We're flexible with your availability but are specifically looking for initial commitments of one month. We can also accommodate stays longer than a month and will extend visits on a month-to-month basis. Visits of less than one week are only available for WWOOFers who are able to commit to several of such visits that add up to no less than 14 total days on the farm, such as locals who would like to visit on their weekends.
This location is a camp and conference center located in the mountains of Julian, California. Our staff live and work on-site facilitating summer camp program, outdoor education school groups, and year-round retreats. We maintain our 256 acres of lodges, trails, meadows, activity areas, forests, and gardens. Our staff is majority LGBTQ+ and diversity is celebrated in our community. People of all races, colors, religious beliefs, national origins, genders, experiences, and abilities are welcome. The new garden manager and point of contact for WWOOFers has switched from Emkat to August.
Our gardens are designed to be spaces of reflection, inspiration, and learning for guests, campers, and resident staff. We have 3 unique garden spaces onsite spanning a total of 2 acres:
A fruit basket orchard with a variety of cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, apples, and apricots.
The Kitchen and Container Gardens located are in the center of camp and we mostly grow greens, herbs, and quick access salad veggies.
The Phoenix Garden is a terraced acre that has a mix of garden beds, fruit trees, shrubs and bushes, flowers, grape vines, native plants, garden art, and our greenhouse.
We are also home to a small flock of laying chickens, a Kune Kune pig, and five Nigerian Dwarf Goats. The animals primarily serve as educational ambassadors to teach guests and children about food systems, heritage breeds of livestock, animal husbandry, and permaculture principles. They also help manage weeds and brush onsite and provide eggs/milk for staff/volunteers.
A major way that our gardens serve the camp and conference center is processing all of our food waste from these camps and retreats on-site, redirecting 100+ gallons of food waste a week away from the landfill and into the compost kingdom where it is broken down and eventually returned as nutritious soil to the gardens.
WWOOFers assist with a variety of tasks depending on the season, camp's needs, and that person's interest/experience.
- Weeding beds and terraces
- Landscaping around lodge spaces
- Pruning trees and bushes
- Cleaning up pathways
- Greenhouse work
- Bed prep with no-till methods
- Splitting firewood/chipping brush
- Maintaining garden infrastructure and tools
- Compost system maintenance
- Harvesting , planting, and pruning vegetables
- Planting and maintaining natives and perennials in garden spaces
- Assisting a staff member leading garden tours or garden projects with youth and adult groups
For experienced gardeners/farmers or folks with special skill sets they'd like to utilize, we can also create special projects to focus on. Some projects on my back-burner awaiting a passionate WWOOFer to push forward: repairing/restoring our garden ponds, running new lines of irrigation to establish new growing areas, restore our root cellar to function, starting a mushroom growing area, and more! If you have a special skill set or a lot of farm experience under your belt we can chat on how to best utilize your time and what areas you'd like to spend time growing your skill set.
Daily schedules are mostly self-determined with the guidance of our resident farmer. Some additional tasks are scheduled, like daily watering and animal care taking, and the rest of the day's hours are filled in with our task/project list for the week. We ask for about 5 hours a day of work between scheduled and self-led tasks. Two days off per week are guaranteed although they may not be typical weekend days, Saturday-Sunday, depending on farm coverage needs.
Food and Amenities
When guests are present, family style meals are prepared by the kitchen staff. When there are no guests on site, staff and WWOOFers have access to a fully stocked kitchen and pantry. Accommodations can be made for specific dietary needs as necessary.
The primary housing option available to WWOOFers is the Cob Cottage, pictured. It is an 80 sq ft house with a full bed, dresser, sink, outdoor shower, and composting toilet. There is a private 80sq ft patio attached as well with a table and benches, fire pit, mini fridge, and stove for cooking. We also have a large tent platform with power that is available for tent camping if the Cob Cottage is occupied. We have an 11-person tent for this space that we use to house a single WWOOFer or couple as it is tall enough to stand and walk around in and can comfortably fit 1-2 cots and storage bins for your things.
Please consider us if:
- You are willing to follow our community guidelines for a respectful and safe working and living space that is centered around equity, anti-racism, inclusion, trust, and communication.
- You are excited to work beside groups of energetic children and retreat guests
- You’re interested in learning more about regenerative agriculture and leading garden programs
- You have the ability to stoop, kneel, bend, reach, stand, walk, push, pull, lift, work with fingers, grasp, feel, communicate clearly, and perform repetitive motions
- Carry loads of up to 50 pounds
- You are 21 or over, willing to complete a background check and online child protection training, and sign our Code of Conduct
- Couples and families are welcome so long as you have childcare plans in place.
Internet access available
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Raising of other farm animals
Forestry
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Bakery
Traditional crafts
Green Building
Food justice / sovereignty
Methods or systems
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
LGBTQ+-operated
Woman-operated
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
Former WWOOFer
103.6
Hectares
|
256
Acres
Accommodation
