Job Title: Healing Garden Intern

Tricycle Gardens is a nonprofit organization focused on bringing sustainable agriculture, nutrition education and healthy food access to Richmond, VA. Tricycle Gardens has engaged thousands of neighbors and shown that the simple act of growing food is an incredibly powerful way to change the overall health of our community.

Tricycle Gardens has grown and sprouted about across our region. Our programs include: 5 community gardens, our HQ Urban Agriculture Demonstration Site, the Children’s Garden at the Children Museum, The Healing Garden at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center, and the Tricycle Gardens’ Urban Farm.

General Description:

This position is ideal for an aspiring urban gardener, or for someone who wants to learn more about organic vegetable gardening, native plants and permaculture design. In collaboration with and under direction of the Project Gardener and Program Coordinator, the Healing Garden Intern will carry out all aspects of the garden planning and maintenance operations. Tasks include but are not limited to: soil preparation, seeding and transplanting, cultivating and harvesting, weeding, and drip irrigation work. The Healing Garden Intern will also be responsible for helping us teach and manage volunteer work sessions. Must be comfortable in a hospital setting.

Job Responsibilities:

The Healing Garden Intern must be punctual and reliable in attendance, and work hard and smart. Bringing a positive attitude to the Garden is also paramount. Interns must take pride in the quality of their work and be eager to engage in work that strengthens our urban agriculture. The ideal candidate will be looking to deepen their knowledge by participating in all aspects of maintaining an organic garden.

Hours:

The Healing Garden Intern will typically work an average of 8-10 hours a week during the Spring/Summer. The internship will run June – October.

Skills Desired:

Attitude is everything. Common sense is appreciated. Personal motivation is needed. Looking for positive, can-do folks who are open to learning new skills. The position requires physical stamina and heat tolerance. Interns will be expected to work their hours outside, lift heavy objects and use power tools occasionally.

Educational Opportunities:

While working with Tricycle Gardens you will have access to all of our knowledge and experience as well as our small library. Depending on your interests or desired skills, it may be possible to provide appropriate learning projects and/or seek out opportunities within the community.

The Healing Garden Intern will typically be working with our Project Gardener, other interns, and volunteers. The type of work done will vary seasonally, but the Healing Garden Intern can expect to have experience with: weeding, pruning, planting, planning, harvesting, and packing. If you have other interests or skills, we are happy to discuss other ways you can contribute.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to learn@tricyclegardens.org

Application deadline: May 22, 2013

Our friends at Urban Farmhouse believe in and try to support local efforts, especially when it involves growing fresh healthy produce. That’s why our new partnership with Urban Farmhouse is a match made in local heaven. We love Urban Farmhouse and the delicious products they carry and from the beginning they’ve been on of our strongest compost partners.

So we’ve partnered for an exciting fundraiser for these groovy t-shirts and  all proceeds from these t-shirts go straight to Tricycle Gardens so we can continue to thrive and grow!

If you are local you can take advantage of the Shared Shipping option. If you use ourFree Shipping/Handling Coupon, your shirt and receipt will be shipped directly to our urban Farmhouse downtown location. 1217 E. Cary Street. By choosing this option, you will reduce the trash and fuel used to ship your shirt individually. Plus, we will give you a free coffee when you come in to pick up your shirt! We are planning a shirt distribution day on Saturday, April 13th. Free Shipping/Handling Coupon =bzsob1119

CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR T-SHIRT!

As always, your support is appreciated!

Thank you for helping us celebrate this the season of growing.  We were thrilled to have such tremendous support, and we extend a special thank you to our Down on the Farm Party sponsors – Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Relay Foods, and Ellwood Thompson.

We also thank Grow RVA and the food trucks for being with us.  We challenged each truck to incorporate our collard greens into their menus! They did a great (and delicious) job!

Our Farm serves as a working educational model of urban agriculture using sustainable growing methods, while also inspirational space for children, teachers and families, and a source of local food production.   Our produce is distributed to Relay Food customers across the region, restaurants in the city, at our Farm Stand in Church Hill and now through our new “Healthy Corner Stores” Get Fresh! East End Program.  Through this program, we are directly addressing food deserts and food access in our community by growing and distributing our local, healthy produce to corner and neighborhood markets in the East End.  Our Farm Expansion will help feed this important program that we hope to extend across our region.

Take a look at all the fun! Hope to see you next time!

Tricycle Gardens is a nonprofit organization focused on bringing sustainable agriculture, nutrition education and healthy food access to Richmond, VA. Tricycle Gardens has engaged thousands of neighbors and shown that the simple act of growing food is an incredibly powerful way to change the overall health of our community.

Tricycle Gardens has grown and sprouted about across our region and our programs include: 5 community gardens, our HQ Urban Agriculture Demonstration Site, the Children’s Garden at the Children Museum, The Healing Garden at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center, and the Tricycle Gardens’ Urban Farm.

General Description:

This position is ideal for an aspiring urban farmer, steadfast food justice advocate, or anyone who has a passion for growing good, clean, honest food. In collaboration with and under direction of the Farm Manager and Program Coordinator, Farm Interns carry out all aspects of the farm and greenhouse operations. Tasks include but are not limited to: soil preparation, seeding and transplanting, cultivating and weeding, irrigation set-up, and harvesting and processing produce. Farm Interns will also be responsible for managing and running our weekly Four Season Farm Stand and spring plant sales, assisting in produce deliveries and compost pick-ups to local restaurants as needed.

Job Responsibilities:

Farm Interns must be punctual and reliable in attendance, and work hard and smart. Bringing a positive attitude to the farm is also paramount. Farm Interns must take pride in the quality of their work and be eager to engage in work that strengthens our local food system. The ideal candidate will be looking to deepen their knowledge by participating in all aspects of maintaining an urban farm.

Hours:

Farm Interns typically work an average of 12-15 hours a week during the Fall/Winter session & 18-20 hours a week during the Spring/Summer Session.

Fall/Winter Interns: September 1- February 28 (6 months)

September 1- December 31 (3 months)

Spring/Summer Interns: March 1- August 31 (6 months)

June 1- August 31 (3 months)

All internships are unpaid and can stand-alone or be paired with a half season (3 month) or additional full season (6 month) internship.

Skills Desired:

Attitude is everything. Common sense is appreciated. Personal motivation. Looking for positive, can-do folks who are open to learning new skills. Prior experience is not required, only a willingness to learn. The position requires physical stamina and heat tolerance. Interns will be expected to work long hours outside, lift heavy objects and use power tools occasionally.

Educational Opportunities: While working with Tricycle Gardens you will have access to all of our knowledge and experience as well as our small library. Depending on your interests or desired skills, it may be possible to provide appropriate learning projects and/or seek out opportunities within the community. Internships can be applied for course credit when available.

Interns will typically be working with our farm manager, other interns, and volunteers. The type of work they do varies seasonally but they can expect to have experience with: weeding, planting, planning, harvesting, packing, maintaining the orchard, hoop houses, and greenhouse, running our weekly Four Season Farm Stand, and teaching the next groups of interns. If you have other interests or skills, we are happy to discuss other ways you can contribute.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Isabel Eljaiek, Program Coordinator: isabel@tricyclegardens.org.

Deadline: February 28

Check it out!

On November 18th, Tricycle Gardens hosted a volunteer group from HandsOn! Our volunteers were from Army Logistics University Quartermaster Class 12-012 and were directed by Scotty Dilworth. Just by looking at the pictures below, you can tell how helpful this group was! Thank you, ALU, for helping beautify the Bon Secours healing garden and making this world a better place.

Hi everyone, I’m Jessica Overcash! I’ve been working with Tricycle Gardens to produce a documentary about the organization for one of my classes at VCU. The Celebration at Main Street Station last Friday night was amazing! It was wonderful to see so many  people coming out in support of Tricycle Gardens and the ideas of bringing agriculture, nutrition education and healthy food access to the urban core of Richmond, Virginia.

There were delicious beers, wines, and even beet martinis! The food from local vendors was oh so yummy, and the deserts were to die for! Decorations and music perfected the night while everyone mingled. Below are some pictures from the evening!

We had a lovely time at the SlowFoodRVA Food Day event at Pasture! The energy in the room was palpable and it was great to see so many groups and citizens rallying for good, clean, local food! The Mayor arrived shortly after the event began and discussed the Food Day proclamation he had signed while also addressing some of the priority recommendations of the Food Policy Task Force. Short discussions were held on the topics of: Hunger/Food Access, Safe + Healthy Diets for Kids, Support for Sustainable Small Farms, and Urban Agriculture. It was a great event and we look forward to seeing it grow for next years Food Day!

Sally Schwitters with Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Dr. Carolyn N. Graham

HC-Golden Trowel Nomination Form Form 2012