Market Garden Produce Grower
Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms is seeking:
Market Garden Produce Grower
Job Summary: Under general direction of the Farm Program Manager, this position works within all aspects of small-scale sustainable food production. Job duties include but is not limited to: planting, mulching, weeding, watering, seeding, trellising, harvesting, staffing markets and other on-going tasks associated with vegetable production. During the winter months, this position will oversee putting the fields to rest, season clean up, tool maintenance and the overall production planning and sales/business planning for the operation.
Career Type: Full-time
Education/Experience: Associates degree required in the field of horticulture, agronomy, agricultural science or relevant field. Must have at least 3 seasons farming on a small scale, market farm or equivalent combination of work and education. Working on a farm with a similar scale and approach is be highly desirable. Must have experience with crop planning, produce pricing and merchandising. Must be able to read and understand instructions, diagrams and schematics. Must have a clear understanding and working knowledge of machinery (mowers, trimmers roto-tillers, and small engines), organic fertilizers, integrated pest-control, cover cropping, irrigation systems, and soil health. Experience with tractors and changing implements is a plus. Experience working with and teaching a diverse audience including, but limited to children, veterans, volunteers and partners required. Position may require occasional work on weekends at various locations including but not limited to farmer’s markets and farm stands. Must have a valid Colorado driver’s license and an acceptable driving record. Other desirable skills include light carpentry and mechanical experience, conversational Spanish, culinary knowledge and an understanding of the SNAP Program and Food Access issues in Urban Environments
Essential Job Duties:
- Acts as team leader for seasonal staff in the market garden and implementation of daily scheduled tasks required.
- Conducts routine maintenance of assigned areas to reflect a high degree of horticultural care, producing quality and maintaining a sales goal.
- Maintains assigned areas free of items including but not limited to weeds, clutter, tools, and equipment in order to maintain a clean, safe experience for the groups that visit the garden.
- Transports produce and other items to off-site market locations
- Maintains the schedule of assigned tasks, executes harvesting, processing of vegetables and loading for distribution.
- Manages both small and large groups of volunteers on a regular basis
- Performs a profit analysis on market crops sold at the end of the season annually.
- Maintains irrigation in market garden
Other Job Duties:
- Helps keep regular records of Market Garden crops.
- Applies Integrated Pest Management techniques when required.
- Assists with preparation and presentation of Lavender festival, corn maze, concerts, movies and other special events.
- Works with all departments to assure highest quality experience for all Chatfield Farms visitors.
- Provides courteous, accurate responses to inquiries from management, co-workers, volunteers, members and visitors.
- Maintains satisfactory working relationships with managers, co-workers and others.
- Maintains a positive, helpful and solution-oriented demeanor when responding to or serving members and visitors.
- Performs other duties as requested by management.
Benefits: Major benefits include choice of medical plans, dental, vision and life insurance, medical and daycare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Healthcare Spending Account (HSA) ; a generous retirement plan plus paid holidays, vacation, personal and sick time and access to personal lines of insurance. Additional benefits include short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), an ECO pass and a complimentary Denver Botanic Gardens membership, access to Gardens education classes and summer concert tickets.
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