Four Day Assistant Grower Position at Springtail Farm, West Dorset – Closes Sunday November 6th 2022
Date Published: 10th October 2022
Springtail Farm are looking for an experienced grower to join our small team in the market garden from the beginning of March 2023. This role will begin as a two to three-day position, increasing to four days toward the end of spring. The position will include all aspects of day-to-day market gardening, from seed sowing, bed preparation and planting, through to harvesting, washing and packing. They are specifically looking to hire a more experienced grower keen to engage not only in the day-to-day tasks of market gardening but also to take on responsibility for certain aspects of running the market garden. They hope that by working four days in the market garden, this role will offer plenty of scope for oversight and engagement within the business, whilst also providing a space for someone to hone their growing skills and feel ever more comfortable navigating the varied work and skills that small scale commercial horticulture requires.
About Springtail Farm
Springtail Farm is a 1-acre, minimum tillage market garden on rented land at Fivepenny Farm in West Dorset. Their agroecological growing practices are considerate to the land that they tend, they are attentive to soil and plant health and are driven by a desire to produce high-quality and healthy vegetables, in bountiful quantities for as many people as possible from a small acreage. Their sales outlets include a local weekly street market, a small veg box scheme, and several cafes, shops and restaurants as wholesale customers. They also grow and sell fresh-cut flowers both as arranged bouquets for market and shop sales and as stems to local florists.
There will be a team of four/four plus working in the market garden for the 2023 season. Hard work, teamwork, fun, clear communication, a passion for growing healthy vegetables, day-to-day efficiency across all aspects of the market garden, plus high quality and fast-paced work are all tenants that drive what we do in the market garden, and are all attributes that we will be looking for in job applicants.
What they are looking for in job applicants:
For this position, they are looking for an experienced grower who has at least two years worth of experience in commercial vegetable production, including experience and proficiency across all aspects of vegetable production, from seed sowing to bed prepping, transplanting and crop maintenance right through to harvesting, washing and packing. Experience growing and arranging cut flowers would also be a bonus for this position, as cut flower production is an important aspect of the business.
After thorough training, this four-day position in the market garden will involve taking on responsibility for several aspects of the day-to-day running and management of the growing areas. The person in this position will become an integral part of the team, playing a key role in the smooth running of the market garden.
This job is for someone looking to:
● Take responsibility within a small team
● Contribute to and engage in the day-to-day running of a small-scale vegetable growing business
● Take ownership and pride in their work
● Take day-to-day initiative in the market garden
● Make decisions on their own and as part of a team
● Lead and guide others in a small team
● Work hard and at a good efficient pace
● Have an eye for maintaining high-quality standards of day to day work and produce
● Have fun
● Motivate themselves and others
● Work with momentum and enthusiasm that encourages others to do the same
● Pay close attention to the daily details of growing a multitude of varying crops
● Enjoy growing delicious high quality and healthy vegetables
● Learn ever more about soil and plant health
● Work in all weathers
● Broaden and hone their skills in small scale vegetable production
Finer details:
The specific timeline for the position is to be finalised at the time of hiring, but below is a general
idea.
● Starting March ‘23.
● Two to three days a week from the beginning of March ‘23 to the end of April ‘23: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Increasing to four days a week from the beginning of May ‘23 through to mid-October ‘23: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
● Winding down to 2-3 days/week from Mid October through to Christmas
● Pay: £10/hr from March through May during a more focused initial training period, then £11/hr from the beginning of June onwards as more responsibility is taken on.
● Accommodation is not provided, but we will be as helpful as we can in this department. There is potential for basic accommodation at the farm, but it is not currently set up.
● Full clean driving license is necessary as the job may involve some delivery driving/driving our van around the farm.
How to apply:
Email Lally and Tomas at springtailers@gmail.com with a CV, and cover letter stating why you’d like to apply, plus outlining your relevant experience and anything else you’d like us to know or take into consideration. The farm will then take it from there, first with follow-up emails and then interviews for those who seem like a good fit.
The deadline to apply is Sunday, November 6th, but please bear in mind that they may hire someone for this role before this date, depending on applicants.