Beginning Farmer Fellowship
Unadilla Community Farm is a 501(c)3 non-profit farm education center in West Edmeston, NY, donating 100% of harvest from our multi-story Food Forest to food pantries, mutual aid groups, and free herbal clinics, serving low-income and historically underserved communities.
Our Farm Fellowship is a paid season-long commitment to experiential, hands-on learning of the humble tasks that ensure the planting, care & maintenance, and harvesting of our Food Forest crops for donation to food pantries, mutual aid groups, and free herbal clinics.
unadillacommunityfarm.org/jobs
Fellows will learn how to: 1) tend to a food forest by applying principles of no-till organic farming, regenerative agroforestry, and permaculture design, with a focus on growing perennial fruits & herbs, cover crops, and annual vegetables; 2) carry out sustainable harvest, storage & distribution techniques at-scale; and 3) participate in public education through Community Volunteer Days and optional weekly classes.
Day-to-day tasks will primarily occur outdoors in the Food Forest and include: seeding; transplanting; irrigation; holistic pest management; no-till cover crop management; weeding; mulching; trellising; pruning; harvesting, wash & pack; landscaping including lawn mowing and weed whacking; and no-till bed preparation.
Optional, weekly class topics include: farm/garden design, food forest design, irrigation system design, dynamic accumulator plants, tiny home design, off-grid photovoltaic systems, and more.
unadillacommunityfarm.org/jobs
Time Commitment: 23 weeks from April 27-October 4, 2025. Fellows who live on-site must be able to commit to the full season. This is a seasonal part-time contracted position.
Schedule: 8:00am-12:00pm Mondays-Saturdays. We offer paid sick days and unpaid vacation (with two weeks notice).
Wage: $20 per hour. Must be authorized to work in the U.S. (we cannot offer work visas).
Required Experience: Applicants must have 1 season of farming experience (at a production farm/nonprofit farm or other farm type), OR must have completed Unadilla Community Farm’s Permaculture Internship.
Work Environment: Fellows should be able to carry 40 pounds and be on their feet walking, standing, moving, or squatting for up to 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. Fellows should feel comfortable with a variety of outdoor working conditions, including full sun, light rain, or light frost.
Room & Board: Fellows may commute to the farm, or apply to live on-site. For fellows who live on-site and can commit to the 24 hr/wk full-season schedule, room and board are provided at no charge. Please scroll down for more information about our off-grid accommodations.
unadillacommunityfarm.org/jobs
Off-Grid Accommodations
Our farm is entirely off-grid and is transitioning off of fossil fuels. We now rely 100% on off-grid solar for all of our lighting, charging electronics, landscaping tools, irrigation, and some power tools. We offer limited availability accommodations for staff and fellows living on-site throughout our growing season.
On-site, housing accommodations consist of dorm-style, 2 person rooms in a converted school bus without air-conditioning, heating, lighting or insulation. You also have the option of providing your own camper, 4-person tent, or other mobile accommodations. Open flames are prohibited in our housing accommodations. Solar lanterns and mosquito nets are provided and welcomed. For fellows who live on-site, all organic vegetarian/vegan pantry staple items are provided for taking turns cooking communal meals six days a week in our Barn kitchen. There is no refrigeration unit available on-site for food or medicine. We use a gravity-fed unheated shower and two composting toilets that do not flush – one is available indoors during work hours, the other is outdoors and available 24/7. We don’t have wifi, but do have good cell phone reception with Verizon.
Fellows are not permitted to bring alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other drugs to Unadilla Community Farm or to engage in paid work under their influence. The farm is a substance-free space where people from a variety of backgrounds can immerse themselves in a land-based lifestyle besides their peers. We encourage staff and fellows to be honest with themselves about their relationship to any substances before submitting their application – 22-weeks of abstinence or disruption from any daily or weekly routines is a challenge, even in the healthiest of relationships.
unadillacommunityfarm.org/jobs
