Company description

Great Day Gardens is a market garden and wood-fired bakery in Forest, VA run by Michael Grantz and Arden Jones. We are committed to providing nutrient-dense food to the Lynchburg area while engaging our community in regenerative agriculture. 2019 will be our 5th year in business, and we plan to supply vegetables, naturally-leavened bread, live plants, cut flowers, herbs, and pastries to 2 weekly farmers markets, a 30-member CSA, an on-site farm store, an online local food buying club and a handful of area groceries and restaurants. We also plan to do about 20 meal events (mostly pizza) both at our farm and off-site.

Job description

2019 Market Garden and Bakery Assistant Position Details

We are looking for an Assistant who shares our vision of building community resilience in Lynchburg through nutrient-dense food and regenerative agriculture. Your primary responsibility will be working independently and with our crew in producing both intensive, biologically-grown vegetables and naturally-leavened, wood-fired bread and pastries.

Depending on your interest, there are also opportunities to spend some hours selling at weekly farmers markets, a farm store located in the baking facility, delivering to a few wholesale accounts, and at on-farm events.

Schedule:

This position is part-time and seasonal, from early April to December. Continuing employment into the winter of 2020 is possible, but not guaranteed.

Schedule is flexible, we can work with you to make space for your other job if need be. Bakery work will be Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and farm work on Wednesdays or Fridays. Thursday and Friday mornings are required for mixing dough and harvesting, respectively. Hours would be between 7AM and 4PM, with occasional Saturday farmers markets from 6:30 AM to 12:30. Total work will be between 12 and 24 hours a week, fluctuating seasonally (peak hours from June to August). Up to 9 days unpaid vacation throughout the year, as well as some time off around the holidays.

Duties:

• Harvesting greens, roots, and fruiting crops at a quick pace and according to consistent quality standards.
• Wash and pack produce into bins for delivery, keeping accurate records of what is packed.
• Supervising volunteers and interns during farm work.
• Occasional miscellaneous garden tasks such as planting, weeding, pest control, etc.
• Mixing, kneading, and shaping batches of bread dough. Feeding and maintaining the sourdough starter.
• Mixing, laminating, and shaping pastries.
• Firing the oven, splitting and hauling wood, raking coals out of the oven.
• Washing harvest bins, organizing pack-out and bakery spaces, washing dishes, cleaning floors. Maintaining a clean, healthy work space in both the pack-out and bakery.
• Communicating process issues, problems with tools and equipment, and ideas for improvement in an effective manner

Qualifications:

• Experience in farming, gardening, retail sales and marketing, food service, sourdough baking, pizza-making are all preferred, but none are required.
• Strong interest in ecological farming and/or sourdough baking.
• Ability to lift 50 pounds and work up to 10 hours on your feet, occasionally outdoors in extreme weather.
• Ability to follow detailed instructions regarding production processes and ask relevant questions.
• Ability to work at a quick pace while keeping quality high and solving problems that arise.
• Commitment to working at least through the end of 2019.
• Positive attitude and ability to work in a team.

Compensation:

Starting wage is $9.00 per hour to increase as proficiency is gained, with a higher starting wage possible DOE. An end-of-year bonus for staying on through December, and surplus bread and vegetables from the farm on a weekly basis.

Housing on the farm is a possibility with minimal rent, please ask if you are interested.

Compensation this position is : hourly Work visa This employer is willing to sponsor a work visa for international applicants Application instructions Deadlineno deadline