On-Farm Internships to Increase Sustainable Urban Farming in Lake County, Indiana

Based on the pre-program survey: Participants hoped to gain urban farming exposure and experience, knowledge in how to urban farm, apply course knowledge, use knowledge to educate others, build relationships, learn how to use a greenhouse, hoop house, other tools, start an urban farm, learn about the urban farming community, feed their family, have a beneficial mentorship, learn how to scale their efforts, help sustain Gary urban farming efforts.  
Participants grew primarily herbs and vegetables. Some hoped to incorporate fruit. Many participants grew in raised beds. Most grew at a household/homestead level, some wanted to grow for their community. Most grew at a small scale.
Participants’ vision for urban agriculture included urban block farming, community members teaching others where food comes from and how to grow food, teaching about the importance of pollinators, teaching about native and invasive plats, teaching youth and growing food, helping people of Gary make Gary the leader in urban agriculture in Northwest Indiana. Making urban agriculture more accessible. A farming co-op where farmers work together and specialize.

Based on the results of the post-surveys:
Participants indicated the following were the most valuable aspects of the program (Out of 11 survey participants 2022 and 2023):
The ability to learn hands-on (9), connection with farms close to my area (9), connection to markets (4), connection with farms similar to my own (3), connection with farms different from my own (8), connection with farms further from my area (7).

We added the following questions in 2023 (out of 6 survey participants):

Connection to more experienced farmers (6); relationship-building with other growers (6); peer-to-peer learning (6); the ability to share my knowledge and experience (5); educational webinars (5); farm Tours (6); and workshops (6).

100% of survey participants indicated they planned to continue relationships formed during the internship. One mentioned joining local food hubs, starting an additional fellowship, and joining several professional associations. One is incorporating as a nonprofit. Two mentioned interest in staying in touch/joining future programs. One indicated particular appreciation for connecting urban and rural farmers. One indicated they were planning to pursue forming a farmer co-op. One indicated they would continue volunteering at the farms.

Participants planned to adopt the following as a result of participating in the program: an irrigation rain barrel system; no-till practices; trellising; more efficient use of space; more proactive weed control; better soil health practices; a more social grow system (e.g. to help enter the wholesale market); compost and organic soil amendments; teaching others; planting trees; succession planting; hügelkultur; harvesting and marketing techniques.

Participants mentioned the following benefits of on-farm work experiences through the internship:

Learning financial challenges and product diversification opportunities; benefits of collaborative farming; being able to ask questions and get answers in real time; and getting hands-on training.

Participants indicated learning the following skills through the internship:

Diversifying income; the benefits of developing a distribution network; planting, watering, growing produce; composting; varieties of crops; planting and harvesting garlic.

Participants indicated interest in learning more about the following in future years: small-farm business start-up paperwork; and building soil. Participants indicated the following challenges with the program: Not having clear hour requirements/expectations for amount of time worked per farm; knowing what educational opportunities would be available at each farm.