Independent farming situation available:

We have about 3/4 acre of garden space, 1 acre pasture, and housing available for a couple or individual to rent long-term in exchange for 1-2 days of labor a week.  We are thinking of something similar to a caretaker position.

We are a small permaculture-based market farm in gorgeous Southern IN.  In our beginning years, we brought a mobile home onto the property and built our no-till mulch garden beds around it.  We landscaped with vines and edible perennials to help seasonally shade the home, and built a passive solar greenhouse onto the south side to heat the trailer and grow seedlings for our farm.  For water, we set up a rainwater harvesting system collecting off an adjacent workshop.  We knew this would be a temporary home until we developed clear plans for building our house.

We have completed our house now, a beautiful and functional strawbale home with attached greenhouse and earthen plasters, rainwater system, and young edible landscaping.  We are also evolving away from growing market produce and focusing on a fruit/nut/berry nursery and silvopasture system with sheep and fruit trees.  For more about our farm, check out our website www.brambleberryfarm.org

Following the predicted permaculture pattern of use zones, we have not been able to upkeep our old garden beds, even though they are only 200' away from our new house.  Living in your garden seems the best way to keep it tended and we've decided we need to abandon the old systems to focus on the new ones around our house.

We've decided to open up the old home and its gardens and systems to an ambitious person or preferably a couple that are eager to apply their experience from working on other farms but do not have financial resources to buy or lease land.  The agreement would be that you can use the garden space and house as you like, even re-doing the beds and pathways.  You would be responsible for the electric bill (ours was usually around $40/mo) and procuring either propane or wood for winter supplemental heat (there is a woodstove--we used about 2 cords of wood a winter), but your rent would be in the form of work exchange--1-2 days a week helping us with various projects, though many weeks we won't need help.  The rest of your time it is up to your own ambition to work the land and landscape around you to grow things.  We're happy to lend our experience and advice, but you will be doing your own work and finding your own markets.

Total garden bed space is around 3/4 acre, it has all been sheet-mulched with no tilling, and has become very rich, high-OM soils. There are some perennial weed issues in some areas that will require a little elbow grease to deal with, but the soil quality is excellent. There is also a one acre (approximately) pasture area with a 10 x 12 chicken coop which is pretty brushy and un-fenced, but has a number of half-grown fruit trees and good potential. 

We are exactly one hour south of Bloomington IN and one hour northwest of Louisville KY, both with thriving local food movements and full of outlets for local food.  There is also a great farmer's market 10 min north of us in Orleans, IN and a natural foods coop 5 min away in Paoli (Lost River Market & Deli). 

We're thinking of 1-2 year stays with the opportunity to continue on longer term if things are working out well.

Since you will be farming on your own, prior experience is highly recommended. Applicants must submit a resume (can be informal list of work experience), and 3 references: 1 former employer, 1 living situation (i.e. roommate/housemate), and one personal reference (such as a mentor or friend).