Echigo Farm is an organic market produce farm located just west of Seymour, MO, about 25 miles east of Springfield on U.S. highway 60. We have an 18 acre renovated Amish farm in the middle of an Amish community. About 4 acres are dedicated to permanent beds for vegetable and fruit production; another 9 acres are used to supply hay for mulching. The remaining 5 acres contain living quarters, outbuildings, trees, etc. We have two 90x36 foot high tunnels for year round production, and are in the process of installing an inspected kitchen facility for food processing (especially fermentation) for retail sale.
While we are a diverse operation, we specialize in Japanese vegetables. During the 2012 season, we will be growing over 70 varieties of traditional Japanese and other Asian vegetables, including edamame, daikon radish, turnips, beans, tomatoes, okra, mustard greens, salad greens, herbs, eggplant, burdock, carrots, sesame, cabbage, and more. We import about 80% of our seed directly from Japan, working with a small family-run seed store in Niigata prefecture.
Besides our high tunnels, we utilize nearly a half-acre of low tunnels to facilitate season extension, plant protection, and year-round production.
We are currently in the process of converting a small butcher shop on the property into an inspected kitchen facility, allowing us to process our produce and create value-added traditional fermented Asian foods for retail sale.
Our farming philosophy comes from Masanobu Fukuoka, author of “One Straw Revolution” and the father of natural farming in Japan, as well as other Japanese organic farmers. We practice no-till farming on permanent, non-raised beds, building the soil from the top down and trying to raise our crops as naturally as possible. Besides eschewing chemical pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and fertilizers, we use crop rotations, companion planting, natural fertilizers, and other methods to grow healthy and nutritious vegetables. More details on our methods can be found on our farm blog.
Work on the farm
We try to reduce our reliance on gasoline and diesel-powered machines on our farm; as a result, much of the work is by hand.
The primary work is in planting, caring for, and harvesting crops in our permanent beds. Specific tasks may include bed prep, raking, some weeding, sowing seed, transplanting seedlings, managing straw mulch, and handling and maintaining drip irrigation lines. Harvest work will include picking, hauling, washing, sorting, and storing produce. For market days and retail deliveries, interns may help with packing, preparing orders, loading and delivering produce, and communicating with customers. We start many plants in seed trays; this work involves seed tray prep, germination, seedling management, watering, and more. Twice a year, we cut and bale hay for mulching; during these times, interns will help haul the small bales and spread the straw on beds.
We seek a “whole farm” balance in all that we do, and are working towards a method of farming that removes all unnecessary steps. This includes:
(1) Working in a way that reduces the need for large equipment and other major “inputs.”
(2) Building soil as nature does, from the top down, using top dressings of natural fertilizers, rice hulls, sea minerals, and cover crops.
(3) Practicing companion planting and crop rotations to avoid pest and disease problems.
(4) Focusing less on high yield and more on high quality. Our goal is to produce small amounts of quality, good tasting and beautiful vegetables and fruits.
Work on our farm as an intern
We are offering internship opportunities on our farm for the 2012 season. We are looking forward to working with open-minded people who want to learn farming from a practical as well as cultural perspective.
Our ideal intern candidate would be someone wishing to experience work in a diverse range of projects on a farm that is still on its second full year. The work will mainly involve caring for and marketing many specialty crops, and helping with farm modifications (new structures, wind block design and planting, small-scale rice paddy preparation, and the like).
Stipend
In return for approximately 60 hours a week of work (5 work days), interns will receive a hands-on education in sustainable farming. Interns will receive room and board and a $200 monthly stipend after their first month on the farm. Interns who only wish to have room and board will be expected to work 3 days a week.
Accommodations (Room and board)
We have several different housing options, depending on the length of stay and the preference of the intern. Living quarters will be simple, with basic furnishings and electricity supplied. There will be no air conditioning.
Interns who do not need living quarters are welcome to commute to our farm for work. Please take note of our location, about 25 miles east of Springfield on US 60.
Three meals a day will be provided, usually shared with our family.
Other positions
We welcome other types of help besides the full-time intern position. Even if you can only work for a short period of time, or for a day or two a week, if you are interested in working at Echigo Farm, please contact us. We will try to accommodate your request.
Our ideal intern candidate
Here is a brief checklist of what we feel to be the best traits for interning on our farm:
(1) Experience with farming and gardening is of course a plus, but it is not the most important requirement, and interns with no experience whatsoever are welcome to the program.
(2) A deep interest in sustainable, organic farming—this should be something you have been thinking about, reading about, talking about, and investigating for some time.
(3) A flexible, open attitude. Work on a farm does not always go as expected, and we must be ready to adapt and change to keep up with new circumstances.
(4) The ability to work well with people; a positive, outgoing, polite, and broad-minded person. You will encounter many different people while working on our farm, including CSA members, other farm workers, farmers market customers, and retail shop staff. We expect you to treat every single person with respect and empathy.
(5) Hard worker—willing to put in long hours on sweaty tasks that can be exciting and fun but can also be repetitive and relatively dull. Our ideal intern is someone who will see whatever task needs to be done through until the end.
(6) An attitude of patience, understanding, and forgiveness.
(7) Family friendly. We have 2 young children, and they are noisy. They come first in our lives and are involved with everything we do. Many families will be visiting the farm as well, bringing their children.
(8) An interest in and positive attitude towards other cultures. At our house, Japanese culture and language have a central place. Kumiko is a non-native English speaker and you may have to explain something a couple of times to her. We also have many customers and friends from other countries. We expect our interns to be patient and accommodating.
(9) Sense of humor—this may be the most important. A little laughter can go a long ways.
If you are interested, we would love to hear from you!
