 month old oxen.
• Stipend: 10% of income from forestry, on farm sales, and meat sales with 15% of vegetable sales at farmer's market.
• Accommodations: room in family home (renting in the nearby hamlet at apprentice’s expense is another option); meals consist of simple but good eating of grassfed milk, meat, butter and milk products, eggs, grains, seasonal vegies and fruit, homemade wine, local/homemade bread, wild teas, wild game, and wild plants.
• Apprentice must: have experience at farmer’s markets (other pluses are a bachelors degree, hunter safety training, and a strong awareness of grassfed and nutrient dense food health benefits); see this apprenticeship as an invitation to take charge of marketing on farm and at farmer’s markets; work mornings from 5:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. and afternoons from 1:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. or later if urgency demands; be a team player willing to work with me on urgent matters until I stop; help with preparation of breakfast and lunch; do all chores two days a week so I have a break (apprentice also has two days a week with no chores); have the attitude that rest and free time are for preparing oneself for work; be mindful of excellence (a good worker proves it every day); view a farm apprenticeship as a serious career step.
• Visit first: yes; beforehand applicant will receive apprenticeship program details and farm plan.
• Trial period: one month, during which we’ll cover basic skills to be helpful and safe, including low stress animal handling, milking, ox driving, basic livestock and garden chores and equipment, marksmenship and gun safety.