Volunteer Days
Work alongside experienced stewards in gardens, pastures, and ranch systems.Join the Sustainable Settings Crew in planting, cultivating, and harvesting as we steward the land together.
Wednesdays & Saturdays - 1 pm to 4 pm - Join us twice a week at Sustainable Settings as we invite the community into the living work of the ranch. Join the Susty crew in planting, cultivating, and harvesting as we steward the land together.
What to Expect
Tasks vary seasonally and may include planting, cultivating, harvesting, compost turning, and general ranch support.
Please Bring
Water bottle, gloves, closed-toe shoes, hat, layers, sunscreen, snacks, and a great attitude!
“When I went to Sustainable Settings I expected to learn how to save the planet. But that wasn’t what happened. I learned how to work my ass off. I learned how to build a gambrel roof, and how to plant multicolored chard and orach. I learned that an 8 year old kid can design and build energy efficient model houses and tell you all about how they work.
I learned that happiness and laughter are wonderful and a little kindness can go a long way. Before I went to study at Sustainable Settings I did not have much hope for the future. Now I am full of hope.”
– Dylan Mace, Senior at Colorado Rocky Mountain School
Reflecting on his senior intern project, May 2005
Internships Programs
Sustainable Settings is a 244-acre working ranch and Whole Systems Learning Center dedicated to applied sustainability. Our residential internship is a full-time, seven-month immersion in Biodynamic and Beyond agriculture, holistic land stewardship, green building, food systems, and community life. Interns participate in the daily rhythms of the ranch: rotational grazing, gardening, milking cows, irrigation, food preservation, educational programming, and hosting visitors. We operate on a perception that the ranch is an individual, Whole Farm Organism.
This is not a classroom experience. It is physical, intellectual, and deeply personal work; incorporating conscious, yet practical agrarian methodologies. Interns live seasonally, rise early, share meals, study from our extensive library, and take responsibility for their own learning. We graduate alert, disciplined, humble Certified Generalists who understand whole systems thinking and the human energy required to produce a morsel of food.
Room and most board are provided. Compensation is the opportunity to learn through daily participation in the life and work of the ranch, an education offered without tuition. We are looking for mature, self-motivated individuals ready to work hard, think deeply, take charge of their own experience and participate in building an island of health in soil, water, air, and community.
Accepting applications now for the Summer 2026 Season.
