Apprenticeships
Riverbank Farm is in its thirty-fourth year of operation. The 45-acre farm is picturesquely situated in the Shepaug River valley in northwestern Connecticut. From 14 acres of fertile river bottom soil and three large greenhouses, we grow a full variety of seasonal vegetables and cut flowers. Our produce is sold at Connecticut farmers’ markets, natural food stores and local restaurants. We also have a small apple orchard. In addition to growing food, we make hay on our farm and adjoining farms.
We also have a commercial kitchen where we make seasonal vegetarian prepared foods and canned goods that are sold at the farmers markets throughout the year. Both David and Laura have a large knowledge base of all aspects of sustainable agriculture. We use greenhouses and high tunnels are used for general propagation, tomato production and season extension.
About the apprenticeship program
Four to five apprentices are given the opportunity to learn about all aspects of managing a successful market farm. These activities include propagation, cultivation (manual and mechanized), record keeping, farm management, harvesting and marketing. There are opportunities to learn the basics of soil fertility, greenhouse management, and effective vegetable marketing. We are looking for apprentices who are energetic and hardworking, who wish to develop a hands-on, practical experience and who can contribute to the team effort that is required for a successful organic farm operation. Since we are a small operation, we are able to give individual attention in areas that apprentices would like to explore and develop. Apprentices can also learn about preparing local meals and food preservation in our commercial kitchen. Since the farm is situated along the Shepaug River, there are opportunities for swimming and tubing. The town swim pond also borders the farm along with a large land trust with great hiking trails. We are also about two hours from New York City.
We offer housing in one of our rentals in town for 400/month, or apprentices can find their own housing. Starting wage is 17/hr with the added bonus of farm produce and left over commercial kitchen prepared food.
Become an apprentice
If you are interested in applying for an apprenticeship, please send us a resume and letter of intent. Once we have a phone interview, we will provide you with our apprentice guidelines which give you more detailed information about apprentice life at Riverbank. E-mail us at riverbankfarmct@yahoo.com, attn: “Apprenticeship.”
For more information about the CT CRAFT apprenticeship training program, click here.
Other opportunities: Field crew
We also hire a seasonal field crew for the season. If you can’t commit to the entire farm season, please email us about joining our field crew team.
