About Workshare

The Workshare Volunteer program offers a different experience than a regular volunteer opportunity. A Workshare volunteer is “paid” for their labor in the form of vegetables. While New Roots offers one-off volunteer opportunities throughout the farming season for groups or individuals, the Workshare program is targeted towards energetic and reliable folks who can commit to coming to the farm on a regular basis.

While we offer two workshare opportunities that accommodate different schedules and abilities, all workshare volunteers need to be strong communicators, quick learners, comfortable working with diverse populations, and prepared to show up in all kinds of weather.

CSA Workshare

CSA Workshare volunteers come to the farm every week for 18 weeks between June 29th and October 26th to assist New Roots staff with prepping vegetables bags for distribution through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

CSA workshare volunteers have the choice between a 4-hour shift on Tuesdays from 12-4pm, Wednesdays from 10-2pm, or Thursdays 10-2pm.

CSA workshare volunteers do the majority of their work under our covered wash station or in our walk-in cooler. Tasks include but are not limited to washing produce, packing lettuce and other items for the CSA, and assembling CSA shares.

More details about this opportunity are available on our CSA Workshare page:

Barter With a Farmer

The Barter With a Farmer program provides workshare volunteers an opportunity to connect directly with a farmer to assist them in managing their land. This opportunity is a good fit for volunteers looking for more flexibility than is offered by the CSA workshare program.

New Roots staff will match Barter With a Farmer applicants with a New Roots producer based on their availability.

Workshare volunteers in this program need to be prepared to do everything the farmer does, which includes harvest, washing, weeding, using a hoe, raking, planting, and other miscellaneous farm tasks.

Barter With a Farmer workshare volunteers work directly with the farmer once the initial match is facilitated by New Roots staff, so it is crucial that the workshare volunteer is a reliable communicator and is willing to work with farmers that speak English as a second language.

Farmer profiles and the application for this opportunity are available on our Barter With a Farmer page: