Nella Mae’s FarM-FULL FOR 2024
POSITION: 1 APPRENTICESHIPS
FULL TIME (30-40 hrs/week)
APPROX START/END DATES: 4/1 - 5/15 to 8/1- 10/31
LOCATION: Cove (Northeast Oregon)
ON-FARM HOUSING OFFERED
VEHICLE REQUIRED? Yes
ON FARM VISIT REQUIRED? No.
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English and Spanish.
Nella Mae’s Farm is a produce farm managed with low-till, regenerative, and holistic practices. We also raise a few beef for market with my neighbor. Nella Mae sells at our on-farm farmstand, the La Grande Farmers Market, several retail outlets, one CSA, and restaurants in two counties.
Nella Mae’s Farm is at the base of the Wallowa Mountains in northeast Oregon. We have woods and wildlife habitat on our place and farm and graze five acres. The farm is just outside the “city” of Cove, population 500. Cove is on the east side of the Grande Ronde Valley, population 26,000, one of the largest round valleys in the world. While this is technically high desert, the snow melt, rivers and a high water table make this place rich for agriculture. We also face a short spring, extreme temperature swings in the summer, and increasingly variable weather. Nella Mae is learning to adapt every year.
Most of the farms in the valley are hundreds or thousands of acres and grow grass, grains and sunflowers for seed, alfalfa, mint, and sugar beets. There is a healthy number of small-scale farms growing meat, produce, and nursery crops, and our small group of small farms is mutually supportive and highly collaborative. Nella Mae has found a huge amount of support locally large and small, as well as fellow business owners, customers, and neighbors as she has grown the farm. She looks forward to enhancing an Apprentice’s experience at the farm through sharing experiences with her own mentors and farmer friends.
The farm crew is small and tight-knit. Many of the folks who work at our farm work at a neighboring nursery run by Nella Mae’s mentors as well. We have a friendly, fun crew and focus on collaboration, teamwork, improving systems together, and eating well. Nella Mae cooks lunch for the crew every harvest day.
2024 will be the 11th season of Nella Mae’s Farm, but she grew up on her family’s farm and started selling at the La Grande Farmers Market when she was 10 years old. However, due to the difficulty of farming, she was encouraged to leave agriculture behind and go to college. Her return to agriculture was a surprise to everyone, and was made possible by the local food movement of the 2000’s.
Nella Mae’s philosophy is influenced primarily by Holistic Management, lean farming, low-till practices, and by agricultural, and soil science. The farm’s purpose is to feed our community, build soil, and enhance the wellbeing of the land and those who tend it.
TRAINING AND EXPECTATIONS
Skills taught at the farm include seed starting, transplanting, direct seeding, harvesting, produce processing, marketing, use of equipment, farm business management skills, sales, and customer service.
An Apprentice at the farm will have the opportunity to go as deep as they are interested in learning marketing, business, and staff management as well as the best practices on propagation, harvest, food safety, soil care, irrigation, plumbing, light construction, and the importance of developing a farm network.
Start date is flexible—April 1-June 15. End date is flexible—Aug 31-Oct 31.
Apprentice will generally work 6 hour days 4-5 days per week.
Time off is flexible with one or two weeks’ notice.
Heavy exertion is typical with farm work. Most work is done by hand. Carrying boxes of produce, tough work such as post pounding or broad forking, and working in hot and cold conditions is typical.
Training is integrated into work. Teaching and farming are linked in every activity on the farm. We take hour-long lunches to discuss finances, bookkeeping, no-till practices, etc. Every day at lunch is our check-in time. The rest of the training happens each morning as we plan out the day together, walk the fields, and review best practices. Discussion happens in real time while we work together. Nella Mae works side by side with others on the farm for 80-90 percent of the day and talks in depth about ag practices, books, why we do things the way we do them, and how we got here.
Nella Mae loves to discuss big ideas and is very involved in the policy and politics of agriculture, social justice, natural resources, and rural places.
Fingers crossed that Apprentices will find her funny because she loves to laugh while we work. :)
We always put hoes down to visit with neighbors who stop by and learn from elders in the neighborhood.
We also host outdoor schools and class visits several times per year at the farm, so we have the opportunity to teach and learn from kiddos.
QUALIFICATIONS
We are looking for a hard-working, self-motivated person who is able to communicate in a timely, and direct manner. Most important is someone who is curious, thinks deeply, asks questions, problem solves, and helps the farmer improve by giving feedback. An Apprentice must be able to work quickly and deftly with their hands.
We are happy to host Apprentices with no gardening or ag experience. We are looking for an Apprentice who is interested in plants and has some demonstrable experience doing physical labor.
Attention to detail and adherence to our food safety procedures is critical. Applicants should be ready for physical work and to lift 30lbs regularly. They should also be able to work outside in all weather conditions from rain to heat. We invite a person of any skill level to apply for as long as they are excited to learn about farming and work outside.
Due to our very rural location, the Apprentice should have their own reliable transportation. If the Apprentice does not have a car, please get in touch to discuss other options.
An in-person visit is not required before a final placement decision is made but candidates may visit if they like.
COMPENSATION / ACCOMMODATIONS
Compensation is $15/hour plus reimbursement of RFC tuition if/when the season is completed. This additional benefit works out to an equivalent of about $16/hour. Apprentices get all the produce they can eat and preserve, use of farm kitchen for food/preservation projects, a very flexible schedule for time off, hot lunch on harvest days, and use of farm library.
An 8x20 tiny house with electricity, wood heat, propane cook stove, and outhouse is available for apprentice housing. Shower is available in the main farm building. Rent is $250 per month or in trade for working two Saturday markets per month.
The tiny house is private from the main farm house, separated by a creek line. Wifi is available at the farm, but not at the tiny house. Apprentice will have access to the farm office for wifi, on-line meetings, watching movies, etc. There is cell service throughout the farm. Apprentice would be responsible for their own meals except crew lunches. Wood is provided for the wood stove in the tiny house. Significant others are allowed on a case-by-case basis. No pets allowed at this time.
EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and feminism are guiding principles in how Nella Mae lives her life, raises her family, runs her farm, and operates her business. Understanding her own privilege, checking it, and ensuring that she is sharing her knowledge and resources with new and beginning farmers is paramount to what she does.
Nella Mae Parks