Ida’s gardens are a central part of our community and our lifestyle. We grow a huge variety of plants, from blackberries and greenbeans to feverfew and pansies. Of course, to keep an organic garden thriving requires a lot of work, which is one of the reasons we have a garden internship program.

The internship is designed to help queer and trans people learn and develop gardening skills, as well as other rural skills. The work that is done by interns and residents alike is largely self-motivated. Residents and other interns will be happy to help guide you, but we also encourage interns to take on their own projects, if they are inspired to do so. There is not a formal schedule, but we ask for 30-40 hours of work per week. The best way to describe the expectations of the community for the garden interns is that, in exchange for your stay, your main focus/responsibility will be the garden. Although, that certainly doesn't mean you can't pitch in on other projects or take a day off when you need to. Interns are also expected to participate in daily kitchen chores like cooking and cleaning.

Garden responsibilities are pretty normal— lots of weeding, mulching, harvesting, planting, clearing, and general land maintenance. As the season progresses, we start making preserves, pickles, beer, wine and other fermented monstrosities like kombucha, kraut, and tempeh. If you are interested in making tinctures there are all kinds of good herbs growing. We also have a large forest filled with edibles that folks would be glad to point out like wild mushrooms, roots, flowers, and greens.

Ida welcomes interns in exchange for their labor. Presently, we are in the process of paying off our land and cannot offer a stipend. If possible, we encourage interns to contribute towards Ida's groceries and utilities (electricity, gas, phone, internet). $15-50 per week is the suggested amount. We don't want this to prevent folks from being here, but if you are thinking about staying longer than a month it would be especially helpful.

Housing for interns is variable as we have very limited indoor space. When the weather is chilly, we house interns in our lofts and in the rooms of absent residents. As the weather warms, people move into the top floors of the barns, into tents (we don't have extra tents, so it is wise to bring your own if you want more private space), or devise other unique crafty homes in the woods. There have been some quite fabulous spaces created in the barns and elsewhere over the years.

If you’re interested in joining us, please send us an email at idapalooza [@] gmail [dot] com!