Employment Opportunities at Hog’s Back Farm
If you are interested in learning how to produce organic vegetables on a small family farm, we may have a job for you. Hog's Back Farm is situated on 80 picturesque acres overlooking the Chippewa river valley, about 65 miles southeast of Minneapolis/St. Paul. We grow about 5 to 6 acres of intensive vegetables and about 70 acres of mixed hay. We are currently certified organic by MOSA.
As an intern at Hog's Back Farm you'll learn all aspects of vegetable production, as well as general farming and small business practices. In the early season we focus on planning, ordering, greenhouse planting and maintenance. Late April brings the beginning of transplanting and direct-seeding of crops in the ground. From there we're off and running (sometimes literally). The focus switches to weeding, irrigating, pest control and more transplanting. Many of the year's crops are already in the ground by the time of our first share deliveries in June. June brings endless giant salads and trying to stay ahead of the weeds as soil temperatures rise with the first hot days of summer. Good weed control now translates to better, faster, more productive harvests ahead. As we get into the dog days of July we're beginning to harvest the first of the storage crops, like garlic, and sometimes picking zucchini seven days a week. If the wild blackcap raspberries are good we'll make at least one pie. As July winds down it's hard not to walk through the tomatoes on a daily basis in the hopes of catching the first one as it turns to red.
August brings the peak of summer harvesting, starting with the season's onions and finishing as the tomatoes reach full production. It also brings the last of the direct seedings of arugula, spinach and other short-season greens. In between we're picking hundreds of sweet warm melons. The first fall harvests of broccoli start early in September and we struggle to close boxes which are overflowing with tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and the first winter squash. The first frost comes at the very end of September or beginning of October and with it we say good bye to the tomatoes, peppers and basil, and hello to tastier kale that sweetens with frost. The first half of October is constant harvesting of storage crops like carrots, potatoes, cabbage, celeriac, rutabagas, beets and more. Daylight starts to fade and things slow down a bit. The latter part of the month we get things cleaned up in the field and prepped for next year as well as plant the last thing of the season, garlic for next year.
We typically hire two or three full-time interns for the season. Lodging is provided in our granary pictured above. We provide produce from our fields as well as a stipend based on experience, starting at $1000/month. You are responsible for the rest of your food. We also have land available for the right experienced person who wants to work on their own project while working for us. If you're interested in applying please send a resume to and we'll get in touch with you about visiting the farm or talking on the phone.