Internship Opportunities

A Meaningful Purpose/Reed’s Organic Farm Internship Description

 

Reed’s Organic Farm is an 80-acre vegetable farm, animal sanctuary, and community gathering space located in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.  The farm is managed by a non-profit organization–A Meaningful Purpose–the mission of which is to address the needs of food insecurity, soil regeneration, and community inclusiveness in Atlantic County.  Our internship programs are inclusive of students and adults living with cognitive or behavioral disorders who are experiencing underemployment.  Our interns play a critical role in our gardens and market space, and are responsible for the tasks detailed below:

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Garden/Farm Tasks​​

• Microgreens production

Interns are responsible for growing successions of microgreens, which will be used in our kitchen and sold in our market.  This involves scheduled rounds of seeding, maintaining, and packaging microgreens.

• Floral arranging

After flowers are harvested, interns play a role in arranging the flowers to sell in our market. This involves stripping the flowers of their lower leaves, arranging bouquets using a variety of flowers and foliage, and wrapping bouquets.

• Harvest assistance

Interns play a seasonal role in harvest support by joining the farm crew in weekly harvests of certain crops like string beans, cherry tomatoes, and edible flowers.​

• Produce preparation

Once produce is harvested, interns play a role in washing, weighing, sorting, packaging, and pricing produce.

• Pig lunches

Interns prepare pig lunches, which involves wrapping produce in newspaper to provide pigs with an enriching lunch experience.

• Educational gardens maintenance

Interns assist in the maintenance of our educational gardens, including but not limited to: watering, weeding, harvesting, planting, landscaping and hardscaping.

• Sanitizing buckets

Interns use a natural sanitizing solution and scrub brush to sanitize all harvest buckets

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Market Tasks

• Market host

Interns will be stationed in front of our market space to greet customers, have them sign a waiver to tour our grounds, and pass out informational brochures and recipe cards.

• Market maintenance

Interns will assist with keeping our market tidy, including but not limited to: emptying the trash, wiping down surfaces, sweeping the floor inside and outside of the market space, sanitizing high-touch surfaces, ensuring waste is sorted properly into landfill/recycling/compost bins, clearing off and sanitizing picnic tables.

• Egg washing

Our free-range chicken eggs must be sanitized before they are market ready.  This task involves washing the eggs with a warm water solution, dating the egg cartons, and placing the eggs in the refrigerator using a first in-first out system.

• Stocking market shelves

Interns will participate in stocking, organizing, and maintaining the tidiness of the market shelves.

• Botanical salve production

Interns participate in harvesting herbs to be incorporated into botanical hand salves. Interns assist in production of the salves, which involves melting natural materials like beeswax and shea butter, infusing them with our garden-grown herbs, and packaging salves. 

• Herbal tea production

Interns assist with the harvesting and packaging of our herbal tea lines.