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Want to be a Market Gardener? Stepping Stone Farm offers practical, hands on internships where you will learn by doing next to Master Gardeners and other committed, aspiring, commercial growers.
Stepping Stone is a working market garden in a delightful, fertile valley, 8kms from the centre of Moruya, NSW.
It has been set up with all the infrastructure, tooling, vehicles and machinery needed for a viable market gardening business based on organic and regenerative farming practices.
Joyce Wilkie (Allsun Farm) is currently full time mentor/manager with many years experience growing vegetables and teaching aspiring farmers. Currently there is just over 0.5 Ha (just under 1.5 acres) under cultivation and the plan is to gradually increase this to 2 Ha over the next few years. Interns will be given the skill set, knowledge and experience needed to both develop a business plan and then implement it. We want to give new farmers a better chance of securing capital and land access, and a better chance to realise their farm business aspirations.
Internships are now available for the 2022-23 growing season.
Working and learning at Stepping Stone Farm you will be part of a tight knit crew working on all aspects of running a profitable market garden.
Ideally an internship involves a 9-12 month commitment 5 days a week. We realise however that not everyone can afford to do this and we are happy to find workable, more flexible options for suitable applicants.
We supply breakfast and a cooked lunch weekdays and have a few cheap/free accommodation options available (Stepping Stone has a rudimentary kitchen and toilets but no accommodation)
Skills will mainly be learnt in the field but there are also scheduled, more formal learning sessions. All work is seasonal so in summer at peak production most of the work is practical. Winter is the time for in depth work on planning and business training.
All interns will be provided with our list of learning outcomes and our goal is to make sure that you achieve competency in enough of them, with our continued mentorship, to be able to start your own sustainable market farming business.
Stepping Stone Farm has to be profitable but it also has to be diverse enough to meet the needs of prospective interns. To be a successful organic farmer the underlying principle is "feed the soil" after that there are an unlimited number of choices governed by land availability, soil type, water, climate, personality, market , etc... Our limitations are 5Ha on borrowed ground without animals. After that we offer as many possibilities as we can including the possibility of offering committed interns a bed or two of their own on which they can experiment with crops and techniques that fit their individual needs. Here is a summary of the learning outcomes we offer:
CLICK HERE to download the full list of learning outcomes
Still think this is for you?
Left Field Farm is a Stepping Stone success story. After completing internships Shani and Tanya opened up some of the spare land on the farm and are now selling their flowers and vegetables at the market and to local restaurants. These remarkable women have not only decided to put down roots in the Eurobodally Shire but are actively contributing to the SAGE community and to local food security. Well done!
Just 5 minutes from the centre of Moruya is Panty Club a food bank operated by SouthernCare.Josh, who interned at Stepping Stone Farm in its first year, identified the problem that out of date vegetables are never great. His vision was for a vegetable garden right next to the food hub to not only supply tasty fresh produce to the shop but also to engage the volunteers and patrons. The new garden is up and running a tribute to Josh's skill, tenacity and commitment to fair food for all.
Belinda came to Stepping Stone Farm through the Campbell Page EcoCrew program. She started as a crew member and ended up being promoted to Team Supervisor.
She loves growing vegetables and is now helping manage the SAGE garden. Her aim is to keep learning about vegetable growing on a larger than back yard scale before committing to market gardening as a career. Stepping Stone continues to mentor her on this journey.
