Vicarious ranch

Last Updated On: May 7th, 2026 at 07:36PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
indian valley road
San Miguel, California, 93451

Primary Contact: Christy Larsen
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 805-769-4628
    Email: vicariousranch@gmail.com

Website: http://www.vicariousranch.com

Website: https://vicariousranch.com

Internship information

General Farm Description: "Vicarious Ranch is a 60 acre ranch in Central Coast California, along the, now dry, bed of the Salinas River. We have a small but growing herd of dairy goats, a handful of hair sheep, rare heritage breed pigs, 75+ pasture raised chickens (layers and meat), a seasonal garden and 90+ fruit tree orchard. To help us manage our herds we have livestock guardian dogs and border collies. Life is busy on the ranch, but we do take time out to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. The ranch sits about 25 minutes from Paso Robles and 45 minutes from the coastal town of Morro Bay. The ranch is surrounded by large and small homesteads and cattle ranches. Our immediate neighbor runs a seasonal u-pick orchard, another has a small vineyard, and a third is currently planting an olive grove. "

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: ASAP
Internship Ends: revolving
Number of Internship Available: 1
Application Deadline: revolving
Minimum Length of Stay: 3 months

Internship Details:

The current open position can be a full-time–full hours–with room/board & stipend, or someone that is looking for a bit more flexibility with a minimum of 4 hours a day with room/board. We are flexible but would like a 3-month commitment…and someone who is serious about working, when they are working. Once the schedule is established, we’d like to be able to count on it.

An ideal intern candidate is someone who enjoys working outside and has a love for both animals and nature. We are seeking task-oriented, motivated, mature, responsible, hard working, problem solvers. While playing with the animals is a nice perk, it is not the crux of the position. Running a farm/ranch requires use of tools, strength and grit. Work starts early particularly in the heat of the summer; days can be long and exhausting. We work full weeks and have feeding chores on the weekends.

Because we are a relatively young farmstead, there is a lot to do and learn. A typical day may start with feeding and milking goats, tagging pigs, doing health checks on sheep, setting up irrigation and planting a new crop of potatoes. If you are into movies, we have Saturdays under the stars where we show movies and star gaze. We have an archery range on site and two of our interns have become hooked and carried on training after leaving. The opportunities to work independently and gain skills is endless. Interns remain very close to the decision-making process and will be assigned tasks that require independent thinking and management. A great work ethic, attention to detail, thinking beyond the task and initiative will be a catalyst to your learning all that you can. We are looking for individuals who instill confidence in us. Strong communication skills are essential.

As you read through this you may think..geeze, this sounds like a lot of work. And yes, it is. But we live in a beautiful part of California with the ocean and hiking close by.

We are a drug-free ranch and do not allow any growing or usage on our property. We allow responsible drinking for anyone over the age of 21, provided that it does not occur during work hours.

HOW TO APPLY: Please send a brief 2-5 minute video telling us a bit about you, a copy of your resume or any related experience, and 2 references to vicariousranch@gmail.com

Educational Opportunities: We currently raise chickens and ducks for eggs and meat, dairy goats, hair sheep and heritage breed pigs. There is also a 90+ tree orchard and seasonal garden on the property. Further, we have beehives from which we harvest honey each year. Our on-going projects include; fencing, livestock housing, dairy goat management, a roadside farm stand, bread making in our wood fired oven, and maintaining hugel mounds and other garden projects. You will take away knowledge in a pasture to plate environment. In season, there will be education in canning and preserving what is grown on the ranch. We run a farmstand and there is an opportunity to learn to bake bread and other goodies, as well as simple cheesemaking. HOW TO APPLY: Please send a brief 2-5 minute video telling us a bit about you, a copy of your resume or any related experience, and 2 references to vicariousranch@gmail.com

Skills Desired: WORK EXPERIENCE-SKILLS DESIRED While we do not have row crops, and most of our produce is utilized for personal use on the farm, there is a fair bit of work to be done in garden management; rotational gardening, planting, weed pulling, composting, irrigation management, seed starting and more. Interns will be responsible for this along with the daily management of livestock which is also labor intensive. On a farm such as ours, interns need to be able to excel in both modes. While having an expertise in one or the other is desirable to us, it is not required. What is required is the ability to follow instructions and retain the information for future problem solving. Knowing how to dig a hole, use a hammer, or an electric drill is desirable as well. I cannot stress enough the need to be an adaptable problem solver to be successful at our place. There will be many instances where you will be working independently and keep your composure in a frustrating situation. We are looking for people who are strong both physically and in constitution, that understand the importance of looking beyond the task, that can thrive in an environment that has both repetitive and mundane tasks as well as those that are time sensitive and fast paced. You must be able to comfortably lift 50lbs and move a bale of hay. Our ranch is drug free. We are amenable to responsible alcohol consumption for anyone over 21 years of age when the work day is finished; we may even join you. I think it is fair to say this: Farming is a daily grind of hard work and determination. Days can be long and the work can be thankless. You will be tired and dirty and possibly frustrated at the end of the day. You must be able to seamlessly move through a day of mundane chores to building fences to moving bales of hay to cleaning out stalls to planting starts to moving compost to organizing sheds to picking produce to milking goats to ordering supplies to feeding dogs to administering medications. And you must be able to do this with minimal supervision while perhaps supervising someone else. If you want to own a farm one day, this is the type of work you will be doing (day in and day out) and you might possibly be hoping to find that great intern that you can rely on. We like hard workers, and we reward good work. We want to be able to trust you because this is our livelihood HOW TO APPLY: Please send a brief 2-5 minute video telling us a bit about you, a copy of your resume or any related experience, and 2 references to vicariousranch@gmail.com

Meals: Interns will be offered bounty of the season, including fresh eggs. A standard pantry will be provided of staples such as rice, beans, legumes, some meat, and cheese when does are in milk. Interns share a kitchen and shopping/cooking/cleaning duties. We do raise animals for meat and serve meat in our family meals. While we are respectful of differences in eating habits, we cannot accommodate special dietary restrictions that require separate kitchen facilities or specialty equipment.

Stipend: We offer a weekly stipend (along with room/board for interns that choose to work full-time. For those that are looking for a more flexible schedule with fewer hours, it is room & board only.

Housing: Every intern has their own living/sleeping space, but they are all different. Our intern housing is not attached to the ranch house and is a small distance (walking) from the main working area of the ranch. Most units have electricity for lights and small electronic devices, but no running water. Interns share a composting toilet and shower facility. There is wifi at the ranch, but not in the individual housing units. there is not a land-line, so a cellphone is encouraged for communication. The ranch is 12 miles from the nearest town and not on a public transportation loop. We do not provide a vehicle for personal use. A valid drivers license is required and your own transportation is preferred. It is very challenging to do personal chores or enjoy time off the ranch if you do not have a vehicle for transport. We cannot accommodate pets, as it is too much of a disruption for the animals currently living on the farm."

Preferred method of Contact: email