Prized for its pristine natural beauty, gracious hospitality and secluded worlds-away appeal, Little St. Simons Island is one of the crown jewels of Georgia's famed Golden Isles and offers 7 miles of pristine beaches and 11,000 acres of undeveloped wilderness for exploration and relaxation.  Privately owned and accessible only by boat, Little St. Simons Island has just 16 guest rooms to accommodate up to 32 overnight guests. The island is a paradise for nature lovers and offers a host of recreational, naturalist-led experiences including birding, boating, kayaking, hiking, bicycling, interpretive tours, beach combing, fishing and swimming.  Creature comforts include gracious accommodations in six charming cottages, delicious family style meals featuring farm-to-table cuisine including produce from the islands own organic garden and genuine Southern hospitality.  The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island has received much acclaim including: “#4 in the Top 20 Resorts in the South by Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards 2018.  Visit our website www.LittleSSI.com for more information.

Description:  The Island's half-acre organic garden supplies fresh vegetables, fruit, berries and cut flowers to the Lodge for the benefit of guests and staff. The garden and native landscaping of the grounds serve an important role in teaching visitors about sustainable land-use, conservation and horticulture.

Responsibilities: 

Garden

• Manage and maintain the garden using organic and sustainable growing methods with a focus on soil building, crop rotations and integrated pest management strategies.
• Maintain and improve garden infrastructure: Electric fencing, drip irrigation, raised beds, composting systems.
• Educate and oversee culinary gardener (and occasional other staff) and supervise volunteer and intern efforts.

Hydroponic production

• Use existing NFT hydroponic system and hoop house to produce greens (winter) and herbs (summer).
• Oversee building of additional hoop house space and further hydroponic production facilities to accommodate demand from lodge kitchen.

Composting and Vermicomposting

• Receipt and handling of 95% of organic waste from the Lodge kitchen, using existing composting and vermicompost facilities in the garden.

Education and guest interaction

• Engage guests with educational talks sometimes in the garden, sometimes in an indoor presentation setting.
• Maintain and update signage in selected locations to enable self-guided walks by guests.
• Manage Garden blog and social media posts.

Native landscaping / conservation (In collaboration with Ecological Manager)

• Oversee maintenance of the grounds around the Lodge compound, including heritage plantings as well as native plantings in collaboration with the Ecological Manager.
• Maintain view sheds and trails through natural vegetation around the Lodge compound.
• Work with ecological manager and plan additional native plantings.
• Work with Coastal WildScapes volunteers twice/month to maintain native plantings and collect native seeds for propagation. (www.coastalwildscapes.org)
• Remove invasive/exotic species around the Lodge Compound.

Administration and Maintenance

• Maintain and track all horticulture tools and infrastructure. Refer major maintenance to maintenance department.
• Manage crop and produce record-keeping.
• Prepare and account for annual budget for horticulture department.

Supervision and Reporting

• Co-supervise the Culinary Gardener (half-time in garden, half-time in kitchen).
• Report to the General Manager and the property owners.
• Crop-planning and harvesting schedules are done in collaboration with the executive chef, on a seasonal and weekly basis.

Required:

• At least one year of experience growing produce in a commercial garden or farm.
• Understanding of soil management principles.
• Ability to lift and carry 30lbs.
• Operation and maintenance of light landscaping machinery (mowers, blowers, trimmers etc.).
• Tolerance of high summer temperature and humidity; seasonally-high concentrations of mosquitoes, gnats and deer flies.
• Keen interest in culinary gardening.
• Enthusiasm for teaching and conducting educational talks.
• Ability to relocate to live in the Brunswick / St Simons area (On-Island housing a possibility)

Preferred

• Experience growing in the southeast, estate horticulture, culinary gardening or horticulture education
• Experience with organic and sustainable growing methods
• Experience or training in hydroponic production

Benefits:

• Subsidized health, dental and vision insurance
• 401k with company match
• Paid vacation and holidays