The Art of Truly Organic Gardening

Garden interns wanted! Apply within!

        This 3 month internship offered by Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center at Trillium Farm, is designed to offer a hands-on and in-depth approach to gardening as an art form. Bringing together over 50 years combined experience, Susanna and Chant guide interns into the beautiful Trillium Garden in a holistic and artful manner.

What you will learn:

• Truly Organic Gardening
• Companion Planting
• Gardening as Art
• Plant Communications
• Watering Methods
• Composting
• Planting Theories
• Intuitive Gardening
• Landscape tending
• Food as Medicine
• Form and Function and Beauty
• Holistic Gardening Methods
• Drought Gardening Techniques
• The Harvest and Preserving Foods
• The difference between gardening and farming
• Preparations for the following seasons
• Gardening as a Sense of Place  

 

        It is our intention that by providing Internships with Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center we are offering a program of unique opportunities:

• to live and work in an intentional community, developing a sense of Place in a remote setting where the power of the surrounding wilderness provides inspiration for personal growth;
• to share in community life ways by participating in our work parties, celebrations, meal preparations and sharing, spiritual pursuits, hikes, and visioning;
• to learn the higher ideals of love and service both within our community and how that translates into the larger community;
• to understand one’s Self at deeper levels through the community process and practicing right relationship through honesty and compassionate communication;
• to become an advocate for the preservation of alternative life ways through the understanding of environmental ethics, education, developing homesteading skills, and hosting cultural events.

 

Interns are considered to be temporary Trillium Residents, sharing with the community the responsibility of running a wilderness eco-village, cultural and educational retreat center.  We ask that you look at your time here holistically, understanding that there is a blend between work, play, service, and creativity.  We want you to show your effort of willingness towards the work and the Vision.  Your week may look like this in terms of hours and responsibilities:

3-4 days in your area of focus
1 day participating in Trillium Resident Work Party
2-3 hours weekly for Councils and meetings

        Interns are provided with a shared living space in one of our beautiful rustic cabins and use of the Trillium Community living spaces, facilities and Land. We ask that each Intern be available a minimum 30 hours per week. Community bulk supplies are available to Interns.  These include: a wide variety of dry organic legumes, organic grains, organic baking supplies and garden food. Specialty foods, such as coffee, tea, tofu, etc. are provided by Interns. Interns are asked to maintain a vegetarian kitchen while at Trillium. Trillium is a wildlife sanctuary, so please do not bring pets.

 

        To begin your application process for an internship, please contact us with a detailed letter of intent, using the Community Questionnaire as a guide for providing us with a clear description of who you are and why you would like to participate in an internship at this time.

Community Questionnaire

Here are some questions for you to answer in your letter of introduction:

• Where do you hail from?
• Who is your family? Parents? Siblings? What are the qualities of these relationships?
• Describe your other primary relationships?
• What experience are you seeking at Trillium Farm?
• What are your passions and devotions?
• Do you have a spiritual path?
• Why are you seeking community?
• What is your previous experience in the wilderness?
• What are your personal habits? How tidy do you tend to keep your environment?
• Are you vegetarian?
• Do you consider yourself easy to live with?
• How well do you work with others?
• What do you consider to be some of your greatest gifts to offer as an Intern?
• What have you identified to be some of your issues and/or challenges at this time?
• Do you have any allergies or physical ailments?
• Who would we contact in case of emergency?

            When you are satisfied with your letter, simply e-mail (or "snail" mail) it to us with "Application: Internship" in the subject heading and we will  get back to you as soon as possible.  We would also like to request two letters of recommendation, ideally from a previous employer (longer than 6 months) and mentor or peer that knows you well.  You can mail them along with your application or have them either e-mailed or snail mailed directly to us.

        Once all of your application material has been reviewed, we will contact you as soon as we are able to further explore the possibilities of your internship. During the next step, you will receive a package from us and we will ask you to closely examine it's contents and to fully read all the material. Once another conversation or two occurs, you should be preparing to spend time at the Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center at historic Trillium Farm!

        We look forward to reading your letter!

trillium@deepwild.org
Please write "Birch Creek Application/Inquiry" in e-mail subject line.

Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center
Attn: Internship
PO Box 1330
Jacksonville, OR 97530

(541) 899-1696

 

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