Working at the Farm
Goat House Farm has volunteer site exchange positions open for a couple or singles. Situated in a rural area of Tallahassee on Lake Talquin, we are surrounded by the beautiful Lake Talquin State Forest and Apalachicola National Forest. Great fishing and hiking trails and beautiful sunsets! We are also less than an hour from beaches, Tate’s Hell State Forest, and Wakulla Springs. The farm is about 20 miles from Florida State University. We have over 30 goats, one hog, and chickens.
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We provide electric & water in a 30amp site or a 110 outlet for vans. We usually don’t have electric at our tent sites, but do have outlets for charging, etc in our workroom.
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We do not have sewer available – perfect opportunity for composting toilets, otherwise you will need to tote to our onsite septic. Gray water dumping is fine, but you must use environmentally friendly products.
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Absolutely must be able to manage time well with attention to detail.
Work is twenty hours a week with two days off. Hours are flexible after a rotation through each time period and workcampers may trade times and/or days off with others throughout the season.
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No experience necessary, but a good attitude and a love of animals, outdoors, and the farm life is absolutely required. If you are just looking for a place to stay and not passionate about farm life, this isn’t the place for you. We can’t stress that enough-farm life is not as glamorous as seen on tv! Must have an open mind, be adaptable to changing routines, and work well with others. Excellent communication skills a must!
A Typical Day on the Farm
Morning
- Feed the animals
- Let chickens out
Supervise volunteers - Muck barns
- Blow out pasture areas
- Clean and filling waters
- Fill hay feeders
Noon
- Flip checkout units
- Clean common areas
- Laundry
- Check in early guests
- Fill animal waters
- General Farm Projects
Evening
- Clean feed troughs
- Fill hay feeders
- Quick barn sweep
- Check in guests
- Clean common areas
- Gather eggs & lock chicken coop
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Most weekends (and some weekdays) we may have several local volunteers on the farm doing community service hours. On those days, you will be responsible for passing your tasks to volunteers and supervising task completion (many are return volunteers and will know what to do!), so some weeks hours can be less than 20. We don’t micromanage time.
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Fridays and Saturdays are our busiest days, so we ask you not take those days off unless we are well covered with workcampers and/or volunteers. Often, we tend to just work well together and are not strict about specific times as long as all the work gets done. We want everyone to learn all areas of the farm so that it is easier to switch and fill in for each other.
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Farm life is often chaotic with changing routines (kidding season, feeding routines, etc), so you should be adaptable to change with the ability to follow task lists both in a team and independently. We also have lots of visitors to the farm so the ability to work well with the public is required.
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In addition to the farm director and volunteers, we try to have at least two workcampers (couples or singles) each season, but often run short in the hot Florida summers. We do work hard to build a sense of community around here and want our workcampers to feel staying here is not just a job, but a place to call home for a while!
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Perks include free milk and milk products (cheese, yogurt, ice cream) during milking season; eggs, fruits and vegetables when in season; use of kayak; goat yoga classes; and occasional farm meals. Your friends and family can also stay in our units at no cost for up to five days when available.
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Come spend some time with us!
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Great opportunity if you want to learn to care for goats. You can be as involved as you like in milking, hoof trimming, medications, immunizations, and general care!
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A few things of note:
♦ Well behaved dogs allowed only at specific sites, so check to see that we have that available.
♦ We are located at the end of a 3/4 mile dirt road with only some patches cemented. The road is prone to flooding during multiple days of rain. We’ve never had problems getting big rigs in, though it is slow going, but want to make sure folks know about the road.
♦ Vandwellers and tenters welcome. We have a bath house with a compost toilet and hot shower and an outdoor kitchen area.
♦ This is Florida! Winters are mild, spring and fall are beautiful, summer is hot (averaging 93 in June) and August is usually wet! We have bugs.
♦ We prefer a minimum stay of three months with a two week notice for departure.
Apply Now!
References required. Please fill out the form below or email a cover letter telling us about yourself, your rig size, and a list of references to melissa@goathousefarm.com
Feel free to email if you have questions!
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