Organic Gardener

Learning to grow food organically and sustainably

Author: Susan Harris

With all the focus these days on eating food that's locally and organically grown, the growing of food - also known as farming - is attracting more and more young people as a career or business opportunity.  And why not?  Compared to jobs that bring home the bacon but don't feed the soul, growing beautiful, healthy food ranks high on the fulfillment scale. And unlike sedentary desk jobs, small-scale organic farmers can laugh at the very notion of health-club memberships, or having to go on vacation to experience a bit of nature.  The only real question is: Can they make a living doing it?  (I don't have that answer and can only suggest that for all our sakes, let's hope so.)

But the question for this column is:  How are farmer wannabes - or even home veg gardeners - supposed to learn to grow food if they didn't grow up on a farm?  Possibly the best way to learn is to apprentice or intern at a operating farm, and there are now ways to locate those opportunities.  Homesteads, farms and cooperatives all over the world are offering room and board and plenty of education to willing helpers. 

How to find these teaching farms?  In the U.S. they're all compiled at Organic Volunteers, searchable by location and types of learning opportunites, with long descriptions of each farm and even recommendations from their former interns.  Typical reviews refer to hard work, long days, and wonderful people.  A quick perusal of the projects - all "organic and sustainable" - reveals opportunities to learn not just veg-growing but also pond-building, winemaking, chicken management, sheep husbandry, beekeeping, permaculture, and even biodiesel and business skills.  Interns at some farms are offered yoga, music and arts and crafts in their off-hours.  (Don't mistake them for summer camps, though.  Farming is hard work.)  Host farms range from small family farms to larger cooperatives accommodating 20 or more interns at a time.

Organic Volunteers is part of a world-wide network of host farms called World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). For a small yearly fee, interested future farmers can follow that link and another one called WWOOF International to find internships all over the world.  Eighteen countries in Africa have host farms, 20 countries in the Americas, 31 in Europe, and so on, and the concept is growing fast in Asia.

Photo credit WWOOF Australia, where there are over 1,200 listed farms.

Susan Harris

Susan is a Gardening Coach, GardenRant blogger, Master Gardener, garden writer, and activist for urban and suburban greening. She is an active writer and contributer to the gardening community.
Read more about Susan.

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