The“1-For-6” volunteers work one day per week every week for 6 months. This is ~24 total volunteer work days, with extensions for bad weather, illness, vacations, etc. Work days can be weekdays or weekends. Friends and associates are encouraged to sign up together. Spots are limited. Experienced field managers, guest speakers and the Restoration Oaks Ranch Director of Stewardship will guide and oversee activities, provide hands-on training, work alongside volunteers, offer “insider” insights, initiate discussions and encourage feedback throughout the day. We discuss applied agroecology and agroforestry principles, focusing on scalable sustainable cultivation, crafting natural fertilizers, supporting healthy soil and plant ecosystems, and high-yield, nutrient-dense food production. We also address how we can restore and sustain healthy watersheds and manage climate change in terrestrial ecosystems—all of which we do on the Ranch, all of which are irreducibly related.
Volunteers will be doing some pretty boring work, like weeding, and some pretty fun and unusual work, like building high quality organic natural fertilizers, transplanting in-ground berry plants or building beaver dam analogs. Workdays will bring opportunities to get a non-linear workout, learn something new, build relationships and do something of tangible value for the environment, our local foodshed, and our Santa Barbara County community.
By the end of six months, volunteers will be able to look back and see the difference their one set of hands has made in the fields and in the wild. They will also see how nature assimilates and works with us when we bother to work with her. We encourage our volunteers to come back year after year to see the bigger differences that time brings. Volunteers will have also gained a practical understanding of the possibilities and limitations of small-scale regenerative agriculture, habitat restoration, and land stewardship in California.
Recommendations For The Work Day
Bring a shade hat, sunscreen, long-sleeved shirt, long pants, comfy, sturdy shoes or boots, working gloves, water, (we will also provide water as needed), a bag lunch, pruning shears ( which you may or may not use) and a light backpack or tote to carry it all.
Requirements For Volunteer Work Day Participants
- Must be generally able-bodied, although some activities are not demanding.
- Must have your own transportation to and from Restoration Oaks Ranch.
- Must fill out an enrollment and emergency contact form.
- Must sign an insurance waiver.
A Unique Perk– Volunteers Are True Blue Members!
Out of appreciation, we enroll volunteers as members in the Santa Barbara Blueberries True Blue Membership Program. While volunteers are actively participating in the 1-For-6 Volunteer Work Day program, they receive 20% off all Santa Barbara Blueberries fruit and merchandise.
Participant Benefits Of The 1-For-6 Program
Considering the 1-For-6 volunteer program? Here are a few benefits we’d like to highlight:
- Hands-On Agroecology & Agroforestry Education: Interactive in-field learning is practical, enjoyable, and more memorable than classroom learning.
- True Blue Membership: Enjoy a 20% discount at the farm store as another thank-you for your help and support of small-scale farms and habitat restoration.
- Purpose-Driven Nature Therapy: Reduce stress and lower cortisol levels by working outdoors. Aligning your efforts with a cause you believe in naturally restores mental energy and optimism.
- Outdoor Fitness: Burn calories and build core physical resilience through non-linear and variable farm and restoration activities that challenge your body in a different way.
- Immune System Boost: When you work in the sun, you recharge your immune system with natural Vitamin D.
Connect With A Purpose To Santa Barbara’s Food Growing Lands
Serve your community and the environment at the same time while connecting with our beautifully wild Santa Barbara food growing landscape and agricultural heritage. Learn enough and teach enough to make a difference.
INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING?
Contact Ed through the Wild Farmlands Foundation
(we're working on our sign-up form)
Materials copyright in process | Copyright © 2026 | 1-For-6 Volunteer Work Days
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