Natalie with one of the donkeys at Local Homestead.
Image Credit: Emily Ringley
What began as a family favorite spot to support our local farmers has now come full circle. Just 13 years later, I found myself interning at the very farm that my family and I used to always stop at! Located in my hometown of New Windsor, Maryland, a small community of just 1,500 people, is Local Homestead Products LLC. This on-farm market has grown from a small roadside stand to now a popular spot for high quality, locally grown and raised produce, meats, dairy, and more.
My name is Natalie Rilley, and I am a current Agricultural and Resource Economics major pursuing an add-on certificate in Agricultural Business Management for the Institute of Applied Agriculture. For the summer of 2024, I chose Local Homestead as my internship, which provided me with a wide variety of agricultural-related experiences. Coming to work everyday, I was always prompted with new and exciting tasks: from cleaning out pig pens to working in the greenhouse or picking squash and zucchini.
Taking care of the animals was one of my favorite tasks. This mostly involved feeding, giving them water, and ensuring their pens were clean. I also worked in the greenhouse where we grew and harvested a variety of lettuce to sell in our market. We used hydroponics to grow summer crisp, romaine, and butterhead lettuce. Furthermore, when it came to picking vegetables, this task was just as it sounds. We brought crates out to the field and picked as many vegetables as we could. My role also involved working in the market, where I was
responsible for customer satisfaction and ensuring our market was always stocked. The variety of tasks and unpredictable days on the farm were what made working there so enjoyable. I’ll never forget the day my coworker and I were cleaning out the pig pens and one of our boars escaped. It was a scary time for us both but we eventually were able to return him to his pen.
This boar’s strong desire to find ways to escape earned him the nickname “Houdini”! Each day at the farm was exciting and I eagerly looked forward to what each day would bring. In addition to the hands-on experience, I also had the opportunity to understand how the
farm operates on the business side. As a full-time employee, I was able to sit in on their weekly meetings as they discussed and strategized various aspects of the farm’s business. These meetings covered everything from sales strategies to marketing plans to the financial forecasts for the week. For example, a major topic of conversation was how to bring in more people each week. Ideas often consisted of ensuring Facebook was up to date or offering sales or discounts on certain goods to draw people in. Observing these meetings I was able to deepen my understanding of the critical behind-the-scenes work of what it takes to keep a farm running smoothly. It was also interesting to take note of how the decisions made in the meeting directly influenced the farm’s operations and success over the week.
After completion of this internship, it has helped me realize that I want to continue to work in agriculture after I graduate. This is such an important field and there is so much knowledge and work required to be a successful farmer. They must possess extensive knowledge about soils, pesticides, crops, animals, nutrition, machinery, and more. I would love to be able to work directly with farmers in order to help them succeed.
Overall, this experience has been incredibly rewarding, teaching me perseverance, teamwork, adaptability, and what it takes to be a farmer in today’s world. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Local Homestead Products and believe I was an asset to the farm. As my supervisor noted, “Natalie’s reliability and strong work ethic made her a key contributor to our farm and market!” This internship not only reinforced my passion for agriculture but also confirmed my desire to pursue a career in this field.
