Farmer Training Program

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Throughout the season you will learn:

greenhouse management:
seeding, germination, potting on

transplanting, hand and tractor cultivation

soil fertility and balancing,
fertilizing,foliar feeding,

composting - making and applying

Brix and refractometer use -
measuring nutrient density

organic pest management

drip irrigation systems

harvesting, processing and marketing

business management - economics of Community Supported Agriculture etc. retailing at farmer’s markets

cover cropping

animal husbandry (managing grass based layers, hogs, lambs.)

About an Apprenticeship at Chubby Bunny Farm

We grow on about 10 acres and have a very labor intensive operation. Our unique growing system blends biointensive gardening methods with more traditional row crop growing. We use tractors for tillage, bed shaping, mowing, and composting, but are not heavily tractor oriented. Our emphasis is on quality and yield, combining Eastern and Western methods of growing. Most planting, cultivation and harvesting is done by hand.


An apprenticeship at Chubby Bunny covers all aspects of vegetable cultivation and marketing. We grow over 60 varieties of vegetables at our farm. Our season begins in March with growing starts in our greenhouse. We grow many crops in successions and will continue seeding throughout the summer. In April and May we start plowing, fertilizing and transplanting and cultivating outside in the fields. In June we start harvesting for the CSA and start attending our markets. By the end of August we are finishing up with our vegetable planting, planting cover crops and starting to bring in our bulk crops. In the fall we continue to harvest and clean up the fields. Also offered in the fall is slaughtering and butchering lambs for farm members and family.


Additional Training

Chubby Bunny Farm also participates in the Connecticut CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) Program. Through CRAFT apprentices attend farm tours & workshops at 5 other farms in the area. These workshops occur about every three weeks during the season and covers topics such as rotational grazing, small scale dairies, vegetable production and others.

Living Arrangements & Work Schedule

You are expected to work 5 days a week, about 50 hours with Saturday market on rotation. Attendance at CRAFT meetings is expected and is generally during regular working hours. We offer a stipend of $800 per month. We will be working with 2 other apprentices and the farmers.
Apprentices live in trailers with cooking facilities, composting toilet and solar shower. You will receive veggies, eggs, yogurt and some meat. You will be responsible for buying your other food items and for preparing your own meals. We usually share one or two meals a week with teaching time in the evenings afterwards.


Our Location and Community

We are in Northwestern Connecticut in the small town of Falls Village with a population of around 2000. We are about 2 and a half hours from New York City (by train) and 3 hours from Boston (by bus). We are surrounded by other small rural towns. We are not far from the Southern Berkshires in Massachusetts which has many cultural activities such as art galleries, theater and musical events. Locally there are several places for shopping, movies, restaurants, hiking, yoga and judo classes, ultimate frisbee, bicycling, crafts.

To Apply

Applicants must be responsible, in good physical condition, have an appreciation for modest accommodations and a good nature. To apply send letter of intent and resume . We also welcome WWOOFers and other volunteers. Please contact us for more information.