The following describe what help we are looking for in the interns with regards to existing projects:
The Greenhouse:
· Finish the interior.
· Add another layer of cob, and a finish.
· Set up of Solar Power Systems
· Build the aquaponics system
· Set up Rain Barrels
· Build up the garden beds and plant in them
The Annual Garden:
Our annual garden is a massive sun mandala with a 100 ft diameter. This year will be the first year that Valhalla tries a collective garden. We are looking for people who would like to plant food in the garden, and take responsibility for maintaining the beds that they planted for the entire season. The food in the garden is collective, so that we don’t have everyone planting the same things (i.e. tomatoes). Each person can make their own gardening schedule so that they can work on their own time.
We ask that people water the plants in the evening only, after 5 pm. This garden is strictly organic and Non-GMO. We are only going to plant one variety of corn to avoid cross breeding.
The Forest Garden:
Last year, the green team planted ~200 fruit and nut trees on the land, and also put in some shrubs as well. This year we need help completing the guilds for each of those fruit and nut trees in order to install a good natural disease and pest control system, and to increase food production and diversity as well.
We are lucky to be working with an expert mycologist, who has experience companion planting specific mushrooms with specific orchard trees to help them grow, we will all be learning about this as well.
The Beehives:
We have one hive from last season, and we will be receiving two more hive this season. We are looking for people who would like to help take care of the bees, hopefully these people already have experience with bee keeping. The hives will also be collective, as in the work will be taken care of collectively. Notes and observations will be shared in order to increase the group learning experience. Valhalla will not provide bee keeping gear (apart from masks). Vivian, who runs the hive at the land, does not use any gear when she checks her bees, and so Valhalla has not invested in gear and currently doesn’t have the funding to do so just yet.
Dog Training:
Valhalla has a 1 year old dog, named Bear. He is a very nice dog, very friendly and very smart. However, he does like to annoy our neighbour’s horses and chase after chickens. Occasionally he runs off to disturb other dogs and won’t come back if we call him in these situations. Other than this, he generally listens very well when you want him to come or stay.
We are looking for someone with experience and a passion for training dogs. We want our dog to protect our land animals and not kill them. We would like him to not chase after horses and other animals. We would like him to not walk on the garden beds. We want him to be our farm dog!
Food Preservation:
Once a successful season of food growing and harvesting is done, we will need to preserve some of the food to make it last into the winter. We are looking for people who are interested in helping out with the food preservation process.
Construction and Building:
This summer, we have plans to build a few things on the land.
· A compost toilet
· Sink and Shower
· A shower
· Welcome Desk / Fruit Stand
· Solar Sheds
· Fences
· A solar dehydrator
· Solar Sheds
· Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
· Etc.
We are looking for people with building skills to help build and in some cases design some of these builds.
General Land Maintenance:
We are looking for people to help us can help us mulch our paths, keep the land organized and general clean and functional. We might also need help with our land water system.
Ideally, an intern would be interested in two or more (all is good as well!) of these positions, as many of these tasks tie into the next.
We also need to ensure that the paths on the land are always clearly defined and looking sharp – This will entail laying down some kind of mulch to keep back the weeds and have them be clearly defined for tours and others to navigate without unknowingly trampling plants.