Elm Street Gardens is a 2 acre intensive market farm located in downtown Sparta, GA.  An urban garden in a rural town, specializing in diverse annual and perennial produce growing 12 months out of the year.  We market our produce in Sparta at the gardens, in Atlanta at two Farmer’s Markets and to a few local restaurants. 

Elm Street Gardens is certified organic and practices no-till farming.  Our goal is to grow the most nutritious vegetables without disrupting the natural processes of soil culture and biology.  We utilize on farm compost and plant based mulch to add organic matter and feed the organisms in the soil.  We also incorporate spent mushroom substrate into our compost from our sister company, Sparta Mushrooms – an indoor mushroom growing facility across the street from the gardens. 
In addition to vegetables we have a small number or laying hens, fruit trees and honey bees, that contribute to the overall health of our ecosystem.  

As an apprentice, you will get to dive deep into what it takes to make this small scale organic farm operate. Basic hands-on farm tasks include: seed starting in the greenhouse, greenhouse management/maintenance, bed preparation, transplanting, in field crop maintenance (ie. pruning, weeding, irrigation, etc), making compost, harvesting, post-harvest handling, community/customer interaction at our on-farm market stand, Atlanta farmers markets, on farm tours and managing volunteers.  Apprentices will be working directly with the farmers at Elm Street and will learn new tasks as they go.  The week would include 40-50 hours of work, with Sundays off.  

Compensation also includes:

• Monthly stipend: $1200/month with increases based on performance
• Housing: your own tiny house with kitchen, bathroom and internet
• Produce: access to vegetables and mushrooms
• Paid vacation: one full week paid vacation in August or September
• Sundays always off
• Middle Georgia Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) monthly policy meetings and farm tours around Middle Georgia

We are looking for someone to work with us April through October with starting and finishing dates being negotiable. Our ideal candidate has these qualities:

• previous farm work experience
• has an interest in small scale agriculture and its overall purpose
• can work by themselves or with a group
• physical and mental ability to carry out all farm related tasks in all types of weather
• willingness to take initiative and has a mind for efficiencies
• has a good attitude and enjoys working outside
• must be flexible – tasks/duties may change due to weather