Photo Courtesy of Gildrien Farm
Jeremy & Caitlin Gildrien
Leicester, VT, 05733
Email: gildrienfarm@gmail.com
Website: http://www.gildrienfarm.com
Caitlin and Jeremy Gildrien own and operate Gildrien Farm, we have backgrounds in Agroecology and Botany respectively. Gildrien Farm is focused on providing healthy food, grown sustainably, with a positive environmental impact.
Our farm is 10 miles from downtown Middlebury and 20 from Rutland, which both have with a great co-op, a movie theater, and several restaurants. The Green Mountains are close by and afford many outdoor activities.
Gildrien Farm is a small family-run farm. We are in our fifth year of operation and have roughly 4 acres in cultivation and 3 hoophouses. We operate a CSA, have some wholesale accounts, and attend a couple of farmers’ markets. We grow about 30 different crops and work to provide CSA customers with a well rounded, varied, and interesting share. Most work on our farm is split between hand work and tractor cultivation.
We are in organic transition, our greenhouses will be certified this year but not our fields. However, we follow the organic standards in the fields.
Number of apprentices needed: 2
Work Period: March 1, 2013 – November 1, 2013
Hours Per Week: 40
Farm Type: Vegetables, CSA
Stipend Available, Wage to be determined, Wage will be based on experience
Room and Board Provided (TBD Board: CSA share, seconds produce as available.)
Work Expectations:
The basic activities to bring plants from seed to harvest including: seeding, watering, transplanting, maintaining greenhouses, harvesting, washing, and packaging. Soil preparation and maintenance including: tilling, amending, weeding, laying mulch, and shoveling. Sales and Marketing including: working farmers market and CSA pick-up, making deliveries. Other activities include: record keeping and data entry, greenhouse construction, cleaning, and generally whatever needs doing. This work can be very physically demanding and strenuous; however, you are encouraged to work within your limits and abilities. While doing hand work, which is very demanding, we focus on efficiency and ease (no sense doing the same job twice).
Instruction and Training:
We can structure learning activities as best suited to your needs. We do much of the farm work together, providing ample time for discussing what we are doing and why. You are encouraged to ask questions about any part of the process. We have a well-rounded farm library open to you, and would love for you to help do some research. Anytime we attend a workshop you are welcome to join us, and we encourage you to attend NOFA’s Summer Workshop Series and VVBGA field walks.
Support for Learning:
Time off to attend NOFA Vermont workshops
Attend other organizations’ workshops
Support and create local networking opportunities for apprentice
What's Growin' On 