Advanced Permaculture Internships. Residential positions with Prospect Rock Permaculture at Willow Crossing Farm, May-October 2012.
Prospect Rock Permaculture is excited to announce our residential internship program for permaculture designers, growers, builders, and educators looking to develop professional practice during the growing season of 2012.
We'll have 4 positions this year- each focused on a particular track for professional development:
Food Production/ Plant Animal Systems: This intern will be the point person for our food and medicinal herb production, nursery work, bees, chickens, conservation plantings, wildcrafting, greenhouse management, the plant and animal components of garden and farm design, for clients, etc.
Natural Building/ Earthworks/ Design-Build: This intern will be more focused on building systems- ie. building design, carpentry, timberframing, natural walls and insulation, living roofs, integrated greenhouses, site work and foundations, drainage, earthworks, machines, water systems, energy and waste management systems, etc.
Whole-Systems Design: This intern will be more focused on the client and presentation/ ‘deliverables’ end of the design spectrum- presentation graphics, map making, media generation, landscape analysis, client liaison, etc.
Permaculture Education: This intern will be the point person for educational offerings, the farm workshop series, curriculum development, public presentations, outreach, web and media generation, etc. Ideally, this intern has some of the most experience with the other fields.
While each of these positions will obviously be working in an integrated way on all of these tracks, the ‘focus tracks’ will help us help people develop their skills within a particular focus, and also help with management and task delineation, etc. Ideally, each applicant has already successfully completed a Permaculture Design Certification course (PDC), and has a portfolio of designs and implemented projects.
We have a two-bedroom apartment in a duplex downtown (about 2 miles from the farm), and will be offering housing there and/or camping at our farm. We will also be building some other housing options (including- hopefully- a treehouse), during the summer. The program will run from May- October, although there would be the potential for the right people to stay on longer.
Johnson is a relatively dynamic town for northern VT, home to a smaller state college, an international art school, and nearby a variety of awesome farms, wild places, tourism attractions, and resorts. OUr farm is located at the intersection of the Lamoille River and Vermont's Long Trail, so you could literally boat or hike almost anywhere you'd like right from the farm.
With housing and some meals and produce provided, it is an unpaid internship. However, we are certainly willing to share the proceeds of market sales, educational workshops, and design and building work for clients- relative to interns’ contribution to those income streams.
As for us, we just had our second child, and live between the farm seasonally and a separate apartment in the building downtown. My partner works in the healing arts as an herbalist, massage and yoga therapist, and we’re both very involved as parents. I juggle the farm and my design firm, while teaching evenings at UVM (and with other schools), and run some workshops on our farm. We also host a two-week residential PDC that will be in mid-July this summer.
Please let us know about your interest immediately, and if a particular focus track is resonating with you. I’ll be announcing the formal application process within the next few weeks, applications will be due in mid-February, and I’ll notify those selected in mid-March. Ideally, we’ll be meeting with each of the applicants, so if anything is bringing you to the northeast, please be in touch.
Thanks for checking this out, and please let us know if you have any questions. Please feel free to share with interested friends or relevant networks.
While we are limited in our ability to support just 4 full-time residential interns, we are always willing to set up individual and shorter term apprenticeships to help Permaculture Design Course Graduates develop professional, community-scale skills.
Visit www.prospectrock.org or email
keith@prospectrock.org for more information, and check out the 'Opportunities Page' for additional details.
Other opportunities:
Botanical Illustrator sought. We are looking for an experience botanical artist with an existing portfolio of biologically accurate drawings to collaborate on a variety of projects.
Willow Crossing Farm Workshop Series: We'll be hosting a variety of workshops this year starting with Apple Pruning on February 18, and will have workshops on Fruit Tree Grafting, Propagation, Nut Production, Spring Development for Gravity Fed Irrigation, Wood-Chip Clay Insulation, Earth Oven Construction, Greenhouse Design, Efficient Irrigation, Winter Vegetable Production, and more! Send an email with your interest of subscribe to prospectrock.org to be alerted as calendar details are finalized.
5th Annual Permaculture Design Certification Course with Burlington Permaculture! July 15-27. Registrations are already rolling in, reserve your place in the regions longest established independent Permaculture Design Course now. Immersion in Ecological Design and Regenerative Growing, entirely farm-sourced food, at the northeast's only site fully funded by financial permaculture and our own sweat equity. Also available for 5 Credits through the University of Vermont, fully accredited and immediately transferrable to any school.
