Sustainable Community Immersion Program- Summer 2010

Summer Sustainable Communities Immersion Program at TLC Farm - dive into sustainable living!

Located at TLC Farm's unique seven-acre community farm in Portland, Oregon, this internship program will inspire dynamic leaders in the sustainability movement who will be able to use their new skills and knowledge to benefit their home communities.

TLC Farm's immersion program consists of a three-week summer session which will immerse ten interns, 18 and older, in a hands-on, holistic approach to sustainable living and community.

July 31-Aug. 20, 2009

Three-week Community Sustainability Internship will introduce participants to the principles of permaculture, natural building, community process and organic gardenong, with a focus on local food and plant medicine. Interns will tend, harvest and preserve food from the animals and garden, learn to make medicine from wild and cultivated plants, and visit urban & rural sustainable farms. Tuition, room & board: $1,600. ($1,500 if signed up by June 15).

The internship program will combine theory, practice, innovation and adventure. From learning how to grow and preserve food, to how to make decisions in community, to integrating social and environmental justice, each intern will come away from this program with a set of skills which will be increasingly useful in our changing climate and economy.

Courses will be taught by TLC Farm teachers and local expert. Each intern session will culminate in a personalized action plan, supported by intern mentors.

A limited number of work-trade scholarships are available. Please contact intern@tryonfarm.org or call 503-245-3847 for more information about the program and registration.

Application instructions are available at http://tryonfarm.org/share/node/687.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* More Details about TLC Farm's Sustainable Community Immersion Program 1. Community living Interns will experience communal life on two levels. The interns themselves will create a community and be responsible for collective decision-making, meal preparation, conflict resolution, etc. In addition, the community of interns will interact with, and be supported by, Cedar Moon, the intentional community at TLC Farm.

2. Outdoor living The internship is an immersive, outdoor experience. Interns will live in tents, wash in outdoor showers, cook in a outdoor kitchen, and have most classes and work experience outdoors. There will be an intern yurt for reading, research and chill time with a woodstove, library, and electricity. While Portland has a well deserved reputation for rain, summers are often quite dry especially from July through September.

3. Hands-on work and Theory The program includes a balance of lectures & discussions with hands-on experiential learning and field trips. Over time, the hands-on work will become increasingly intern-directed.

4. Food preparation and sharing Interns will be provided with ingredients and suggestions as needed, and will collaboratively create and implement a cooking and cleaning schedule. TLC Farm is primarily a vegetarian community: we have chickens and dairy goats for eggs and milk and grow much of our own food.

5. TLC Farm location & history A unique seven-acre farm surrounded by a 700-acre state park in Portland, Oregon, TLC Farm demonstrates how sustainable living techniques can further goals often perceived as contradictory: urban density of human habitat inside the growth boundary, combined with not only conservation of natural resources and public greenspace, but actual enhancement of native ecosystems. TLC Farm was born out of a community effort to save the land from development and turn it into a community space for sustainability education. This land now functions as a gathering place, sustainability education facility, community center and retreat – all within a bike ride from downtown Portland.

6. Work Study positions Most of the work-trade positions have been filled for our 2009 program. However, there are still some available. Please inquire with Laura or Matt at intern@tryonfarm.org to find out what positions are left, and specifics on fee reduction, etc. There are four work-study positions provided for each intern session. Food coordinators will help the interns create menus for each week based on food available at the farm, coordinate cooking and cleaning schedules for the interns and manage the community kitchen. Scribes will take notes and photographs of all aspects of the program and use these to create a booklet at the end of the program. Work trade positions will require approximately 10 hours of work per week.

Keywords: permaculture, sustainability, sustainable, garden, food, plant spirit medicine, summer internship, summer internship, camping, Oregon, PNW, NW, Portland, farm, forest.