Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Root Bottom Farm Summer Internship 2014


Announcing: Root Bottom Farm Summer Internship 2014
If you know anyone who may be interested in a Summer farm internship just outside beautiful Asheville, NC, please pass this link on. Here is an opportunity for someone really looking to learn what farm life is all about. Thanks!

The Farm:
Root Bottom Farm is owned and loved by Sarah & Morgan Decker. We operate a small farm dedicated to practicing organic methods in the mountains of Madison County just North of Asheville, NC. Root Bottom Farm grows high-quality specialty crops including: weekly microgreens, perennial herbs, flowers, berries, asparagus, multiple annual vegetable varieties and root crops. We specialize in garlic and have 14 varieties in the ground for the upcoming season. Root Bottom products can be enjoyed at various restaurants in Asheville and at the West Asheville Market every Tuesday and the Mars Hill Market every Saturday.

The farmer has been farming full time since 2008 and has experience farming in diverse environments such as Vermont, Utah, and North Carolina.

Our farm is located in Madison County, about 30 minutes from Asheville, and 10 minutes from the towns of Mars Hill and Marshall. We grow just above 2,000 ft in the Blue Ridge Mountains on 5 acres of bottom land with a bold creek.

Why intern on our farm?
Our microgreen operation sets us apart from other farms in the area. Last year we established perennial crops such as berries, fruit trees, and an asparagus patch. We have a large garlic crop and make garlic butter as a value-added product in a certified kitchen. We have two high tunnels on the property which are used for starting all of our plants from seed and for tomato and cucumber production. We have multiple outlets for selling our produce including restaurants, farmers markets, and a local food distribution company.

Last year we started an innovative program called our ESA (E-mail Supported Agriculture), which is similar to the CSA model, but caters to people who don't live in Asheville and have trouble making it to farmer's markets for whatever reason. ESA members order what veggies they want via e-mail and we deliver to them weekly. Instead of receiving a box of veggies they don't want, we bring the farmer's market to them.

Position Description:
We are seeking a motivated, physically fit intern interested in learning all aspects of a small organic farm operation this summer. Skills the intern will learn include propagation, planting, weeding, harvesting, and greenhouse and microgreen operation management. This internship is designed as a learning experience for someone who is serious about growing food organically on a small scale using mostly human powered methods. Recycling and composting is mandatory.

Details:
This 6 month internship is from mid April till mid October. Housing and a share of produce is offered in return for 25-30 hours of work per week. Watering duties when the farmer is out of town is expected. This is not a paid internship. Having a paid part time job is encouraged in order to pay for gas, other groceries and whatever bills the intern might have.

Housing:
This creek side housing is a fully furnished small studio apartment (250 square feet). It includes a cold water faucet, a kitchenette, bed, shelving, composting toilet, and a propane heated outdoor shower. Utilities except internet is included. Internet is available for $50 a month which is a strong enough connection to stream movies. A laundry mat is located 10 minutes away in Marshall.

To apply:
Send your resume to the e-mail address below. We will then contact you for an interview.
Have references available

Contact:
Morgan Decker
rootbottom at gmail.com

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Looking forward to Spring..

 Root Bottom Farm is looking forward to another great season and are currently deep in the process of farm planning and seed ordering. This year we are excited to have blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and asparagus coming in. We are expanding our annual vegetables, perennial and annual flower production and building another greenhouse. We also have over 14 garlic varieties in the ground that will be available this Summer.

So proud to be a part of ASAP


Root Bottom Farm is proud to be a whole page in the new ASAP calendar (and a few shots of Morgan's hands holding produce). Pick one up for 2014!

Fall Farm projects

Sanded, Refinished, sealed and painted the old tin roof. Repaired and painted all the trim white. Painted the lower half of the house green. It's amazing what many, many cans of paint can do to a 100 year old cabin....
 
 


 
 
 So close.....
Totally new bathroom and septic *finally*
 replacing old windows
 new green paint and trim

 old vs new


 Half way done
 
  
So close...again....
 My uncle leaves a donation for the new septic.

 Trimmed the fireplace with barn wood
All done.
 

Fall Farm

 Tilling the garlic area
 Elephant Garlic!
 Planting the 2014 garlic harvest
 Goodnight farm
  Planting garlic with friends


 Shelling the last few varieties to get in the ground
 
 
Putting the greenhouse to bed for the season.

 We drop mad beets.
 Garlic products at the market
 Last carrots at the market
 Planting Spring flower bulbs
 Putting the garden to bed
 Getting beets ready for market
 
 First snow of the season