Savanah Jean

Hi Matt,

I know we tried to touch bases before, but we were in a pretty hectic phase so we never connected properly. We have since settled in the Santa Cruz area and thought we’d touch bases once again to see if you were still looking for co-creation/collaboration possibilities on your property.

Here’s a link to our original posting:

https://permies.com/t/72848/experiences/Permie-Couple-Seeking-Opportunity

Regardless good luck with your property!

Thanks,
Savanah and Patrick

Howdy All,

I've posted here before and had many interesting responses, but nothing that really matched up with us. I figured I'd repost again now that things are slowing down and folks are thinking about the next season.

Patrick (33) and Savanah (25) here. We're on the search for exciting opportunities as the certified organic farm we we're managing sold and we need to find a new home! We've been farming and practicing/studying permaculture for 8+ (Patrick) and 5 (Savanah) years. We have experience ranging from small-scale homestead farming to large scale production farming. We've each had farm management experience managing crews, nursery, education and training, etc. We have experience working with chickens, ducks, and goats. Patrick has experience with tractors and Savanah has hand pushed rototiller experience although we have a preference for low-impact or a no till approach. Patrick has farmed in the NE, Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii while Savanah has experience primarily in Hawaii and some experience in Washington State and California. We have experience with community living and enjoy both small town and city life.

Patrick has a love for all things permaculture. He's truly happiest in the field working to create something that is not only functional, but beautiful and harmonious. He loves to teach and learn and is truly passionate about making COMPOST. Patrick has experience working with adults with developmental disabilities on farms, art projects, and daily care.

Savanah enjoys working in the field and in he nursery as well as working in the kitchen. She loves to bake bread and pastries, ferment foods and beverages, pickle and preserve foods, dehydrate, and cook. She has experience working in a farm to table wood fired pizza restaurant and loves creating meals to share with community. She enjoys making herbal body products including soap, sunscreen, salves and balms, lip balms, face masks, body scrubs, etc.

We're interested in value added enterprising whether that be value added food products, value added body products. We're also interested in education and engaging with the local community. We enjoy the farm to table movement and would love to be involved with farm to table events on farm. We enjoy diversity in what we're doing and are open to varying offers - work trade, employment, co creating, partnerships. We live a pretty quiet life, enjoy reading, chess, tennis, biking, hiking, music, art. Preference for Western U.S. as most of our family is in Northern California and Arizona, but open to all opportunities.

Thanks for reading!

Hey there Cai,

You should definitely check out websites like WWOOF.org, Workaway.info, and ATTRA.ncat.org if you haven't already. All of these sites are a little different in what they offer, but generally the are work trade positions that trade skills for room and board. Each of these sites requires a membership fee of around $20-25, except for Attra which is free. Here's a little rundown on what each site offers:

WWOOF: world wide opportunities on organic farms. Generally these places are good for the beginning farmer who wants to dip their toes into the world of organic farming. Generally shorter stay of 1-3 months with work trade between 15-25hrs/week in exchange for some variation of housing and basic food. Each farm has their own requirement so do your research.

Workaway: workaway offers a variety of skill sharing in exchange for housing and it might not always be farm work. Depending on what you decide you are willing to help with you could be involved in anything including childcare, cleaning around the house, construction, cooking, farm work, and more. Generally the work requirements are between 15-25 hrs/week in exchange for housing and some meals. Length of stay is dependent on each host and can range from 1 week up to 3 months. Average is around 1 month.

ATTRA: Attra is geared towards people who are sincerely interested in pursuing farming as a career path. In the internships/apprenticeships page you will find many listings for farms seeking interns. Generally these internships are for entire farming seasons. Farmers are looking for people who really want to learn the business of work in on and running a farm and are willing to work hard. Interns usually work 40+ hours a week in exchange for housing and produce from the farm. Most farms offer a small stipend as well and may offer basic staple ingredients (rice/beans etc) Every farm is different so it's work it to take your time and find what works for you.

Hope this helps,
Good luck

Hi All,

Just wanted to update this posting because the property we have been managing has officially sold. We will be back in California in June and will be spending time exploring the west coast for part of the summer. We appreciate those who reached out to us already, but we haven't found something that fits yet. We'd love to meet up with other passionate permies while we're exploring.

Thanks,
Savanah and Patrick

Thanks Dylan,

We're not too worried about finding work and are mostly just interested in visiting farms/permaculture sites and other permie folks.

Hi all,

My partner and I are moving back to the mainland after 5 years of permaculture farming in Maui. I grew up in Northern California and we will be back that way this summer. We're hoping to visit some permaculture/regenerative ag farms, groups, and the like. I was wondering if any of you had some suggestions of places to visit or any permie groups to check out? We're hoping to connect with folks and are looking for potential work opportunities too. Anything would be helpful.

Mahalo

Hello there,

Congrats on the property and good luck!

I have some experience with work exchange and these are some of the things I ask/think about when determining a fair trade. To determine a "fair" exchange some more information on what you are offering and what you expect in return would help. Things like living accommodations, expected hours per week/month, length of stay requirement, will you supply any foods like staple foods (rice, beans, etc) general farm plan (what skills/experience will I be able to gain)

Because an educational opportunity seems to be the main thing you are offering in exchange for the interns labor what is you're experience and knowledge. You said you have a 1/4 acre urban permaculture site that you've been practicing on for 5 years. Have your studies been in higher education settings, workshops, self taught, PDC, etc? How involved will you be in educating your interns? Will you be working alongside them or assigning tasks? Personally I'm wary of educational exchanges because I've come across folks who are either A. Not as knowledgeable as advertised B. Lack the skills/focus to teach C. Just want someone who will do the hard labor/property maintenance tasks. I'm not implying this is your intention, but these are things I've come across.

Also knowing what kind of permaculture site you are trying to develop would be helpful to attract the right intern. An educational site, a homestead, market garden, CSA garden, U-pick gardens, will you have animals, etc. Knowing these things will help to give the intern an idea of what they will be able to learn about.

If you aren't familiar check out WWOOF.org and Workaway.info these are work exchange sites that might give you some examples. Attra.ncat.org has a page listing internships/apprenticeships all across North America. In my experience WWOOF and workaway are generally people who want to travel on the cheap and also maybe gain some experience along the way while Attra generally has people who are seriously interested in farming and want to learn.

As for a different approach if you were interested in attracting people with experience for a longer term commitment say 6 months to a year+ to help you develop your property depending on your farm plan and potential income streams from your property setting up some kind of profit sharing or work exchange plus a stipend could help you set that up.

This post became way longer than I had anticipated. Good luck with everything and I hope this helps you out.

Savanah

Thanks for the suggestion Elizabeth!

Aloha All,

Patrick (33) and Savanah (25) here. We're on the search for exciting opportunities as the certified organic farm we currently manage on Maui is for sale and we need to find a new home! We've been farming and practicing/studying permaculture for 8+ (Patrick) and 5 (Savanah) years. We have experience ranging from small-scale homestead farming to large scale production farming. We've each had farm management experience managing crews, nursery, education and training, etc. We have experience working with chickens, ducks, and goats. Patrick has experience with tractors and Savanah has hand pushed rototiller experience although we have a preference for low-impact or a no till approach. Patrick has farmed in the NE, Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii while Savanah has experience primarily in Hawaii and some experience in Washington State. We have experience with community living and enjoy both small town and city life.

Patrick has a love for all things permaculture. He's truly happiest in the field working to create something that is not only functional, but beautiful and harmonious. He loves to teach and learn and is truly passionate about making COMPOST. Patrick has experience working with adults with developmental disabilities on farms, art projects, and daily care.

Savanah enjoys working in the field and in he nursery as well as working in the kitchen. She loves to bake bread and pastries, ferment foods and beverages, pickle and preserve foods, dehydrate, and cook. She enjoys making herbal body products including soap, sunscreen, salves and balms, lip balms, face masks, body scrubs, etc.

We're interested in value added enterprising whether that be value added food products, value added body products, etc. We're also interested in education and food justice. We live a pretty quiet life, enjoy reading, chess, tennis, biking, hiking, music, art. Preference for Western U.S. as most of our family is in Northern California and Arizona, but open to all opportunities.

Thanks for reading!

Aloha All,

Patrick (33) and Savanah (25) here. We're on the search for exciting opportunities as the certified organic farm we currently manage on Maui is for sale and we need to find a new home! We've been farming and practicing/studying permaculture for 8+ (Patrick) and 5 (Savanah) years. We have experience ranging from small-scale homestead farming to large scale production farming. We've each had farm management experience managing crews, nursery, education and training, etc. We have experience working with chickens, ducks, and goats. Patrick has experience with tractors and Savanah has hand pushed rototiller experience although we have a preference for low-impact or a no till approach. Patrick has farmed in the NE, Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii while Savanah has experience primarily in Hawaii and some experience in Washington State and California. We have experience with community living and enjoy both small town and city life.

Patrick has a love for all things permaculture. He's truly happiest in the field working to create something that is not only functional, but beautiful and harmonious. He loves to teach and learn and is truly passionate about making COMPOST. Patrick has experience working with adults with developmental disabilities on farms, art projects, and daily care.

Savanah enjoys working in the field and in he nursery as well as working in the kitchen. She loves to bake bread and pastries, ferment foods and beverages, pickle and preserve foods, dehydrate, and cook. She enjoys making herbal body products including soap, sunscreen, salves and balms, lip balms, face masks, body scrubs, etc.

We're interested in value added enterprising whether that be value added food products, value added body products, etc. We're also interested in education and food justice. We live a pretty quiet life, enjoy reading, chess, tennis, biking, hiking, music, art. Preference for Western U.S. as most of our family is in Northern California and Arizona, but open to all opportunities.

Thanks for reading!