Company description

Wild Work Farm is a three-acre, woman-owned farm that grows exceptional fruits and vegetables. We have about an acre and a half in crops with another acre and a half in cover crop and perennials. We're going into our fifth year of production and looking to strengthen our business, continue focusing on soil health, and work towards building a core group of employees.

WWF is located in the beautiful High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate NY. The farm is at the north end of our little valley, meaning we have a beautiful and wild spot, surrounded by woods and mountains with the Ausable River on our western border. The Adirondacks are New York's hidden gem - six million acres of rugged, unique park land and small towns. Wild Work Farm produces food for our town and the surrounding towns and is continuing a family tradition of growing food in the High Peaks on this piece of land.

We grow a wide variety of annual vegetables in open field production, as well as in one heated greenhouse and one high tunnel. We have a small blueberry field, asparagus, raspberries and an experimental orchard. We are lucky to market our produce close to home - at farmers' markets, a market-style CSA share, and through local wholesale outlets. In 2020 we added the option for custom produce orders placed through online marketing platforms. We have also begun to focus more on year-round production- increasing storage crops and striving for more productive tunnels, all while marketing our produce close to home.

Job description

We are looking for two full-time people to help fill out our crew for the 2022 season. Ideally, we're looking for folks that might be interested in staying more than one year and are looking to grow with us. There are opportunities to take on more responsibility over time, depending on your interests and the farm needs.

Our farmers are involved in all aspects of the farm's production from seeding and planting, to soil preparation, cultivation and weeding, harvesting and post-harvest. You'll be participating in all the auxiliary tasks as well, like moving irrigation, packing orders, washing totes, and mowing. We are a small farm and we do most of our bed prep by hand and with a BCS, all of our cultivation by hand, and all of our harvesting by hand.

As with all farm work, there will be difficult tasks as well as those that are repetitive. We keep our day length reasonable, but we do work very quickly and efficiently during that time. You should be prepared to spend all day outside, in all kinds of weather, and to pace yourself for busy 8-hour days on the farm. You should be prepared for physical work. We try to make tasks as ergonomic as possible and are always improving, but farm work is physical and you should expect to spend extended periods of time bending over, lifting heavy items, or performing repetitive tasks.

We prefer folks with some prior commercial farm experience because we would like to attract folks who understand the nature and the pace of produce work. We are looking for people who are organized and have developed produce farm 'soft skills' like attention to detail and careful observation, how to move from one task to another, how to work quickly, and how to pace yourself over a day and a season. That said, a mastery of systems is not necessary. Every farm is different, and we will happily train you in our methods of planting, cultivation, harvest and post-harvest.

At WWF, we are a small team, consisting of just four people. We want to have a fun and productive work environment, so we prioritize building a functional team of folks we think will work well together and enjoy each others company. The best fit for this job will be someone who finds joy and pleasure in hard work, a job well done, and in constantly striving to do a job better or more efficiently with a team.

Time Commitment

This position is seasonal and starts part-time in March, running through the end of November. There is room for flexibility and growth in the seasonal schedule and we will work with the right people to create a schedule and hours that work for them. Full-time for us means 32-40 hours per week May-September plus the occasional weekend chores, with fewer hours in the shoulder seasons.

Required Qualifications/Qualities
- Experience on a commercial vegetable farm, preference for multiple years on the same farm
- Ability to lift 50 lbs. safely
- Flexible and adaptable with a can-do, positive attitude!
- Ability to balance attention to detail with efficiency and to work quickly
- Excellent communication skills including the ability to talk through directions for a task or process and ask for clarification where needed.

-Ability to give and receive feedback.

Desired Qualifications/Qualities
- Desire to learn and grow, both personally and professionally
- Interest in working multiple seasons with us

Compensation

This position starts at $15/hr. with raises and bonuses given as the farm's budget allows. Paid Family Leave as per NYS regulation, Workers Compensation, and one week paid vacation after one season of work. All employees get access to farm seconds, plus a market share value TBD. Because we are on leased land, we cannot provide housing, but will help you find housing locally if needed.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $15-20/hr

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline