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Woodland Harvest immersion internships offer amazing opportunities to gain hands-on applied permaculture skills while immersed in a diverse established permaculture farmstead. This internship is filled with practice-based, hands on, learning-by-doing experiences, not simply concept and academic information-based study. For those interested in improving their own home or farm, or those seeking to develop one, or begin working in the field of permaculture, this internship offers the opportunity to learn directly from the systems here, our successes and failures, our best aspects and those that need improvement. Our site hosts many unique designs for building & maintaining a self-reliant lifestyle appropriate for our temperate Appalachian bioregion.
By spending four weeks on the farmstead, participants will have the opportunity to implement design ideas while enjoying the experience of living on a working small farm and homestead. A focus on hard skills through hands-on practice differentiates this course from others. There is a focus on social permaculture skills & the community building tools necessary for a sustainable resilient farmstead or community.
Internship Highlights
- immersion & practice on a grassroots permaculture farmstead
- focus on hard skills through hands-on practice, immersion style learning
- opportunities to practice skills & designs on site
- all the wonders & challenges of community homestead living 24/7
- a group of amazing facilitators, farmers & permaculture practitioners
- an evolved, skills-based permaculture curriculum focused on resiliency, regeneration & joy
- hands-on experience with a wide range of working Permaculture systems
- structured and independent project work
- access to diverse on-site library
- field trips to area sustainability or permaculture properties and projects
- opportunities to participate in cultural activities, yoga, meditation, hiking & paddling, music and arts
- social permaculture skills & community building tools including but not limited to: conflict resolution, facilitation & other soft skills
- we'll venture out into the community for a small arts, music, food & culture festival, so you will have the opportunity to assist in workshop organizing & facilitation, or in permaculture education from our booth as a permaculture activist
- access to local networks of people with diverse skills, trades & expertise & 4+ decades of experience in facilitation & teaching, natural building, alternative technologies, intentional community, bioregional development, activism & organizing, workshops & trainings
Farmstead Site Highlights
- gravity fed spring water for drinking, cooking & washing & pond play!
- Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia in spring & summer: swimming, hiking, breathtaking views, wildlife, sunshine, rain, new beginnings in the forest & gardens...
- a site situated at the edge of four thousand protected acres of diverse Appalachia forest & bird sanctuary
- locally-sourced meals; primarily vegetarian based, but some farm raised meats & wild game
- facilities include hot outdoor shower, a wood fired bathing tub, composting toilets throughout the grounds
- microhydro & solar powered electric system for a completely off-grid experience
- 10 minutes from West Jefferson, NC & 30 minutes from Boone, NC
Additional Information
This internship applies applications of Permaculture in a range of settings and strategies for meeting human, land and animal needs. Lectures and hands-on work will also explore: principles & ethics, bioregional strategies, ecological history, watershed health, gravity-fed water systems, agroforestry, rapid soil building, alternative energies, natural building & more.
The course will conclude with the opportunity for participants to implement their own group Permaculture site design.
We practice & utilize the following techniques & tools in the internship:
- medicinals preparation from wildcrafted & farm grown herbs
- blade sharpening & tool maintenance: knives, sickles, axes, saws & chainsaw
- forest management: planting a tree, felling a tree
- layout, design & construction of contour swales
- water harvesting & movement
- processing foods via various methods: fermentation, canning, solar drying
- rotational grazing: fencing, moving fence, moving animals, setting up permanent fence, electric use and wiring for fencing
- practical gardening skills: no-till bed preparation, mulching, basic biodynamic planting, harvesting, maintenance, seed saving
- plant knowledge & propagation
- appropriate technology & natural building technique: microhydro, solar pv, cob, cordwood & timbers
- animal care (chickens, ducks, pigs, worms)
- occupational health & safety, safe work practices
- tool maintenance & care, use of range of hand tools & some power tools
- knots, fires, wild crafting, herbal medicine, & innumerable other hard skills
- cooperative work, leadership, communications & customer relations
- many other rural living & farmsteading techniques gained simply by living on the active farm site for the internship duration
Students are encouraged to bring tools to practice with and skills with which to share in the group. There will be ample time for group skill sharing on various topics relating to permaculture.
Registration
Internship fee based on a suggested sliding scale of $1000 – $1500 for four-week sessions. There are two partial work-trade opportunities per session for assistance with meal preparations & cooking.
- internship fee includes 2 excellent meals per day, beautiful woodland camping, many hours of hands-on immersion learning
- meals will be served 5 days/week, but kitchen access available in the mornings & off days
- hostel beds available in the farmhouse for an additional $150/week
- students are encouraged to pursue college credit or continuing education credits & we’re glad to assist where necessary!
- pets are strongly discouraged, but possibly negotiable.
- children 10-17 are strongly encouraged, but younger children will need additional supervision that we cannot provide; please email for food costs & to let us know more about your child in community & the outdoors.