Summer Garden & Orchard Intern - Kansas City Community Gardens

Summer Internship Overview: Kansas City Community Gardens' Summer Internship Program is an unpaid, service-learning opportunity intended for those interested in horticulture, healthy food access and equity, and community development in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The internship provides an in-depth look at some of Kansas City Community Gardens Programs and their work to accomplish the organization’s mission. These programs include the Beanstalk Children’s Garden, Giving Grove orchard program, and Greenhouse Operations. This is a unique learning opportunity, where interns will have the chance to learn and assist these programs with a wide scope of duties that are essential to the daily operations of the organization, ranging from educating children about healthy food to hands-on tasks related to vegetable garden and fruit orchard maintenance.
 
About KCCG: Kansas City Community Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that empowers low-income households, schools and community groups to grow food-producing gardens. We support a city-wide network of 753 school and community gardens and 3,000 home gardeners who grow nearly 1 ½ MILLION pounds of healthy food each year.
 
Timeframe: 150-200 hours. June 1 – July 29th
 
Responsibilities will be tailored to the candidate’s interests and abilities and may include:
Garden and orchard maintenance

• Assist the KCCG staff with regular summer garden and orchard maintenance such as weeding, mulching, watering, harvesting, pest and disease monitoring, transplanting, and pruning at on-site and off-site locations
• Assist one or more off-site community gardens and/or orchards with weeding, watering, and harvesting tasks

• Assist with on-site and off-site raised bed construction
•  Assist with volunteer group coordination during off-site projects, such as orchard or community garden maintenance
• Participate in off-site orchard summer visits and check-ins

• Assist with set up and facilitation of educational and technical workshops
• Shadow and assist staff with K-12 educational guided tours of the Beanstalk Garden and Orchard
• Attend KCCG events and assist with outreach as needed
• Assist with the development of garden resource guides

• Collect and compile program data as required for reporting purposes
• Assist staff with weather station data compilation
• Observe fruit tree growth habits, fruit development and monitor pest prevalence
• Collect and compile data on fruit count/average fruit weight at Giving Grove-managed orchards
• Gather data on tree survivability rate over a range of years
• Assist with the creation and editing of videos, and other outreach and educational materials

• Assist the Greenhouse coordinator with greenhouse operations like seeding and labeling transplants, watering, pest monitoring, and packing seed and plant orders for partnering organizations and schools

• Knowledge of vegetable gardening
• Ability to work and engage with a diverse community
• Ability to perform duties that require lifting, reaching, bending, and being on your feet for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift 30 pounds.  
• Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Database software
• Ability to communicate well verbally and in writing
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to perform outdoor duties in varying weather conditions, particularly in the heat of the summer
• Ability to present friendly professional customer service
• Interest and experience in working with low-income families