We offer a very limited number of apprentice-type intern positions, short term (2 weeks or less) month-long, and long term (4 months or more), for a select few. 
We are looking for self-motivated, mature thinking, responsible and committed individuals who have a serious desire to learn numerous worthwhile practical skills based upon the fundamentals of organic, sustainable, permanent agriculture (perma-culture) and creating a supportive, climate-friendly infrastructure.


We offer free room & board at our organic, small family farm located near and within sight of the Tennessee River in Roane County,  (East) Tennessee.


If you have a good work ethic, like to rise with the morning sun, have a genuine desire to learn small-scale, sustainable organic farming, aspire to work in harmony with the earth, are compatible with our guiding philosophy, and are ready to commit a few days, weeks or  months of your time and effort as a staff member at our teaching farm, we would like to hear from you-please contact us.

Only serious inquiries will be acknowledged. Future career farmers given first choice.

Farm Volunteer Opportunities

Like to get down, dirty and intimate with the soil, but don't have a viable outlet where you live?  
Here is an opportunity to be a volunteer worker on East Tennessee's only perma-culture based organic teaching farm. Work alongside experts who have nearly 40 years experience. We offer volunteer opportunities throughout the year with our work-to-learn program.
 For more information, please contact us.

Be a Farm Patron

The primary mission of our teaching farm is to present a more naturally balanced approach to sustaining marginal land used for agriculture. We do this in a myriad of ways, from wooded "shelter belts," selective area mowing, to creating numerous rain catchment ponds. 
Since our inception as a teaching farm in 2004, we have focused primarily on soil fertility and water source restoration. In the process, we have created a highly-acclaimed demonstration model of intelligent and sensitive land management.

This has been a relatively costly process for a limited income operation like ours. However, we consider the educational component of our farming program to be equally as important as the food we grow. We have a college oriented outreach program that targets interested UT-Knoxville students. Farm volunteers often bring other skills and resources that benefit the stated over-all mission of our organic-based teaching farm.


We are seeking financial scholarship funding for our intern program. Although we can provide room and board, we would also like to provide a sustaining monthly stipend for our full-time, live-in intern(s), for keeping up with individual personal needs.


Please contact us for more details if you would like to support the teaching / intern role of our farm by becoming a patron.

Please note, we are not a 501(c)-3 organization, your contributions are not tax-deductible.

In 2007, our area of East Tennessee experienced double the number of days when the temperature exceeded ninety degrees. (31 days normal - 62 days in 2007) That year, we also experienced the worst drought in our recorded weather history (117 years).

In 2009, we had the opposite situation from 2007. Rainfall totaled a whooping five and a half feet, with three months averaging over nine inches. We finished the frost-free growing season with our rainwater storage system 100% full. The July-Aug weather was appreciably cooler than 2007. These two extremes are what we work at in our sustainable design. It is a process of enhancing the ability of healthy soil and natural land features to provide a micro-climate moderating bridge between the different seasonal extremes.

Since the 1974 oil embargo, we have been continually learning and working on sustainability concepts and practices including shelter design, organic food growing, storage water security, and the natural heating and cooling of dwellings. Over the decades since our initial efforts, we have honed our skills, increased our knowledge, and have expanded our experiential background, so that we are now able to provide comprehensive and in-depth holistic consultation services to clients for a wide range of environmental projects designed to improve the livability of your homestead or farm.

These are examples of some of the many services we provide:

• Consultation services, on your site and /or over the phone
•  Land use survey, for determining land suitability for solar oriented dwellings, rainwater pond construction, fruit orchards, row crop areas, gardens, sustainable forest management, and shelter tree belts
•  Rainwater collection systems - design and installation
•  Mechanical pond digging / old pond reclamation / pond repair
•  Shelter belt tree landscaping

 •    Workshops

• Rainwater collection
• Simple green construction and exterior energy efficiency retrofitting techniques
• New Farm or homestead start-up
• Earth systems awareness & permaculture basics
• Introduction to organic gardening

We are ready to put our many years of rainwater collection experience

and successful storage design to work for you.

Please contact us for more information:    865-354-8170 or

leaf@sustainability-teaching-farm.com

The "new-farm start up" workshop will be presented as a total custom event for each participant(s). There will be no pre-scheduled calendar dates, rather we will hold the workshop "on demand" when a new farmer(s) is both learning ready and has time available.
The workshop sessions will cover enough topics to require at least a couple of days. Training might also include a work-to-learn" component that would be a hands on labor exchange for practical farm knowledge / experience held at a later, separate time. The workshop can be held at anytime during the week, and is not limited to weekends only.

Meals and overnight lodging could be made available, allowing the participant(s) to experience actual farm  living routines. Fees are structured along a sliding scale based on income level. Contact us for more specific information concerning registration and cost.

Subjects covered:

Designing an efficient, low maintenance farm infrastructure

Benefits and wisdom of crop diversity

Soil testing through plant presence

Utilizing internal & external nutrient inputs

Managing sustainable growth & expansion

Recycling & resource reconfiguration (permaculture inspired)

Business management guidelines to maximize profit potential

Establishing a signature farm product

Minimizing energy costs through green construction and appropriate landscaping

Sustainable agricultural practices in the East Tennessee region

Seed saving and improving plant genetics

Rebuilding and nourishing topsoil

Testimonials

 We really enjoyed our visit out to Broadened Horizons Organic Farm, meeting you and Cielo and learning about your farming practices. You have clearly invested a lot of time and energy into growing your farm, and your experience and enthusiasm are evident.

It was very helpful to see the systems you have put in place, and to hear about the recycled and salvaged materials you have incorporated into your farm. Books, conferences and the like are certainly useful tools for beginning farmers, but the opportunity to see and learn about examples of sustainable practices first hand is invaluable.

Chris & Dana Saywell, Blount County, TN.

We can't thank you enough for the time you spent teaching us about the practices you've put in place at Broadened Horizons Organic Farm.  Though we've read about Permaculture and attended lectures, those experiences are incomplete compared to the opportunity you provided to see your projects and learn from your work first hand.

You covered a broad variety of sustainable and organic practices that any small farmer can apply, and you showed us how they can be achieved at relatively low cost using mostly recycled materials.

We’ll certainly be following your progress and continuing to learn from your experiences as you share them in your Weekly Farm Journal and your Blog.

Dudley & Patria Leath, Blount County, TN.

"As a young farmer, I often despair that so much agricultural knowledge has been lost, and  few people around me consider restoring lost earth knowledge while finding new solutions to feeding ourselves, to be worthy of their time.  This was why it was such a relief and a joy to talk to Farmers Leaf & Cielo about my specific concerns and questions about starting up my own farm.  Being from Nashville, we had to drive a ways to their teaching farm, but it was well worth it to spend the day getting sound, practical answers to my most pressing agricultural questions.  

I found the Broadened Horizons Organic Farm to be a place of creativity, inspiration, and respectful earth-care. I'm so glad it exists in my state! (Don't leave their farm without a few dozen eggs--they're the best I've eaten!)"

Katy Savage,
Nashville, TN

We now have a milk share available from a Jersey-Holstein mix dairy cow maintained with 100% organic plant forage. For information about purchasing this milk-share, please contact us for further details.

Why Organic?

We don't think that applying poisonous or synthetic substances to the food we eat, or the soil we grow it in, is a wise or prudent practice. Organic farming involves not only the avoidance of toxic substances in the growing process, but also the ongoing practice of naturally enriching both the soil and ecosystem, thereby helping to create healthier, more nutritious natural foods. Although not certified USDA Organic, we meet or exceed all the USDA National Organic Program standards.

Why Seeds?

As more of our seed heritage is lost through hybridization and genetic engineering, we feel strongly about our work to protect and enhance open pollinated varieties of seed that have stood the test of time and taste. As climate anomalies increase, we are working to produce better drought, heat, and cold resistant varieties of heirloom corn and bean seed. It is very satisfying work as we continue to build upon and expand the work of other small scale, dedicated, specialized, plant breeders.

Our Pledge

We value the trust our customers bestow on us when they buy our farm produced seed, and dried bean products. Because we wish to maintain and enhance that trust, we have pledged to manage our farm in the most sustainable and ecologically healthy manner in order to guarantee the highest quality and safest seed, and food beans for your own use.

We welcome our customer's questions and farm visits.

Ordering instructions at bottom of page.

Please Note: Folks trying to reach our farm using Map Quest or GPS are mostly directed to Rodgers Circle, about six miles away. To find our farm, please go to our directions page

Seed & Plant Section

Our seeds and plants are heirloom varieties that we have grown organically here on the farm, year after year, so they are naturally more acclimated to the soil and weather conditions here in East Tennessee. We hand sort our seed to guarantee you get the highest quality for planting.

Organic Heirloom Bean Seeds -Grown annually on our farm - naturally air dried, hand shelled and carefully sorted.

Sold by the packet @ $2.50  (40+ seeds - depends on variety - planting & growing instructions upon request)

Pole beans save valuable garden space, don't fall over so they limit spoilage as the pods don't touch the ground, easier to pick as most stooping and bending is eliminated, and consistently outyield bush varieties.

        Black & White Lima Bean (pole type- vigorous climber, high yielding, drought resistant, very tasty (I)

       Christmas Lima Bean (striking crimson & white color, pole type-vigorous climber, truly giant size, yet delicious dry bean (I)
   
        Rattlesnake Bean (pole type, sweet tasting, stringless green bean, heavy yielding, our favorite green bean, good as a dry bean also, drought resistant (I)

        Granny May Black Eyed Peas (vigorous runner type, heavy yielding, short cooking time, very prolific (I)

        Indian Woman Yellow Butter Bean (semi- half-runner type with dainty leaves and small copper colored beans,  rare (D)

        Paint Dry Bean (half-runner type, white with yellow saddle marking, heavy yielding, (I)

        Jacobs Cattle Bean (bush type, heavy yielding, colorful white & maroon, large kidney type, (D)

        Hutterite Soup Bean (semi half runner, good yielding, our best soup bean  (D)

NOTE: With some pole bean varieties, we have harvested approximately 200 beans back per bean seed planted (measured by weight). Requires good soil with lots of organic matter worked in for best results and highest yield. (I=Indeterminate - D=Determinate variety) The determinate varieties will still lightly reflower and produce a second crop if given adequate moisture.

Organic Dried Beans for food consumption  (2011 crop shortage-not available)

The following varieties of sun dried beans are sold for sprouting and cooking in 1 & 2 pound packages. They are a grade below our top choice seed stock. All beans are sold for $3. per pound.

Hutterite Soup Bean - light green solid color - creates creamy bean broth when cooked.

Rattlesnake Bean - looks somewhat similar to a pinto bean in color, but a better flavor.

Paint Dry Bean - a plump medium-sized kidney bean, white with dark yellow saddle markings. A good all around cooking bean with exceptional flavor.

Organic Dent Corn Seed (grown for making cornmeal, cereal, cornbread, or poultry ration)

Note: Heirloom seed moved and grown in a new location becomes "biologically" mated to the particular soil & climate it grows in and becomes "localized" in genetic traits.

Our seed corn is hand-picked, hand-shelled and hand-sorted to guarantee you receive the very best kernels for planting.

Sold by: - pkt. - 1 oz. @  $2.50,  1/4 lb. @ $5.50,  1/2 lb. @ $8.00,  1 lb. @ $12.50,  3 or more lbs. @ $10.50 per lb.

Shipping is by flat rate priority mail if possible, otherwise by regular priority mail.

        Ohio Blue Clarage - Tasty, nutty flavored, sweet meal corn, (or roasting ear) 10-12 ft. stalks. Developed in Ohio & W. VA  1830-1850, tolerates crowding and resists corn smut. 90-100 days. Makes both a superior corn meal and poultry feed.

        Neal's  Paymaster -  (pre-1915 Tennessee Red Cob) White corn with red cob - consistent two large ears per plant - 90 days to roasting ears  High yielding and has good dry weather tolerarance.

     

Perennial plants      

Strawberry Crowns  - High yielding vigorous plants, individually potted, ready for Fall planting.  $2.50 ea.  3 for $6.  - (sold out)

Multiplier Onion Bulbs - (Egyptian walking onion) for use as green onions, onion stem top forms self-propagating onion bulb sets. Plant in late Summer for Fall & Winter onions, early Spring for summer onions.

Sold as sets - 25 for $5.00

Annual plants

-None available at this time

How to Order

1. E-mail us a list of the seed varieties and quantity you wish to purchase.
2. Please include your postal zip code so we can determine postal shipping costs.
3. We will then e-mail you an invoice.
4. We accept payment in cash or a postal money order made out to Leaf Myczack.
5. Once payment is received, we will ship your order using priority mail.

Thank you for supporting small, independent seed producers.

"I have enjoyed doing buisness with you. It is nice to buy seed from someone who can tell you about it first hand."

Rachel - SW Virginia

The most obvious benefit of fertile soil is that one can feed themself with wholesome, highly nutritious food. As the soil fertility improves, the quality of the product also improves. Appearance of produce is not nearly as important to us as nutrional value. We grow some wonderful "standard profile" specimens, but we also grow a large number of "irregular" shaped and slighly blemished produce. What matters for us is how it tastes. Good soil adds good taste to the food.

Our customers in search of nutritionally loaded food understand the health benefits of eating wholesome food grown organically on healthy soil. They have come to appreciate the superior flavor and strong natural color inherent in our farm produce. There is nothing weak or pale about our food. Eating healthy food from healthy soil should make the eater healthy, whether it be human, or livestock.

Healthy, naturally balanced organic soil resists plant diseases and pathogens, weed pests, and soil-borne parasites, eliminating the need to spray poisonous insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides on the land. If one has trouble growing healthy crops with good seed, then the problem lies within the soil. The answer is not to harm the soil with chemical quick fixes, but to build the soil to enable a long term and sustainable improvement to take place.

Fertile, well aerated soil drains water from the surface which prevents surface puddling, which in turn can drown plant seedlings. Conversely, it helps retain moisture during dry times. The soil fertility encourages an abundance of beneficial earthworms and organisms, which in turn enriches, oxygenates, and aerates the soil. This in turn creates more plant matter, which will be returned to the soil as "food" for soil organisms. Re-establishing this self-perpetuating circle-of-fertility is of the utmost importance in creating a sustainable garden or orchard.

Loose, fertile soil is easy to plant in, and guarantees good root penetration. When planting, I mostly use a small, pointed masonary trowel for potatoes, garlic, and onions. I just stick the point in the soil, wiggle it back and forth a couple ot times, and then drop in the bulb or tuber, and let the soil fall in on top of it. The results speak for themselves. The same at harvest time; a gentle wiggle and tug to remove the onion or garlic or potato vine. This eliminates damage to the food through accidental slicing or stabbing by eliminating conventional digging methods.

Fruit trees in fertile soil can accelerate their growth sequence through their early stages, thus reaching fruit bearing maturity up to five years earlier than trees in mediocre soil. If a fruit tree or berry cane is advertised as tolerant of poor soil, don't keep it there-enrich the soil until it mimics your best garden soil. The better the soil conditions, the better the growth and disease resistance of the fruit tree or berry cane.

In summation, fertile soil is easier to use, grows more food with less time and effort, and produces a more nutritious product. It costs time to work in a disciplined, harmonious manner with the soil under our feet, yet in the long run we save ourselves from lots of money related expenses. And we have the satisfaction of knowing that the soil fertility and harvest improved under our stewardship.

-farmer leaf

*(On Sept.4th 20ll, a 46 day drought ended with an 8.15 inch rainafall event associated with a tropical storm)

Rainwater Harvesting & Storage  Basic Course 101 (One drop at a time )

This daylong workshop is a primer course on creating an agricultural water plan, rainwater collection techniques and the fabrication and maintenance of rainwater collection systems.

It covers the following topics:
    •     A basic discussion on the long history of rainwater collection and ther multiple uses of captured rainwater. Includes recycling household gray and black water.

    •     Safe water storage principles-Includes resource allocation, maintaining water quality, evaporation rates, and mosquito control.   

    •     Calculating rain volume yields from roof areas and impermeable hard surfaces.   

    •     Using and fabricating gravity-fed water transfer systems (gutters, pipes & hoses) for storage and end use.     

    •    The ethical considerations toward other water users competing for the same rain runoff.

    •     Cistern placement and the different types of cistern materials in use (steel, polyethelyne, stone and ferro-cement.)

    •     Mapping the watershed - This segment involves a walk-about explanatory tour of our farm watershed and the multiple drainages directing rain runoff flow.

    •     Pond and reservoir site placement and construction. Includes in-drainage pond placement, identifying useable soil types, using pond liners, constructing swales and berms, and other land shaping (for enhanced water movement) using dredged soil placement.

    •     And much, much more!

    "I think I knew that it was necessary to prioritize how one uses collected rainwater, but I had not previously considered the concept of budgeting for this. It frames the idea much differently for me and causes me to be even more deliberate in my stewardship. I came away with a greater sense of responsibility involved in collecting and then re-distributing rainwater."
                            Rachel Swinney, Knoxville, TN  (March-2008) workshop participant

For more information or to register for this workshop, please go to the Workshop Schedule page.

Rainwater Harvesting & Storage – Advanced Course

    •    This two-day workshop is a hands-on experience of actually creating a small rainwater-fed pond.

    •    Participants will work through the actual steps of siting, soil sampling, and hand carving a 300-500 gallon storage pond. Also includes landscaping techniques to appropriately deal with the dugout soils.

    •    The workshop is designed to give participants the confidence to either hand or machine dig a larger storage pond on their own farm or homestead.

    •    Includes an early morning lesson / trip on the dam impounded Tennessee River (Watts Bar Reservoir) aboard the Emma Bell and Betty L Martin hand crafted - hand powered, pontoon "teaching raft."

    •    Rainwater Collection 101 is a prerequisite for this advanced course.

For more information or to register for this workshop, please go to the Workshop Schedule page.

One day workshops

begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.

A wholesome farm-grown lunch is provided to participants.

Weekend workshops

Begin on Friday evening and end on mid-day Sunday .

A light potluck supper on Friday, three full meals on Saturday,

and a light breakfast on Sunday is provided.

Weekend workshops

Include an evening campfire and story telling at our "Between the Ponds" fire circle.

Musical instruments are always welcome.

For more details-contact us by phone 865-354-8170 or by email

Fees for workshops are as follows:

• School groups and home schoolers $5.oo per person
• One day workshops - $80.oo per person - Bring a friend and get a $10 discount.
• Weekend workshops - $200. per person -  Bring a friend and get a $25 discount.
  
• Sign up for two one day workshops for $140, or three one day workshops for $200
• Sign up for all four one day workshops plus the weekend permaculture workshop for $450
  
• Active full-time student, lower income, or simple lifestyle practitioner - 50% off of full price.
• Work to learn participant - $5 per day - must be pre-approved following a trial day at the farm. **
• It is our intention to not exclude any serious potential workshop participant due to a financial hardship in paying the posted workshop fee. If you need scholarship-type financial assistance or other special consideration, please contact us via email.
  

**The Work to learn program is design to exchange sweat equity for practical knowledge. In exchange for hands-on labor provided to the farm, participants receive practical knowledge, and  credit applied toward workshop participation. WTL programs can be tailored to address learning specific skills, i.e., construction, gardening, water systems, etc.

Workshop Deposit Required

For one day workshops, we require a $25.oo non-refundable deposit to be paid no later than two weeks prior to the workshop date. For weekend workshops, a $50.oo deposit is required two weeks prior to the workshop date. Special arrangements may be made for late sign-ups.

Please make checks payable to Leaf Myczack

Overnight lodgings & facilities -

• primitive tent campsites
• sheltered loft space in the main barn
• graveled parking area for camper - no utilities provided
• rent the farmhouse guest bedroom overnight
  
• enclosed outdoor composting toilet facility w/ wash water sink
• enclosed outdoor kitchen w/ propane fueled stovetop
  

PLEASE DO NOT BRING PETS, FIREARMS, ALCOHOL, OR DRUGS TO THE FARM

Workshops Offered

1. Permaculture, learning from nature - (weekend)
2. Rainwater Harvest and Storage - Basic - (one day)
3. Rainwater Harvest and Storage - Advanced - (weekend)
4. Introduction to Organic Gardening - (one day)
5. Simple Green Construction & Retrofitting Techniques - (one day)
6. New Farm Start Up for first time farmers- (weekend or two day)
7. Basic free range poultry care & management (one day)
   

At this time we are not pre-scheduling calender dates for our workshops.

HOW TO REGISTER FOR A WORKSHOP

1. Choose a workshop topic (from the list above) that you would like to learn.

2. Contact us by email

• Tell us the name of the workshop
• Tell us how many persons will be involved (up to 4)
  
• Tell us the best available date (weekend or weekday) for you or your group. Most workshop sessions are limited to the months of April, May, June, - September, October, November due to seasonal weather conditions and temperatures. Introduction to Organic Gardening & Simple Green Construction are available after March 15th.
  

3. We will confirm the workshop date, and then request a non-refundable deposit from you.

4. Show up at the scheduled workshop, and be both educated and inspired.

Coming from out of state?

email us for details & lodging information.