Work Exchange Opportunities
If you’d like to see what life is like at Rootstock and build your skills in imagination farming, organic homesteading, elemental healing, and new paradigm hospitality, a work exchange could be just the thing for you!
Gain hands-on experience in North Country homesteading (think rugged, rural, & wild weather), organic gardening and food preservation, building & carpentry, small agricultural endeavors, inn keeping & hospitality, running a wood-fired bathhouse, and new paradigm community building. Are you self motivated, with a good work ethic and interpersonal skills, and strong interest in conscious living? Do you value clear and direct communication, radical honesty, attention to detail, honoring commitments, and feel called to be of service to others, the Earth, and the future? Then you’re probably a good fit! Bonus points for experience in carpentry, natural building, gardening, permaculture, photography/video production, or hospitality!
Have you been feeling the call to live closer to the Earth and to community but don’t know where to begin? What are the skills you need for sustainable living, homesteading, or building your own community someday? Rootstock’s work trade residency program is your chance to learn by doing! Residents will experience a variety of projects related to village-building, entrepreneurship, organic gardening, elemental healing, medicine work, community building, and beyond. You’ll get to be part of a dynamic and generative enterprise and conscious community and experience an integrated way of living, working, praying, and playing..all of this in the context of a rugged and wild northern hilltop, deciduous hardwood forest, and healing vortex that Rootstock calls home. The work will vary heavily depending on the season and what kind of help we are looking for at any particular time. With that in mind, here are some things you may get to help with:
Gardening & Grounds Keeping
Wood-fired Bathhouse Tending & Maintainence
Hospitality & Space Holding
Other sustainable living and homesteading activities
If you feel a deep desire to work on the land, invigorated about honing your own intuition, hungry to learn how to hold space for yourself and others, curious to find comfort in all the elements and seasons, welcoming of challenges and willing to cultivate curiosity, humility and humor in your days and life then Rootstock can be a beautiful stop on your journey. Add to that a desire to learn the fundamentals of supporting healing retreats and Earth-worship as both recreation and a way of life, and a profound desire to be of service and, well, it’s probably worth your time to keep reading.
In exchange for working 25-30 hours per week (6 hours daily for shorter stays), work exchangers will receive a rustic campsite for camping (you can also pay to rent a bunk or tiny house if you want), access to the outdoor kitchen for hot water, refrigeration & propane cooktops, 1 community meal daily, and access to the bunkhouse lounge facilities which include electricity, hot shower, washing machine, and rural Wi-Fi. It would look something like this: work your shift, enjoy a hot bath or outdoor shower and relax in the Bunkhouse, fix dinner in the outdoor kitchen or join a community meal, then head to your campsite to sleep or enjoy an evening bathhouse before rest.
Length of stay is 3 days to 7 months.
The short term work exchange “season” generally runs from April through October and longe term residents stay for 7 months at a time. We currently have two residents for the winter and will be looking for Spring/Summer folks soon.
RESIDENCY pathways
WHAT YOU GIVE:
≥ 6 hours of careful, mindful, conscious work per day on the imagination farm. Work may include firing or cleaning hot tubs, gardening or landscaping, stacking or splitting fire wood, preparing meals, cleaning outhouses, maintaining or cleaning dwellings, or more skilled or specific projects if that’s what’s in order.
Participation in one community meal daily, usually brunch or an early supper. Food will be provided and work exchangers are expected to participate in prepare/clean-up as well.
Respect Rootstock’s Mission & Values and a commitment to leave the people, infrastructure, land, and community as good or better than you find them.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE:
A cozy, rustic, off-grid campsite in Rootstock’s West Village
One community meal daily. Meal schedule will be determined at start of residency.
Access to the Outdoor Kitchen & Cosmic Egg masonry oven for food storage & preparation for self-prepared meals.
Access to the Oasis Lounge for bathing, wifi, & lounge space for yoga, relaxation and creativity
For every 2 days worked, you’ll earn a pass to Rootstock’s wood-fired bathhouse so you can enjoy wood-fired hot tubs & sauna.
Priority access to monthly conscious programming with Moon & Sun Circles, Community Days, and more. RSVP still required.
Access to the sacred spaces here including the Dragon Rock, Tipi Temple and wild spaces
Opportunities to create, build, design, animate and design your life here and beyond here
Access to Rootstock’s small but eclectic library of books, field guides, tarot cards and more
Residents will be provided with one meal daily and will need to provide their own food, cook their own meals and wash their own dishes for remaining meals during their stay. They dispose of all their own trash & recycling offsite and commit to composting their food scraps in the compost pile. They provide their own biodegradable soap & cleaning products or pay for usage of the wildcrafted & available items on site. They leave all the spaces they enjoy here as nice or better than they found them. They respect the healing work that happens on this hill with with quiet consciousness and take care to honor the sacred land here, all beings seen and unseen and our neighbors and guests.
Folks wanting to explore catered or partially catered residencies are welcome to inquire about availability.
THE SCOOP ON ACCOMMODATIONS…
Residents stay in Rootstock’s “West Village” an off-grid eco village on the land here about 4 minutes walking from the main cabin. Outdoor plumbing. Cooking over fire and propane. Limited or no cell service and no internet. What?!?! No internet? Yes, you read that correctly. Well-appointed, comfortable, campsites and cozy accommodations will give you a soft place to land and unplugged time to tap into the Source of your creative spirit. You’ll have access to electricity to charge your devices and time available in the Oasis or Cabin to internet periodically but expect a largely analog experience.
Cozy, rustic campsite is included.
Upgrade to the Toad for $50/night or 2 additional hours of work daily (8 hour exchange daily).
Upgrade to the Tiny House for $100/night or 4 additional hours of work per day (10 hour exchange daily). For more highly skilled projects, we’re open to bartering upgraded accommodations for your talent and skill.
Residents can expect to interact with Apprentices, guests Air Bnb’ing in the Village, consults visiting, retreat participants, community members and neighbors during their time at Rootstock. Folks interested in upgrading accommodations from the Toad to our gorgeous Tiny House for $1500/month can inquire about availability.
HOW TO EAT Here
We’ll co-create a meal together once daily and residents are welcome to use that time to do more meal prep as well for their days ahead as well. It’s possible that we may elect to share more meals together during your stay but you can plan on one, hearty nourishing meal provided daily. Prior to your arrival we’ll anchor a schedule and, of course, you are also welcome to initiate community meals if you’re motivated to cook. Remaining meals will be the responsibility of the resident to provide for themselves. There are local markets nearby, refrigeration/freezer space available and the tools needed to cook in your dwelling or outside over fire.
Craftsbury General Store, C Village Market, Curriers Market, C & C Grocery are all about 12-15min away and offer prepared foods and groceries.
Parker Pie, Parsons Dinner House, Busy Bee Diner, Blackbird Bistro, Barton Baking Company are all restaurants within 15min.
Hardwick is 25min away and has a coffee shop, diner, restaurants, laundromat, natural food store, and more.
GUESTS & VISITORS
Friends and guests are most certainly welcome to visit you while you’re here and are asked to 1) either Work-Trade or donate for their nights dwelling in your dwelling 2) come prepared with a potluck offering for community meals 3) register ahead for any events, gatherings or ceremonies they plan to attend while on site and 4) donate $5-$25 for each day they access the Oasis Lounge with you. We ask for prior approval prior to inviting guests to Rootstock.