Quail Springs Work Trade Application ~ Fall 2026

Welcome! If you have not already, please read through the entire Work Trade description on our website before completing this application! 

If you are creative, organizer, land defender, student, clown, wanderer, gardener, careworker, someone seeking a season to reconnect to self and the poetry of the land, or respond to your spirit’s craving to reclaim your courtship with your attention, or if you desire to dive into the dynamics and intersections of a non-profit and off-grid community, we welcome your application.

We are calling for folks who wish to embrace the profundity and resiliency of remote and rural living; people who are assertive learners, curious, creative, mindful and oriented to community care, and responsive to the multifaceted and emergent rhythms that the social and ecological systems here demand of us. Through stepping into responsibility in our living and infrastructural systems here, we hope that folks will cultivate confidence in farm and land based skills and deeper understanding of themselves to carry onward to their communities.  

This experience may require you step into potentially new growth-edges, exploring the balance between hard work and play, independence and collaboration.

Application Process

Please take your time to answer the questions intentionally and authentically so we can best get to know you. This form may take you up to an hour or more to complete. We invite you to consider this application as a tool to discern if at this time, this is the right opportunity for you. 

Applications open on June 20 and will close July 5. Interviews will follow after applications are received.  Folks will be aware of an invitation to the program by mid July. Move in to Quail Springs is September 6, and the program completes December 20.

Our farm program director, kasia (she/they), welcomes any questions about the application process. If you are invited for an interview, there will be space for questions about our non-profit and community then. 

We look forward to reading your words. 


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Email *
Your full name *
Date of Birth *
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Preferred pronoun
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Phone number *
Where are you writing from? (territory, city and state)? *
If you are applying internationally, please describe your visa plan. We unfortunately cannot provide visas for traveling volunteers.  *
Are you applying with anyone else? If so, who? What is your relationship and how long have you known each other? Please note that this person needs to apply with a separate application.  *
If applying with someone else, are you willing to share a dwelling space?  (your acceptance is not contingent on this.) Please ensure to communicate with the other person with whom you are applying so your answers align on both your applications. 
Clear selection
The work-trade program will be held for a total of ~4 months, from September 6 through Winter Solstice (December 20). Can you commit to the entirety of this stay?  *
If you answered "no" above,  please share any dates thats conflict with this time commitment. Are there any prior commitments you have that would take you away from the land for an extended period of time or cause you to end your stay at a specific point? Please specify. *
 Have you been to Quail Springs before or do you know anyone who lives/has lived at Quail Springs? *
Do you have any dietary needs or restrictions? *
Storying - Longer Answer Questions
Please take your time with these questions. You might consider writing your answers in a separate document, saving it along the way, and then pasting your answers here. Responses are limited to 1000 - 1500 characters. We know you may have so much to say, but choose the most important pearls of your story. Know that there may be time to share more about yourself in an interview! 
Invitation for a moment of presence ~ In practicing attunement with our local ecosystem, we also practice attuning to ourselves. Before meetings at QS, we often begin with a brief checkin or gratitude. We invite you to take a moment to ground into your time with this application.  How are you arriving to this application? What do you notice in your body and your surroundings? What has your attention?
What has cultivated your interest in Quail Springs work trade? Tell us about you. Why Quail Springs, and why now?  *

We practice to be anchored in our curiosity...these questions are often a compass for our work here together, and may also guide the arc of your time. These may never be directly and explicitly answered, but rather serve as paths for exploration…

Do you resonate with any of these curiosities? Which one(s), and why? If many, please pick just a few to elaborate.

~ How are we imbued by place when we attune to its story? What do we leave as legacy? How can listening be a way of service?

~ How are we shaped by mutual systems of care? What does being attuned to our communities needs look like? How do we respond?

~ What are we committed to in our communities and how do we attune our intuition to respond honestly and as needed?

~ How do we respond to the needs of our nervous systems as they relate to the earth?

~ How do we alchemize our rage and grief into a fire that feeds us?

~ How are we accountable to our heart’s longings, to our ancestral callings?

~ What does self care feel like in an inherently interwoven and interdependent web of relations?

~ What can we learn from water in the desert?

~ What might the goats teach us about patience, rage, softness, and play?

~ What can we learn from our relationship to fire on Chumash territory amidst colonial legacies, and legacies of cultural and ecological defense, reclamation, and  preservation?

~ How can the seeds teach us about guarding and protecting life?

~ How can we remember the earth as home– that clay can shape us just as we can shape them?

~ How can we expand our capacities and resource our resiliency?

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Recall the winter ceremony invocation shared on the program description...

What is something you imagine may guide your attention while at QS, and what tracks might you follow? What are you most excited about deepening your relation to? What kind of offering might you make for this gathering and this place? (No need to worry, you're not committing to anything now!)


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Do you have experience working with any of the following? Mark all that apply. *
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Please share more details about your experience with each of the things you marked in the above--this may include where you learned or practiced, with whom, for how long, etc. *
What are your learning or experiential goals for this program?  *
Quail Springs has a continued and vested interest in dismantling the complex systems of oppression that keep indigenous peoples, black folks, communities of color, queer and trans communities, poor people, and other marginalized and oppressed peoples from participating in farming and land projects. We are currently committed to continue learning and taking action to address the histories of these oppressions and reimagine together possible different thriving futures. Quail Springs is continuing to grow in our understanding of our individual and collective roles in the necessary change of our shared reality, and we are invested in having those who work and live here be open to these ongoing conversations and actionable efforts. What thoughts would you like to offer? What might feel important to you to share with us about your peoples or lineage? *
How do you define contribution in a shared community? 
Do you have any experiences living and/or working with community that feel important to presence? 
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In our community, people depend on each other to care for animals, plants, and shared systems that can’t wait or skip a day. How do you relate to responsibility and being counted on by others?

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Farm work and off grid community care is beautiful, rhythmic, and alive — but also repetitive, messy, and physically demanding. How do you tend to respond to routines or chores that aren't always exciting or easy?

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We're seeking people who are self motivated-- those who initiate to conspire, organize, and co-create their desires here.

What are your expectations for your time at Quail Springs? What are your intentions?

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Did you read the entire description on accessibility? Do you understand the present conditions?
*This commitment to land based living and farming in a high desert climate can ask a lot of our bodies, minds and spirit. Folx thrive here when they come prepared to show up in physical, mental, and emotional health--and of course, we're here to take care of eachother. Do you feel resourced to show up in this way to join our team? Some elements of living here to consider this coming season are cold nights (as cold as freezing), cool days/rain/snow (as late as May 31), dry climate and high elevation, a schedule based on consistent and emergent needs of the plants, animals, social collective, and land (including early mornings and some days longer than others).

Use this space to share any needs you anticipate having and/or embodiments that shape how you may show up. What would you like us to know?

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Please share any experience you have camping or living with minimal accommodations.   *
This experience may bring up hesitations, concerns, or doubt, especially if it feels unfamiliar and new. Is there anything you want to share regarding your anticipations about the rural desert, community living, social dynamics, and/or the commitment?  
Is there anything else you'd like to add? 
How did you hear about Quail Springs work trade? *
If you selected Word of Mouth or someone's social media page, please share who! (N/A if not applicable) *
You've reached the end of this application. Thank you for sharing your story with us. You will receive a follow-up email in the coming days. 
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