Sustainable Organic Agriculture Apprenticeship (Spring, Summer, Fall)
2026 INTERN POSITIONS AT ATHENA’S HARVEST FARM & TRAINING CENTER
Jesse Fleisher & Athena Childs Fleisher
4025 New Highway 7 Santa Fe, TN 38482
615-495-1614
Please read this information completely before filling out an application.
To apply, Click Here
Athena’s Harvest is a small vegetable farm run by former Peace Corps volunteers in Fly, TN, 33 miles (as the crow flies) from downtown Nashville. While our property consists of 55 acres, we intensively produce a wide diversity of sustainably grown vegetables and some fruit on less than 3 acres of land, with the majority of our sales occurring at retail farmers markets we attend in Nashville, through our CSA program and online sales for pickup at the farm, and via some restaurant sales.
Our land consists of rolling pasture, wooded hills, and good bottom farm land. We have a long stretch of creek frontage and springs as well as our farm house, a greenhouse, two high tunnels, and two barns. We use a motley crew of interns (that’s potentially you if you are reading this), shorter term WWOOFers, and local volunteers to grow food and get it out into the community. Teaching and learning are integral parts of our mission, and we do regular check-ins with everyone to make sure that people are learning what they want, and so that feedback can flow in both directions.
To learn more about us, check out our website (athenasharvest.com) and Facebook page, and follow our stream on Instagram (@athenasharvest). We would be happy to answer any questions about us, our farm, and our internship positions via phone or email before you fill out an application, but reading this information and looking over our website should give you a good place to start.
THE WORK
We take on 2 full-season interns per season, plus will consider 1 summer through end of season intern, often recent grads who want to learn about farming and others with a genuine interest in the work and lifestyle of small-scale sustainable agriculture, or sometimes college students taking some semesters off or looking for an internship. Strong preference is given to people with prior experience and demonstrated interest in sustainable farming as a probable or certain vocation. We have had interns use this experience as part of an "official" academic internship requirement, and we can work with you to see if we meet the requirements for your program. Opportunities for advancement and ongoing employment (including winter) exist, and we are looking to train or hire a manager for 2027.
*Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to obtain work visas for those traveling from other countries. International folks may be interested in WWOOFing with us instead, but visa applications are their own responsibility.*
Over the course of a season, activities will consist of a wide variety of field work, greenhouse work, planting, transplanting, harvesting, weeding, washing, irrigating, pruning, flower arranging, covering and uncovering beds, packing, delivering, mulching, market prep, produce selling, equipment/tool/vehicle maintenance, construction, land maintenance, mowing, fence mending, organic pest control, wood cutting, social media engagement, and a multitude of other tasks. Though not certified, we exclusively use organic best practices to grow diverse fruits and vegetables while maintaining our farm's soil health and ecological balance. No synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides are used, and we don't plant any GMOs.
Contrary to popular stereotypes, successful farmers must be intelligent, hard working, and proficient in a wide variety of disciplines, and we try to expose our interns to all of them. We like to think of ourselves as specialized generalists. Prior experience in this type of work is valuable and may help your application, but is not necessary or required. Potential applicants should consider their ability to adapt to unfamiliar and occasionally uncomfortable conditions, especially as one is becoming accustomed to the work. You will sometimes have to tolerate heat or cold, dirty skin and clothes, sore muscles, calloused hands, repetitive tasks, and direct contact with insects. You may also have to tolerate silly song singing, cute barn cats trying to “help” you work, sharing/cooking yummy farm meals, meeting new people from around the country and the world, having your jobs change over the course of the season or even a day, and taking refreshing dips in the creek at lunchtime or after work.
Applicants should be in good physical, mental, and emotional health! Key qualities we are looking for in our interns are reliability, mental/emotional stability, genuine friendliness and enthusiasm for life, willingness to learn and to work hard, a high degree of self-motivation, and the ability to learn via observation and questioning in addition to "direct" teaching. In addition, patience, possession of a good sense of humor, adaptability, and the ability to respect and work with others in a team will serve you well. Being willing/able to interact with children and adults in social or farmers-market settings is a must. The ability to focus on tasks and maintain attention to detail is also important. Our past experience strongly suggests that those applicants with at least some successful college experience usually have the maturity level we are seeking, but we will consider applications from anyone 18 years or older. The internship will provide you with many opportunities for learning and skill building, but how much you get out of it will in large part be up to you and how actively you pursue these opportunities. We will nudge you in some critical directions, but have found those who ask us more questions and pursue more paths of personal interest will ultimately find more answers (and more questions!)
Having a drivers license, a safe driving record, and being comfortable/confident driving a car or van (automatic transmission), will be a plus for your application, but is not required. Experience is preferred, and anyone comfortable driving their own car will easily be able to drive our van or pickup truck when/if need arises.
Realistically, potential interns must be capable of sustained physical work outdoors in all weather conditions and temperatures. While we are not a huge wholesale operation that relies on a large labor pool of professional speed pickers, we do value efficiency and personal initiative, while also having fun. Farm work is more of a lifestyle than a typical 9-5 job, and it comes with a lot of perks even though we work hard. We do all the same work as our interns, and interns share in our lives, holidays, and fun events as we go through the year.
We and our interns host a weekly community potluck that has become one of the events we most look forward to, but is also a bit of work to set up and take down from each week. For many people, practicing this kind of farming and living in agrarian community is a very satisfying kind of existence.
OUR TWO INTERN POSITIONS
Ideally, our full-season interns will begin at the same time, arriving as a cohort for living and learning purposes. All of our interns will regularly do and be exposed to all of the types of work mentioned above (with planting, picking, weeding, harvesting, washing, food preservation/canning, and market related activities being the bulk of the work), but we prefer that our interns also take on a few areas of particular focus/interest, and increasing responsibility. Fear not, we will train you (or perhaps, you will train us, depending on your prior experience).
Possible areas of focus include (but are not limited to):
Cut Flower production and arranging for market
Using native farm wildflowers and plant materials in addition to some flowers planted specifically for cut flower harvesting. A relatively new area of interest for us. If you have significant experience in this realm, you may be able to teach us a thing or two... :). If not, then we can teach you what we know and all continue learning together.
Orchard/woodlot maintenance
We have a small orchard (not yet in full production), berry plants, and a property full of old fences and field edges that need to be improved and maintained (pruned/ trained/ mulched/ mowed/ fertilized/ repaired, etc). Downed trees need to be sawed into firewood. Sawed firewood needs to be split with an axe. You would assist with these tasks.
Farm equipment/tool/vehicle maintenance
We have a range of hand tools, small machines, and farm vehicles that need to be maintained (cleaned, sharpened, repaired, fluids changed, tires pumped, etc.). You would assist with these tasks and learn to take some of them on fully based on a schedule that we can work out together.
Light construction/carpentry
As a relatively new farm, we are still building out our facilities and infrastructure. The list of possible small construction/carpentry projects is nearly endless, and you would occasionally work/assist on some of these projects (to be prioritized together) in lieu of or in addition to agricultural work.
Canning/fermenting/drying/food-preservation
A lesser focus in 2026 than in past years, but we expect to still spend some time on this set of tasks. We sell, eat, donate, or preserve as much of the harvest as possible each year, and food-preservation is an important way we try not to let our work go to waste. In some cases it also provides us with an additional revenue stream as a value-added product (ex. dried herbs). These are great skills for everyone to learn, but there is definitely a learning curve for doing it well, and practice is the only way to become proficient.
Social media engagement, and blog/newsletter management
We maintain a Facebook page, and Instagram feed in addition to a website with a blog and a CSA newsletter. You would occasionally contribute to our social media output in all of these realms with input from us. Professional language, spelling, and online etiquette is a must.
Other areas
Past interns have taken on projects ranging from worm composting, to baking, to sign painting, to farm systems and permaculture design. Past interns built an outdoor shower and a wood-fired pizza oven. Others have helped us develop new record keeping spreadsheets, created instructional videos for future interns, and constructed a tent platform by the creek.There are many possible ways to contribute to our farm livelihood and community life.
To be clear once again, everyone will learn/do a bit of everything outlined above, but we will specifically encourage you to pursue some focused interests (or nudge you in a direction we think you may be suited for) as time progresses.
BENEFITS/HOURS
Modest Stipend
$830/month + monthly food stipend and shared access to all farm vegetables/fruits. Full season interns get 9 "paid" vacation days per season, while shorter term intern vacation days are prorated accordingly. The intern stipend also includes free housing and laundry, plus water, electric, and internet utilities. We will also pay for or facilitate intern participation in some local ag education events, farm visits, and other learning opportunities during the season. Interns are covered by workman's comp.
The stipend is based on a per day work period rather than an hourly rate. Our working hours can vary considerably based on the day of the week and the time of the season, and given the hazy overlap between farm "life" and farm "work," the whole concept of working hours may not be a useful way to think about the internship experience. As has been true in agriculture through the generations, we all do what needs to get done, and we make time for fun and relaxing, and occasionally these elements overlap. (An example: we all shell beans or break up garlic cloves while drinking a beer and watching a movie on a Saturday night).
Summer days are longer, and we take full advantage of the light, but even as we strive to get all the work done on any given day, the limits dictated by our needs to eat, engage in recreation, and take care of our physical/mental health ultimately decides how long we work. One way or another, Athena and Jesse generally work as long as our interns on any given day, and sometimes longer, as we tend to do some extra administrative/computer work and planning at night and in the very early morning.
The stipend is essentially meant to help you offset expenses during the year and perhaps have a bit of money to take home with you at the end of the season. If money is the primary motivator for your choice of work/internship, we advise that there are many other, more financially lucrative work options available in the world. You should only pursue our farm internship because you want to learn about farming and live a good, healthy, simple lifestyle in a fun community of other farmers and friends.
Interns are expected to work Mon-Friday, plus a half day on Saturday, with their time off occurring Saturday afternoon - Sunday night. Taking a different day of the week off may be possible with consultation, but interns are required to coordinate so that no more than 1 intern is off-duty on the same day in any given week (unless it is Sunday). Sign-ups for days off should be made as far in advance as possible. Full season interns may take 1 day of “paid” (does not count against your stipend) vacation per month, and can use them separately or clump them together. It is preferable not to take a large chunk of your vacation in August or September as this is the time when there is the heaviest grind on basic farm tasks and routines. Interns must coordinate so that their vacations do not overlap. It is possible to use vacation days in half day increments if desired.
Interns get paid monthly on or just after the end of the month. In past years, some interns have found ways to augment their pocket cash by taking on occasional babysitting jobs, selling their own crafts/baked-goods from the farm, or finding other odd jobs on their days off, but many prefer just to relax or do activities for fun. We support either approach, but note that a farm internship is probably not the best idea if you have serious debts, expenses, or financial obligations that you are struggling to pay off at the same time. Please consider realistically what your financial needs will be for the time period you are committing to, and place a strong value on taking some time each week for fun/relaxation/self-directed activities.
Extensive Hands-On Experience with all aspects of operating and maintaining a small sustainable vegetable farm, including direct mentorship.
This is the real benefit of working with us. We are transparent with our interns about what it takes to start a small farm from scratch, farm finances, decision making, and past successes and mistakes. *We want more people to want to become farmers or at least serious gardeners!* You will learn a lot about what to do and what not to do and why, as well as gaining enough experience to begin forming your own opinions about which techniques and practices you might want to adopt yourself, and which ones you don’t agree with or would like to improve upon in your own future endeavors.
Fun. Satisfaction. Camaraderie.
Fitness. Healthy, frugal lifestyle. Few expenses. Increased awareness of and knowledge about botany, soil, water, weather, and seasonal changes. Intimate knowledge of a new place/culture. Not having to work in an office or indoor retail environment. No dress code. Opportunities to meet other organic and sustainable farmers. Working with your hands and gaining real, functional, “hard” skills. Sharing stories, food, music, and life experiences with good people.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Housing.
We provide simple, furnished, climate controlled sleeping areas (with individual visual privacy) in a shared bunkhouse. Essentially it is a simple bunkspace just for sleeping and storing some of your belongings. Interns in the shared bunkhouse sleep in the three separate loft spaces of the bunk house.Immediately adjacent to the bunkhouse is an indoor, climate controlled worker kitchen [supplied with pots, dishes, utensils, etc], bathroom, shower, and hangout space which is open for interns and WWOOFers 24 hours a day. Just outside, a dry composting toilet system is also available for night (or day) use. We also have an outdoor shower which is very popular. Tent camping options on a tent platform are also available. Past interns and visitors have enjoyed bathing in the creek during the warmer months, and we have a good, clothing optional swimming hole.
In general, we try to provide interns with a bit of their own space, both indoors and outdoors on the farm and in the main farm buildings. Occasionally we have folks over to our personal farmhouse for all-farm gatherings, movie nights, or shared meals. Interns are also welcome to hang out in the barns, greenhouses, and other farm spaces, and to store some items in the farm’s cold storage room as space allows.
Food, Etc.
Most farm fruits, vegetables, and herbs are available free for all of us to share. We provide some basic bulk food supplies and spices for interns to get started with when they first arrive, and interns also receive an additional $60/week beyond their regular internship stipend to put towards groceries [in the past, interns and WWOOFers have found it useful to pool funds for grocery shopping using a combined grocery shopping list]. In other years, interns have decided to buy personal food items individually. In either case, interns are responsible for their own food and cooking. We can assist with trips to the grocery store if interns do not have their own transportation. Additionally, we can sometimes trade a few of our surplus veggies for other food items [bread/cheese/honey/meat etc.] at market.
Interns are expected to bring their own sheets, towels, toiletries, feminine hygiene products, laundry detergent, and medications. We have basic first aid supplies available for everyone, and we will provide an ongoing toilet paper and hand-soap for all bathroom facilities.
The farm has accommodated a wide mix of vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and omnivores without difficulty over the years. Because interns and WWOOFers use a shared kitchen space, people with serious food allergies may wish to consider other options. In the past, interns have often found it useful to set up a schedule of rotating cooking and cleaning duties as needed.
Jesse and Athena share one potluck all-farm meal per week with the interns, usually a dinner. We can set a regular day of the week for that once the interns are here for the season.
Additionally, on almost every Thursday evening from April - November, we host a community potluck event called "Neighbor's Night" that is often the highlight of our week, with music, great food, bonfires, and a theme that people are welcome to follow or not. Hosting (including setup and cleanup) or attendance is not required of interns, but most past interns have cited Neighbor's Night as one of the highlights of living here, and often help out along with us and other community members.
The bunkhouse and worker kitchen/bathhouse spaces get dirty quickly with 2 or more people working in the soil and coming in and out on a daily basis. Interns are expected to share in cleaning and other household/community duties as mature, responsible adults according to a weekly chore schedule which we can provide or which interns can set up themselves. We don’t plan or want to act as supervisors or parents when you are off-duty, but we can certainly be a friend/peer/mentor when you are in need.
TRANSPORTATION
Nashville is the closest place to the farm that you can reach with easy public transportation (Greyhound bus, Megabus, or one of many airlines). We can pick you up or take you to one of these stations at the beginning or end of your stay, or when you travel for vacation. While you are here, you will find that our rural area is just as the word indicates. There are no stores within easy walking distance (although there is lots of pretty scenery and some trails if you like walking/running), a few more things within medium biking distance, and everything else is car distance away. We do make frequent trips to local towns for shopping (Columbia, TN is about 20 minutes by car and is where we go most frequently, Franklin is 25 minutes, Leiper’s Fork is 15 minutes but much smaller). We also go into Nashville 2 or 3 times per week. Interns are welcome to ride in and out with us on any of these ventures when space is available.
An Uber ride from Nashville back to the farm costs in the range of $60, but getting Uber to pick you up at the farm is difficult. If you bring your own vehicle, you will have more freedom of movement, and you can make arrangements with other interns & WWOOFers as you see fit.
OTHER DETAILS
Interns should use their own personal toiletries, sunscreen, medicines, towels, sheets, laundry detergent (another good item to go in together on with the other interns), and other personal items. In warmer months, we hang most of our clothes outside to dry, but the worker laundry room does have a dryer for colder and wetter times. We encourage interns to bring a couple of water bottles for keeping hydrated. We also recommend, though we don’t require, that you bring a really cheap digital watch. Many folks have found that a simple (easy to open and close quickly) 2”-3” blade pocket knife has many uses around the farm. On a hopefully unrelated note, we do keep a basic first-aid kit available for interns and WWOOFers to use in the case of cuts, scrapes and other minor injuries.
Pets.
Based on repeated past experiences, pets are not permitted. We know your pets are probably wonderful, but there are just too many potential problems, complications, and liabilities with multiple people and pets on the farm. We worry about our own animals and gardens, and those of our immediately adjacent neighbor farm. That being said, since we and our neighbors do have some cute critters of our own, you can still get your warm & fuzzy fix as needed. We don’t allow any animals inside our farm house, the intern bunkhouse, or the intern kitchen/bathhouse.
Smoking.
Most of our interns and WWOOFers each year are non cigarette smokers, and we do not allow smoking in or immediately adjacent to any farm building or tents, in our gardens, in our vehicles, or at market. We also don’t allow smoke breaks in the midst of working. If you must smoke, we ask that you do so in your free time only (during lunch, or after work, or on your day off), in open space on the farm, away from our house, and without littering.
Clothing & Shoes.
There is no dress code for working on the farm or going to market (wear whatever you are comfortable with), but we do have some practical suggestions based on past observations. Fashion in the context of farm work is dumb. Comfort, durability, and utility are all better attributes to focus on. Loose fitting is fine, but long dangling fringe or other long hanging cords or jewelry are likely to get caught in something, cause problems, get lost, or be dangerous. Save those items for your days off. A lightweight long sleeve button up shirt is useful for picking okra in the summer. Hats are great… at minimum a baseball cap, but a full brimmed hat is better. Keep in mind too that the beginning and end of the season will be very cold, windy, and wet [yes, it gets cold in TN], while mid-summer will be extremely hot, humid and sunny for weeks on end.
Past intern preferences for summer work attire range from nothing at all, to covering up completely with lightweight cotton fabrics for sun protection. There will certainly be some days when it rains, and if there is not lightning present, we’ll probably be out in it. Wet and hot can actually be nice, but wet and cold can become miserable in a hurry. You will want a rain jacket. You are welcome to enjoy sandals, bare feet, or other open shoes in the summer, but we require that you bring at least one pair of sturdy close-toed shoes that can get wet/muddy because there are any number of farm jobs that require them for safety or to effectively do the job. Many folks have a pair of cheap rubber boots that they appreciate. You should anticipate your need for them based on the schedule for the day and not have to run and get them in the middle of working.
You should assume that ALL the clothes and shoes you use for work will become permanently stained or dirty. Consider a trip to the Goodwill rather than buying anything new for farm work purposes. Clean(ish) clothes should be saved/worn for going to market or relaxing on your off days. We’ll let you use your own judgement on market day clothing choices, keeping in mind that you are representing the farm and trying to engage positively with folks at the market.
Internet & Electronics.
We have internet on the farm, but because we live in a rural area and our options are more limited than in the city, our internet speed is slightly slower than city-folk standards, but more importantly, we have a lot of people using the same limited bandwidth connection, and work purposes need to take precedence over other uses. You will always have basic access for email, filling out forms, catching up on news, text chatting, or doing work, but there may be times when you may buffer a bit if everyone on the farm is trying to stream video or audio at the same time.
Interns are strictly forbidden from pirating music/video/software on our shared connection, or we risk losing it for everyone, with serious consequences for our farm.
Interns do have a TV for watching DVDs or movies from a thumb drive, (or logging into to netflix etc), and we have a good collection of books and music, and a wide world of nature to keep you entertained in your off hours. Bringing along a few entertainment items, journaling/art/craft materials, or a musical instrument of your own is a very good idea. We have a guitar, some ukeleles, and djembes around the farmhouse, and a good number of musician friends that visit the farm.
Bringing your own phone to the farm is a good idea if you have one, and you can certainly use your own data to get decent 5g internet on your phone, but note that the only cell signal we reliably receive here is from AT&T. Some folks with Verizon or T-Mobile get service here, but others don't. You can use the wifi to place calls if needed.
Unless there is a pending emergency, or other similar need, we don’t allow interns or WWOOFers to carry their phones with them while they work. We find that worker phones and earbuds in the field distract us and them from the work at hand despite everyone’s assurances and best intentions to the contrary. You can use them during breaks and when you are off duty, but we hope you'll not use them to such an extent that you tune out the people and life happening all around you. There may be work related instances where we ask that you keep your phone with you in the field, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. We prefer that people be present in the moment and in the work they are doing and with the people around them as much as possible during the day. These devices often get in the way of that goal.
Some interns have used their farm experience as a good time to step back a bit from the world of constant connectivity, rediscovering the lost arts of letter writing, journaling, book reading, and quiet mindfulness. Singing and talking and laughing together is a good alternative as long as the work dictates our speed rather than the talking, and when we need a bit of extra pep we can always pull the stereo out from the barn and blast it out into the field for everyone to listen to instead of just one person tuning out everyone/everything else. For those times when you really do need to be in your own head space, silence is golden, and certain farm tasks can be very meditative.
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Thanks for Reading!
Jesse Fleisher & Athena Childs Fleisher (November, 2025)