We have immediate openings!
Join us on the beautiful Central Coast of California for a fully immersive farming experience from livestock to gardening, farm stand and farmers market, and construction mentoring if you're interested!
Our farm is located in a beautiful canyon in Lompoc, California, only a few miles from Surf Beach, and the Vandenberg Space Force Base launch pad where NASA and SpaceX launch rockets into space . We specialize in raising chickens, and are known for helping others get started with growing their own food. We build chicken coops and offer poultry supplies for those just starting with chickens. We also operate a local Farm Box Subscription (CSA) Program, run an Honor System Farm Stand, and participate at our local Farmer's Market on Sundays. In addition to chickens, we have Jersey dairy cows and dwarf Nigerian goats for visitors to enjoy.
Your Focus: WWOOF-USA guests primarily work in our garden and with the animals. Daily tasks, referred to here as "rounds," include feeding and watering the livestock, including laying hens, young chicks, cows, and goats. Regular tasks include harvesting, washing, and packaging produce and eggs, packing produce boxes, and stocking the farm stand. Weekly tasks include cleaning stalls for chickens, moving chickens into larger spaces as they mature . Occasional tasks may include milking the cows, settling baby chicks into their brooders, gardening, staffing the farmer's market, and other farm maintenance and construction projects.
Committment and Hours: We require a minimum stay of two weeks, but give priority for those who can join us long-term. A typical week is 8:00am-3:00pm with an hour lunch Monday through Friday, and 9:00am - 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday just for feeding/watering animals and collecting eggs for the chickens. The schedule will shift if you staff the farmer's market on Sunday. We also send our guests for pick-ups at our local partner farms and farmer's markets, so you'll have an opportunity to see other working farms and markets. You'll need a valid driver's license and a clean driving record for this.
*Fair Warning: Farming is rewarding but can also be physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging. You need to be comfortable handling or learning to handle chickens, working with poop, helping animals with wounds, and even seeing death. Even in the garden, work is subject to the elements, so you must be able and willing to work in the sun and heat, cold and fog, mud, and bugs. Must be able to lift at least 40 lbs.
Community & Accommodations: Accommodations are rustic and simple. The main building is shared with a central kitchen and laundry room, and one bedroom with two single beds. There is an outdoor and indoor WWOOFer shower, sink, and two porta-potties. The outdoor common area has a fire pit, market lights, and table. There are tiny cabins for long-term guests/staff and couples. We provide all essential foods (vegetables/fruits primarily from our garden and partner farms, eggs and honey from our farm, whole raw milk from our cows, and other items not grown here such as staple fruits, deli meat and cheese, coffee/tea, almond/soy milk by request, rice, beans, oats, canned goods, yogurt, cheese, bread, butter, pasta, peanut butter, etc.) You'll prepare your meals using the food we provide. We do not stock frozen/boxed/canned meals, so you need to be able to prepare at least basic meals for yourself. We try to share dinners a few times a month.
Culture and Community: You will be living in a community with other individuals, in which you can expect to experience differences. We ask that you come prepared to share space with an open mind and a readiness to communicate if misunderstandings or differences in opinion occur. We like to work hard and play hard. Our vibrant and young group of work-stay guests, including WWOOFers and other long-term employees, share space and are encouraged to have campfires at night, play music in the jam room, swap stories, and have a good time. Fun, late nights are not uncommon. We prohibit hard drugs and discourage cigarettes, but we freely accept alcohol and marijuana use(and to a small extent psychedelics) OUTSIDE of working hours. We (WWOOF-hosts Jeremy and Megan, and kids), live on the farm on-and-off, but are always available. The Hosts, staff and WWOOF guests all communicate via Slack ensuring guests with questions or requests can be helped immediately. Purchase orders for the farm, grocery orders, dinner plans, and more are done through channels on Slack.
Organizational Structure: We have a team of on-farm staff (mostly previous WWOOF guests or friends of WWOOF guests), that live and work on the property. We have garden managers who run the garden/CSA/farmstand/market. Animals and work in the shop are cared for by the rest of the staff as a whole. Schedules are shifted to ensure daily coverage for rounds, appointments, and other farm enterprises. WWOOF Guests will "Learn by Doing" alongside farm staff and other WWOOFers each day. We (WWOOF-hosts Jeremy and Megan) support the farm through back-office work such as sales, customer support, operations management, purchasing, accounting, and marketing, so we are not as hands-on with the day-to-day farm tasks but we have an open-door policy for learning and problem-solving.
Expectations: We ask for basic courtesy in cleaning, tidying, and maintaining a comfortable shared space. Wash and put away your dishes, wipe counters, sweep, and keep the refrigerator clean and tidy. Put things back where they belong so everyone knows where to find what they need. Participate in regular chores such as taking out trash and recyclables, cleaning ashes from the firepit, deep cleaning the shared spaces, and listing grocery items that need to be reordered.
Keep your living space tidy, clean up the bathhouse, and replace the toilet paper before it runs out for the next person. Before you depart from the farm, you're responsible for cleaning out your accommodations, stripping sheets, sweeping and mopping your floor, folding and returning your blankets, taking out your trash, and making sure the room is ready for the next person.
Be a good teammate. Show up for work sober and ready to rock, with an upbeat attitude, ready to help and learn. The farm can be a beautiful place where people, animals, and plants thrive. Stress is low, time moves differently, and memories are made.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Pig farming
Cattle farming
Sheep or goat farming
Dairy farming
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
Holistic management
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
17.2
Hectares
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42.5
Acres
Accommodation
