Farm Manager (2 Positions)18th Apr-17th Oct 2015

Åsen 20Västra ÄmtervikSunneSweden686 95

Farming, innovating & educating for the benefit of all...www.ridgedalepermaculture.com

Each season we have roles for dynamic, committed, team orientated & self motivated people dedicated to regenera-tive design for the benefit of all.  Positions are 6 month minimum volunteer positions where we provide food and simple accomodation. In exchange for your hard work and dedication you also will learn a huge amount!  You will be working in a small and dynamic core team in a bustling learning environment . We are looking for all round wiz-ards; pragmatic and with good visualisation skills, you will be responsible for establishing, maintaining, tweeking and documenting all manner of systems work at the farm. From animal systems to plant systems, water systems to waste, using your hands to using machinery, you will probably learn the runnings of ridgedale PERMACULTURE better than most. A dependable go to for others at the farm you will be core to the smooth running of the farm over-all. Fluency in English language is essential as participants from our trainings come from every corner of the globe.

Copyright ridgedale PERMACULTURE 2014/5

November brings frost and incredible low light to this amazing farm...

This is a brief overview of the design concept at ridgedale PERMACUL-TURE to orientate the reader to key considerations. The farm is situated 3 hrs drive from Oslo, 4 hrs from Stockholm & 3.5 hrs from Gothen-burg.

•Latitude: 59°50’15” N, Longitude: 13°08’34” E,•Land area of 10.6 ha (26.1 ac)•Perimeter 1892m•Elevation between 120 – 167m above sea level•Cold Temperate/Humid Continental Climate•Approx. 634 mm of rainfall per year, or 52.8 mm per month.•Average 147 days per year with more than 0.1 mm of rainfall or 12.3 days with a quantity of rain, sleet, snow etc. per month.•The driest weather is in February when an average of 31 mm of rainfall occurs.•The wettest weather is in August when an average of 73 mm of rainfall occurs.•The mean temperature is cool at 5.4 °C (41.7 °F)•Mean monthly temperatures have a variation of 20.8 °C (37.4°F) The average daily temperature range/ variation is 7.9 °C (14.3 °F).•The warmest month (July) is very mild having a mean temperature

of 16.1 ° C (60.98 °F).•February is the coldest month (slightly cold) having an average temperature of -4.7 ° C (23.54 °F).•Average 120 days frost free (1- 30 day variance)•Southerly Aspect•Swedish Climate Zone ¾•Wind, predominantly S but quite sheltered by surrounding forest•Soil: Moderate Clay loam. Depth between 10- 30 cm with both sand (upper ridge) and clay subsoils 20- 300cm+•1.5 ha 90yr+Spruce plantation•0.2 ha 25 yr Spruce/ Larch/ Birch

Contextual location of ridgedale PERMACULTURE

Site Specifics

Climate Zone map of Varmland

Local wind data

Overview of the Farm

The result of 6 months work implementing our design in our first season in 2014

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is a family owned pasture and perennial crop based beyond organic local food producer and educational hub in Värmland, Swe-den. A flagship multi- income diverse small farm, ridgedale is Scandinavia’s first Keyline designed farm and a leading Euro-pean education provider in the field of Per-maculture and Regenerative Agriculture.

ridgedale PERMACULTURE’S primary responsibility is regenerating landscapes, ecosys-tem processes and soils through replicable, scal-able and profitable symbiotic farm enterprises. Our secondary responsibility is to educate, fa-cilitate, inform and empower people into action through regenerative design, enterprise and ho-listic decision-making that fosters and stimu-lates local community, economy and resilience.

At ridgedale we believe that financially sustainable and socially beneficial livelihoods are founded on regenerat-ing the world’s biospheres. We believe these three aspects that make up our triple bottom line are totally insepara-ble and so our decision-making consistently reflects this.

To ensure our success we use testing questions to ensure our decision making at the farm is consistently aligned with our Holistic Goal. Below are 12 of the key outcomes we are managing towards related to our triple bottom line;

1. Build topsoil via intelligently integrated planting/Keyline layout & animal disturbances2. Maximize photosynthetic energy captured on site3. Restore water, carbon and nutrient cycling on site by mimicking natures processes4. Create habitats that fully support organisms physiologi-cal needs5. Increase diversity of wildlife species and natural “feed-back” loops6. Demonstrate socially just and sustainable profit with an open farm gate policy7. Support world-class education in all aspects of regenera-tive systems design and holistic decision making8. Develop local food resilience & facilitate access to be-yond organic food by connecting people to local farmers9. Prevent wasting of fiscal, human and ecosystem capital10. Utilize regenerative technologies to minimize oil de-pendence11. Create & demonstrate robust decentralized energy pro-duction12. Continually reassess our holistic objectives and man-agement process with decision makers

Context...Managing our farm holistically

Birds eye view of ridgedale PERMACULTURERead more about the design here http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/design-at-ridgedale.html

The role we are seeking to fill begins full time on site mid April 2014, where you will either be resident in a small & simple room in the old magazine. You will be sharing this space with the other long term core- crew. There is a chance we may be renting a small cottage next door instead, but we will not know this until the spring. We will be hosting trainings where there will be up to 40 people on site at busy times, but generally with a crew of between 6- 15 throughout the year. You will be working along with students & intern’s as we imple-ment the synergistic and integrated systems that make the farm function holistically. You will be a go to person responsible for day to day farm tasks and you will be responsible for establishing, maintaining, tweeking and documenting all manner of systems work at the farm. From animal systems to plant systems, water systems to waste, using your hands to using machinery, you will probably learn the runnings of ridgedale PERMACUL-TURE better than most. You will be working hard to ensure the smooth flow of practical projects, working with other staff and intern’s to support and lead projects. You hold a key role at the farm and will need to be very reliable, consistent and passionate. In 2015 we plan to scale up egg and broiler production commercially as well as a lot of other diverse & exciting projects, it’s goign to be another epic year! We expect 40 hrs a week of hard graft, we ourselves often work 70 hrs during the summer. Farming here is intensive in the short growing season, and depending on your responsibilities you will likely spread this time throughout long days. Farming does not work on a 9- 5 basis! Weekends are down time to relax, go to town, work on design or explore the forest.

Opportunity

You will be a core member of the initial pioneering team at ridgedale and will also get to develop a wide and diverse range of skills in other areas of design, management and site implementation. We will be meticulously recording & documenting everything that happens at the farm, allowing you to build up a stunning mixed media portfolio of all your work. This role lends itself to a deeper immersion into detailed design, project management skills & decision making. You will also have opportunity to participate in 2 weeks trainings offered, and will be a cen-tral figure within practical exercises on the trainings and in the oversee-ing of day to day running of the farms systems. This is a great portfolio build-ing role and with a full time Graph-ics Expert on the core team we will be meticulously documenting all aspects of the site with high quality film and photography. This is a great way to build up material that can contribute to further accredited learning, such as a Permaculture Diploma, etc. You will need to be self- starting, highly moti-vated and with strong communication skills. You will need to be confident with a diverse range of practical tasks.

Work EthicGenerally we are looking for someone who is seeking an inroad to the field of professional systems design and who has the right level of professional skills for the position we are offering. Whilst this will be a dedicated and sometimes challenging role we are excited by the mutual benefit this position offers. The position requires professional presentation in both output as well as personal conduct. You will be working as part of a dedicated team who have committed their lives to educating & demonstrating regenerative and integrated design to the highest standards. As a core member of a public venue and functioning business you are expected to reflect this at all times, for you become part of the “face” of this farm during your stay...

The role

Farm Managers take on management of animal systems, plnting, waste resource collection, building, fencing, planning, monitoring & recording as well as working with Intern’s and course participants. It’s diverse and involves a bit of everything. You will need to be clear & effective in communication, be able to follow direction and carry out tasks as instructed and know when to ask for assistance... As a Farm Manager you get to work on some of the most exciting projects, but also pick up the slack with some of the more mundane jobs. Either way, you’ll probably get the best overview of the runnign of the farm of all...

A 6 month stay at ridgedale PERMACULTURE will lead you through all kinds of experiences. Living and working in close confines with a di-verse range of people will inevitably bring up a whole range of situations for you. Some prior experience living in a community setting is definate-ly a bonus, as it simply isn’t for some people. It does, however, represent an incredible learning opportunity and we will be fostering a supportive learning and working atmosphere at the farm. If you’re committed to your development personally and professionally then the experience will no doubt enrich you greatly. You can expect us to be up early and working on the farm for long hours during the week. Weekends are down time at the farm, and people will be exploring the forests and surrounding ares, continuing projects they are working on or working on personal projects.

What can you expect to gain from this experience?

You are encourgaed to keep a Learning Journal throughout your stay, as the Intern’s will be doing. This helps synthsize the intensive learning that will be happening as well as begin documenting your experience to build a portfolio. By documenting your work and the trainings you participate you can build up recorded experience that can serve you in future assign-ments, profession or study, such as the Permaculture Diploma. Intern’s will also be spending time each week working on their own design, a longer term more detailed assignment to allow regular mentoring and peer re-viewing. We welcome you to take this on yourself, you can benefit from the feedback of a professional designer and build up a clear portfolio.

Most of all you will be a core member of the pioneering team engaged with a flagship project. You will be exposed to all aspects of Permaculture design and gain tangible field based experience. This is invaluable if you are looking to develop a career int his field. Permaculture is really learnt by the actual implementation and monitoring of systems we can design and put together.

Site Policy

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is a family home as well as a professional learning center. We cater to people from many cultures and nationalities so to help maintain a comfort-able stay for all, visitors are asked to follow our simple code of conduct during their visit.

For the benefit, comfort and wellbeing of all staying at the farm there is a strict no drugs policy. Transgression will result in you being asked to leave immediately, forfeiting your stay/ training, etc. Please don’t involve us.

Consumption of alcohol is also only permitted on Friday/ Saturday eve-nings. This is a working farm and we work hard everyday of the week.

We do not tolerate any form of anti-social behavior/conduct and our commitment to deep ethics and the benefit of all form the basis of our working and social relationships.

Other information you need to know for your stay at ridgedale PERMACULTUREDedicated to the benefit of all...

Accommodation & Facilities

Accomodation will be camping, and you need to bring a good quality tent. We have a shared communal loft space for reading & re-laxing as well as large yurts and other spaces. We can supply a simple mattress & duvet, but you will need to bring a sleeping bag to en-sure you are warm enough during your stay.

We have simple dry composting toilet as a means to close our nutrient cycles.

Washing facilities are a large communal sau-na/ washroom with a couple of private stalls for bucket showers. We ask people to bring purely ecological soaps as they drain into our plant systems. Please also bring a swimming costume for the sauna/ washroom. Whilst this is not exactly traditional by Swedish stan-dards we must point out that we have people from all over the world attending our train-ings from very different cultural backgrounds.

Conditions are simple here, we are es-tablishing a farm from scratch!

Catering

Our courses are fully catered from our practical farmhouse kitch-en with our full-time farm chef.

We provide as much basic fresh food from the farm as possible, vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs, meat, etc. At some times of year we may also have wild meats, berries and mushrooms available too. All bulk products we buy in are organic and the meals we serve are of a wholesome farm menu type, which include preserved, fer-mented and dried surplus products from the farm. We offer an option of our meals without meat products for vegetarians, any variations to basic meat or vegetarian diet we are not able to cater for, so students with specialized diets need to supplement their meals with their own food purchases.

Please let us know if you have medical allergies well in advance of your visit.

We have invested into a community 1GB/Sec Fibre Optic instal so everyone can have awesome connection speed for research and staying in touch with your loved ones. You need to bring a computer or tablet to make the most of trainings & resources available.

Internet Access

Participation in Trainings

We really value what you can bring to the farm, and as part of our exchange we would like to invite you to partici-pate with as much as possible thats going on at the farm. We would like to meticulously document all aspects of the site development, and our open farm gate policy means we will share the ups and downs and ins and outs of all aspects of the farm with our course participants and interns to help support the regeneration of soils, communities and local economies ev-erywhere. Whilst this is a challang-ing role for you to take on, it is our wish that you get to participate in 2 weeks of trainings during your stay.

In order to maintain efficient run-nign of all aspects of the farm we will discuss the details of this when the Core Team have all assembled. It is likely we shall run 2x 8 Week In-ternships in 2015 so there will be ample opporunity to participate in the training you are interested in.

www.ridgedalepermaculture.com

“Returning to Australia with the skills and knowledge I developed as Farm Manager and part of the Pioneering Core Team at Ridgedale, I feel like a consciously designing weapon of mass construction. Annual garden building, the great ‘poly tunnel’ erection, pastured broiler hotels and a kick ass egg-mobile, Keyline design, caravan saunas & cob pizza oven manufacturing, meat chicken preparation, perennial cropping, holistically managed animals and soil regeneration.... oh and high tension elk/wolf/lynx/ electric fencing installation just to name a few of the skills I can now employ to benefit my local community and future regenerative en-terprises back home on the sub-tropical Sunshine Coast. Inspired by Richards contagious enthusiasm and boundless wisdom, I have set about creating an efficient, cheap and actionable Master Plan for the Bellbunya Sustainable Community where I live, and have commenced concept development for an entirely new model in the facilitation of design education; One which incorporates the cutting edge strategies we practiced at Ridgedale and expresses the latest discoveries of leading global experts. I cannot em-phasize the enormous benefit the Ridgedale experience provided for me as a beneficial contributor to the future of this world.”

“Ridgedale! My personal growth and learning through experience far surpassed what I initially envisioned possible, in what now seems like a blink of and eye. For me it is the people, their energy and drive that made the experience. Richard and Yohan-na are the strong driving force. They are warm to be around and are very clear with their direction of where they are heading with the farm (holistic management benefits are clearly experienced when immersed in the practice). Their experience is some-thing they are so willing to share and from this came my most valued learning. The Education taught was diverse, well rounded and from their direct experience which made it so much more potent than theory based. Practical and theory are well bal-anced and provide a scope on all facets of which ever subject it maybe, allowing your own inquisitive learning to allow you ex-plore what seems most fitting to you in a encourage self learning style. Spectacular views on and around the farm make every moment beautiful. The area is amazing, it is a quiet place in which it really felt fitting to switch of from the everyday hoohar and really focus on the reasons I was there. Responsibility over various duties from animals to trees to fencing really allowed to get the knowledge & experience I was looking for. It is time to walk the road to getting my own place up and running.”

“Ridgedale Permaculture is not just a farm; it’s an intensive learning center where Richard and Yohanna’s incredible breadth of knowledge permeates daily life. From soil microbiology to the uses of every plant in the vicinity to the random wisdom of two people leading eclectic lives; I learned so much by proxy, let alone being allowed the freedom to peruse my own projects. xAs a farm manager I performed daily maintenance and animal tasks, led Interns in their daily asks and worked on long term projects such as designing and building chicken coops, gardens, and a cob oven. I enjoyed the intimate role with animals and observing the entire growing season afforded by a long-term position at the farm. As a core team member I learned countless skills from the whole frost to frost cycle, in my leadership roles with courses and Interns, and working in a tight-knit team. The days were totally full, but there was ample time to conceive and conduct independent projects or experiments. Richard and Yohanna are supportive in a benign neglect manner; they encourage one to be independently motivated, but provide all the tools for success”

HERE’S WHAT PIONEER FARM MANAGER’S DANIEL, THOMA & ALIZA HAD TO SAY...