Company description

Hayshaker Farm is a small-scale, mix-powered commercial vegetable growing operation based in the SE Washington state. 2025 marks our eleventh season. The business is owned and operated on leased land by Chandler Briggs and co-managed by Theo Ciszewski. Bri Bell is our Food Hub Manager.

We farm on 8 irrigated acres, growing diversified vegetables and fruit for local families, grocery stores and restaurants. We sell mostly through our online market called the Walla Walla Food Hub. We feature our produce but carry many other producers’ goods from across the region. The food hub is managed by the farmers and is a regular part of the work here.

Our farm is partly draft horse-powered, thanks to the help of our fuzzy teammates, Dusty, Juni and Jane and sometimes other helpful visiting horses + mules. In addition to the compost they help create daily, they help us plow, disc, harrow, cultimulch, cultivate, spread compost, pull loads and harvest crops. We also use a BCS for tilling and flail mowing. We have a small tractor for pallet forks, bucket, rotary mower and transplanter. We are 4 miles from downtown Walla Walla and part of a fantastic local community. It is a thriving college-town city of 40,000+, with excellent outdoor activities, restaurants, bakeries, breweries, music, theater, lectures and wine production.

Applicants should desire to work on a small-scale, high production vegetable farm and local food hub. Ideally all candidates have the ability to lift 50+ pounds regularly and work 7+ hour days, sometimes in the rain and wind, and often in a hot, dry, sunny environment. Ideal candidates love food, cooking, being outside, warm weather, and sunshine. Previous farming experience is not required for all positions, and pay varies depending on the extent of your experience and what position you apply for. See each position for specifics.

If the physical work in field work is too much for you, but you have interest in joining our team, please reach out to inquire about opportunities in bookkeeping, store management and customer service.

We are a crew of 4-8 people depending on the time of year. Some work is independent, and some is in a team. You will need to be able to work with others, listen and follow directions well. During the hottest time of the summer, we usually start at 6am but in the shoulder season we have a later start time that varies depending on work load and weather. Our goal is to work efficiently and with efficacy. We believe in time for you to regenerate, explore and enjoy time off the farm so you will get two consecutive days off—Saturday+Sunday. We share weekend chores of irrigation & feeding. We aim to keep everyone under 40 hrs/week but pay overtime of 1.5x when it happens. Winter work is variable and weather dependent but almost always 20+ hours/person. We believe in maintaining adequate work/life balance for everyone on the farm.

Our teams of draft horses power many of our implements. These job positions are not crafted to teach you how to work horses, but you will be working with them at times, when we harvest some crops, or cultivate. Previous experience with horses is not necessary, but a respect for these gentle giants is required.

What you can expect from us:

• 18 years of farming experience in ownership
• Approaching relationships with care, love, curiosity and compassion
• Investment in tools, equipment and improvements
  Flexibility for time off
• Focus on work/life balance, through communication and time spent
• Understanding that no one is perfect
• Desire to feed all community members, regardless of income level
• Some farm mottos we have painted around the place: “Have fun and be safe,” “Every Farm Needs a Team,” and “Eat the Rainbow”

Job description

We are looking for smart, strong and detail-oriented folks to join our 2025 farm crew. Ideal farm crew candidates will have a strong interest in food and farming, and enjoy working both on a team and individually. We have a unique and fun business model–growing produce and running a food hub on one property. Join our small but mighty crew growing food and feeding the community. Produce and food hub goods are sold to local, regional and state-wide families, restaurants, groceries, and food banks.

Walla Walla Food Hub is located at Hayshaker Farm and is part of the same business–time worked here is one paycheck, one W-2. Applications are reviewed as they are received.

Responsibilities
Work under direction from and in collaboration with farm owner and farm managers (Food Hub, Harvest, Lead Grower) & communicate in person and on Slack

Farm duties (~80-90%)

• Harvest, wash and pack produce 3-5 days/week
• Perform field work including but not limited to seeding, transplanting, trellising, hand weeding, hoeing, using row cover, moving irrigation
• Perform non-field work: greenhouse work, plant starts, delivering, tractor driving, farm clean up & projects, kitchen work

Food Hub duties (~10-20%)

As needed, help with packing, organizing and running the food hub (non-farm products)

Background and Skills

• Experience working in farming, restaurants, groceries or food hubs is desired
• Flexibility and desire to learn new methods and farm systems
• Attention to detail, with emphasis on quality control
• Self-starter mentality, always looking for how to help the team
• Good communication skills
• Energetic and motivated personality
• Excellent work ethic and positive attitude, adaptability to challenges
• Conscientious and able to work with all kinds of people
• Ability to work outside in all weather conditions: hot summers, cold winters
• Willingness to commit to the farm for the full season, ideally more
• Ability to drive large van + drive stick shift very helpful but not required

What you can expect from us:

• 18 years of farming experience in ownership, and many more on the farm crew
• Approaching relationships with care, love, curiosity and compassion
• Investment in tools, equipment and improvements
• Focus on work/life balance, through communication and time spent
• Understanding that no one is perfect
• Desire to feed all community members, regardless of income level
• Some farm mottos we have posted around the place: “Have fun and be safe,” “Every Farm Needs a Team,” and “Eat the Rainbow”

Housing: For those from out of town: no housing is available on the farm, but we can spread the word in our network to inquire about rooms for rent. Some friends, acquaintances or coworkers may rent a room. There are also rentals posted around town if you desire to find something on your own.

Food: all farm seconds and some items we grow are available for the crew. Near-cost farmer pricing on other products sold in our food hub. Meals are on your own, with some weekly shared lunches.

Paid Worker’s Compensation: covered with LNI state program

Paid Family Medical Leave: new program in WA state began 2020

Compensation

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

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline