Elawa Farm Foundation

Farm Internship
Summer 2025

Elawa Farm is a historic, non-profit farm located in Lake Forest, Illinois. Elawa Farm Foundation’s mission is to steward a historic farm that enriches greater Lake County as a center for experiential learning to broaden access to education, nutritious food, and our local food system. We gather community through food and agriculture with a sustainable farm, weekly market, learning kitchen, and educational programming for youth and adults.

The farm includes ½-acre vegetable and ¼-acre flower gardens that are managed both for production and aesthetic beauty using sustainable and organic growing practices. Our produce is offered to the community through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, at our on-site market every weekend from mid-May through October, wholesale sales to local restaurants and grocery stores, and area charitable organizations focused on alleviating food insecurity. We also manage a farm animal program that includes goats, ducks, and chickens.

The Farm Intern will work directly with our Director of Farm Operations and Farm Manager along with our dedicated team of staff and volunteers on the overall day‐to‐day operations of the farm – including seeding, planting, watering, harvesting, washing, packing, farm animal care and interacting with customers during our weekly Garden Market. The Farm Intern will gain hands‐on experience in operating a small farm business which requires a wide range of skills including how to effectively grow vegetables and cut flowers, manage farm animals, time-management, marketing, and customer relations.

Responsibilities

  • Seed, plant, water, harvest, wash, and pack produce

  • Prepare beds for planting

  • Weed and cultivate beds

  • Deadhead, trellis and harvest cut flowers

  • Interact with customers during our weekly Garden Market

  • Take the lead on one of various activities e.g., managing pests, composting, etc.

  • Assist our Farm Animal Supervisor on the care of farm animals

Qualifications

  • Passionate about growing food, land stewardship, small-scale farming

  • Hard-working, responsible, self-starter, positive attitude

  • Team player with good verbal and interpersonal skills

  • Must be at least 16 years old

  • Must have reliable transportation to Elawa Farm

Physical Requirements

  • Able to lift 40 lbs. and perform typical garden labor with exposure to a variety of weather conditions (heat, rain, etc.)

Status: This position is part-time, seasonal and at-will

Compensation: Hourly rate is $15/hour

Schedule:

May – August
Length: 12 weeks
Days of Week: Tuesday – Friday and a rotating schedule of Saturday or Sunday
Number of Hours/Week: 20
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – noon, Tues.– Thurs. with varying hours on Fri. – Sun. (4 hours/day)

Reports to: Farm Manager

Equal Opportunity Statement: Elawa Farm Foundation does not discriminate in the selection of its staff on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, income, marital status, or any other dimension of identity.

Application Deadline: Please send your resume and letter of interest to our Director of Farm Operations, Elaine Madansky, at emadansky@elawafarm.org by Friday, March 14th.