We were members of the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT) in Southwestern Ontario, which was an informal, member-driven network of farmers that offer apprenticeships on their organic and ecological farms. The goal of CRAFT Ontario was to enhance the apprenticeships offered by its member farms. The primary method of doing this is to offer regular field trips which usually take place at selected CRAFT farms. We are founding members of CRAFT Ontario. CRAFT morphed in 2021 because the majority of the farms still involved had or were moving to a paid staff model while still supporting the educational component.
Working at Meeting Place Organic Farm is an exchange. The staff person is paid and also receive
instruction, access to a vast library and knowledge base and experiential education and can receive meals, housing, in exchange for their labour and the skill base that they bring to the farm.
Why work with us?
Meeting Place Organic Farm offers a combined 100 years of experience with organic, sustainable farming. As a diversified operation, we teach you a broad set of farm skills that range from animal husbandry, to wood lot maintenance and chain saw skills, fruit tree pruning, gardening- from planning through harvesting and preserving, marketing, business management using Holistic Management, conflict resolution and working with draft horses, among many other things. There are the incredible people resources of Fran, Tony and Katrina, which you can formally and informally learn from, but we also have a huge resource library, many connections to other farms and producers so that your learning doesn't have to be limited to our farm. Staff participate in the monthly educational days at the other farms we're connected to and the Ignatius New Farmer Training program.
Generally our jobs run full season from mid-March through to the end of October, but we are open to shorter stays if there are complicating factors. Arriving in mid-March means that you get the experience of pruning, starting seeds and caring for seedlings, snow removal with our draft horses, fire wood collection from the woodlot, and any special projects that are starting in the spring.
We generally work 6 days a week from about 7am to 6pm with breaks for breakfast, lunch and a nap/rest. There are times (like haying) when we work later into the evenings and on Sundays, due to weather and urgency. We take turns being responsible for chores on Sunday, so you could expect to be on for Sunday chores about once a month. We strongly encourage staff to take some time away from the farm, as long as it is arranged and planned with us in advance so that we can make sure it isn't going to land in the middle of haying season or some other "all hands on deck" time.
Staff can be housed in a furnished 5th wheel trailer or large canvas prospector tents. Apart from the farming, staff can be very much a part of our family/farm living community if they live here. We share responsibilities for making meals, doing clean up, playing games, going to the beach, watching movies, going to Blyth plays and everything else that you'd do with your housemates/family.
To learn more about Meeting Place Organic Farm:
www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca or contact:
info@meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca