Bitterroot teens digging into futures in agriculture through internships

A program in Hamilton is teaching teenagers how to tend to a farm and grow organic produce.

Through the hard work, they also gain invaluable experience on how to be self sufficient.

"The youth farm internship is more than just a job. It’s really an experience,” shared Cultivating Connections Director Laura Garber.

Instead of spending summer days in air conditioning playing video games or scrolling on social media, high school students in the Bitterroot are digging into their futures.

“Cultivating Connections is all about building community through food,” stated Garber.

Emily Brown/MTN News

Groups of teens come to work with each other and their mentors at Homestead Organics Farm for the past eight years.

“You get paid to learn about the plants and but also like take care of the farm,” shared intern Katia Fain.

Interns do a lot of work outside in greenhouses taking care of all sorts of produce.

“Usually it’s weeding and a lot of weaving of plants into the trellises and occasionally mulching straw down on to keep the weeds out,” Fain detailed.

Emily Brown/MTN News

Fain is an incoming tenth grade student whose mom told her this internship would be right up her alley. And she’s planning on taking what she’s learned right back to her family.

“Usually my family, we do like a little garden sometimes. So, then I’ll take away like all of the ways to keep the plants alive," she shared.

Incoming ninth grade student Mason Strain is accustomed to doing yard work and helping with his grandmother’s raspberry patch. He told MTN he’s enjoying time he gets to spend in the kitchen, cooking with some of the crops he’s grown.

“I learned that organic food tastes way better and fresh grown food is just better for recipes than store bought,” Strain said.

Emily Brown/MTN News

Working inside is one way these young farmers are handling this summer’s heat.

“It used to be Monday, Thursday, Friday and we changed, we added Tuesday to stop working in the heat. We take breaks, drink water. A lot of people wear long sleeves, but light stuff to keep out of the sun,” explained Fain.

Even through the weather, the work brings the group together, showing them a path in agriculture. “We really believe that that food is that ultimate connector and youth are the future,” Garber added.

Click here to see all the events Cultivating Connections and Homestead Organics has to offer.