agroecology residential
According to the UN, small-scale agroecological farming can, does and must feed the world if we want a world to live in, and you can be part of the revolution.
At Jonai Farms we are committed to farming and distributing food in ecologically- and socially-just ways, and we're keen to share our skills and knowledge to help grow the food sovereignty movement in Australia and globally. We share rent-free land with our friends and comrades Tumpinyeri Growers, a market garden run by proud Ngarrindjeri and Narrunga man Josh and settler Rex, who sell via CSA and to local restaurants. As we always say - we don’t need bigger farms, we need more farms, and more farmers! If you're looking to spend your life in meaningful, grounded work on the land - this is the place for you.
We offer experiences depending on what stage of the journey you’re at - whether you’re just moving from keyboard warrior to boots on the ground, a chef looking to get your hands into soil, or poised to purchase or lease land but seeking more lived experience before striking out on your own, we’ll work out together how long and when you should come. Note well - while you are likely to have a great time, this is not a holiday. We are a working farm committed to growing more growers - we are not providing an agritourism experience.
Our residencies are a minimum of six weeks for those short on time to spare around work or family commitments, and up to three months for those looking for full immersion and deep skill building.
You'll learn everything about ethical animal husbandry for a small herd of pastured pigs and cattle, including careful paddock rotations and waste-stream feed management for the pigs, and holistic planned grazing with cattle. You'll experience firsthand what supply-chain control really means as Tammi teaches you to butcher both pork and beef in our on-farm boning room, as well as learning a range of techniques and recipes for making smallgoods, salumi, and charcuterie in our commercial kitchen and curing room. You'll also help run workshops on butchery, curing, and salami making, and learn the skills to cater for medium to large groups. And of course you'll learn our direct sales model - a combination of risk & reward sharing community-supported agriculture (CSA) and farm gate sales. Tumpinyeri will teach you the art and hard yakka of market gardening, from germinating, sowing, weeding, and harvesting to wash, pack, bunch and deliver fresh salads, root vegetables, and more. You’ll be wholly inculcated in the philosophy and practice of agroecology as a science, a set of practices, and a social movement, with a commitment to the frugal abundance of a degrowth model that ensures radical sufficiency for all.
From building fences and pig houses, welding and weeding, planting trees, keeping good herd and harvest records, doing seam butchery, and running a profit and loss report - join us and develop the skills to support your passion for growing fair food. Your time with Jonai will also come with a bucketload of homesteading skills: sourdough baking with wheat grown and milled here on the farm, milking Wynny & making yoghurt, butter, and cheese, fermenting and pickling vegetables - we do it all.
Accommodation is in a converted shipping container with fabulous views and a composting toilet. Meals are enjoyed with the family and whoever else happens to be with us on any given day. You won't have much time for internet, but we have NBN wireless available in the house. Work is across seven days a week, with light duties on weekends for all.
While this life is quite often Instagram-worthy, it is also physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging work. You need to be fit and ready to get stuck into whatever task is at hand, from hauling 20kg of feed buckets to climbing the volcano to move cattle, and preparing a meal when you’re on the roster at the end of a big day. We can be a noisy and irreverent while earnest community, with a strong core of stoicism in the face of hard work. If that doesn’t excite you, think hard before you apply.
We are here for singles or couples where both are committed to agroecological and regenerative farming. Priority is given to providing opportunities for women, gender diverse and BIPOC communities.
Application Process
Fill out the agroecology residential application no later than six weeks before the proposed residency.
We’ll read applications and contact you if we intend to progress the application to an online interview.
We may then schedule an interview if you seem like a suitable candidate.
The successful applicant(s) join the Jonai community!
If you have just seen us on Down to Earth with Zac Efron but have no previous interest in farming, please don’t apply. Instead, read, listen, and watch everything you can about food sovereignty and agroecology, visit some local farms, and immerse yourself in our movement before seeking a residency with us or another farm closer to you.
Read like the Jonai
Books
Dalrymple, L. & Hilliard, G. (2020) The Ethical Omnivore: A practical guide and 60 nose-to-tail recipes for sustainable meat eating, Murdoch.
Evans, M. (2019) On Eating Meat: The truth about its production and the ethics of eating it, Murdoch.
Fernandez Arias, P., T. Jonas, & K. Munksgaard (2019) Farming Democracy: Radically transforming the food system from the ground up, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Gammage, B. & B. Pascoe. (2022) Country: Future Fire, Future Farming, Thames & Hudson.
Henderson, G. (1943) The Farming Ladder, Faber & Faber.
Holt-Giménez, E. (2017) The Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the political economy of what we eat, Monthly Review Press.
Kimmerer, R.W. (2021) The Democracy of Species, Penguin.
Leonard, C. (2014) The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business, Simon & Schuster.
Massy, C. (2017) Call of the Reed Warbler, UQP.
Pascoe, B. (2014) Dark Emu, Magabala Books.
Pollan, M. (2006) The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Bloomsbury.
Singer, P. (1975) Animal Liberation, Thorsons.
Spector, T. (2020) Spoon Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food is Wrong, Random House UK.
Wallace, R. (2016) Big Farms Make Big Flu, Monthly Review Press.
Yunkaporta, T. (2019) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Text Publishing Co.
Podcasts
Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Upstream
The Sustainable Food Trust Podcast – Patrick Holden
Money. Power. Land. Solidarity. GP Jacob
Global Capitalism – Democracy at Work
The Regenerative Journey with Charlie Arnott
Damn the Absolute – Jeffrey Howard
Farm Commons
The RegenNarration – Anthony James
Deep in the Weeds – A Food Podcast with Anthony Huckstep
Low Tox Life with Alexx Stuart
Eat Like the Animals
Sustainable Table have excellent resources to better understand the ethics of eating animals and how to decode standards
Check out Flavour Crusader for incredible lists of ethical and ecologically-sound producers.
Choice have a page devoted to understanding the standards