Company description

Hall Brook Farm is a certified organic, commercial scale vegetable farm located in Thorndike, Maine; owned and operated by Pheonix and Megan O'Brien since 2014. Our mission statement is to, “Grow abundant, high quality organic produce, accessible to our community near and far, using practices that are ecologically, financially and physically sustainable.”

Our farm runs year-round. During the main growing season, we grow about 20 acres of produce in the field and 3/4 of an acre in our greenhouses. During the shoulder and winter seasons, we move indoors, growing and harvesting in our greenhouses and packing root crops. At peak season, we generally have around 12 employees, and retain 3-4 employees year-round.

We sell directly to grocery stores from Mid-coast, Maine to Eastern, Massachusetts. We also partner with a local food bank, in order to ensure our food is accessible to all. We focus on growing about a dozen vegetable crops in order to maintain the highest quality possible, increase efficiency and meet our market's needs. Some of our favorite crops are tomatoes, bunched greens, spinach and carrots!

We are a fairly mechanized farm - we utilize mechanical weed control for most cultivation and things like harvesters and conveyors for picking certain crops. This makes the job more efficient and also easier on our bodies, plus the satisfaction of feeling like we got a lot done at the end of the day.

The crew at Hall Brook Farm enjoys a fast-paced, efficient, team-oriented work environment. As managers, we emphasize clear and open communication, reasonable expectations, fair wages and fostering a work environment of inclusion, promotion and team work. We are excited to have folks who have a real interest in farming and who want to grow their skill set!

Job description

We are looking for energetic, enthusiastic, hard-working, farmers to help with all aspects of the veggie production operation on our farm. Candidates that are usually the most successful on our farm enjoy working on a bigger crew, take satisfaction getting things done and having the right tools to do it, and don't mind working around equipment (think, wash lines and conveyors).

We are a more mechanized farm, but you don't have to have any specific experience running equipment to work here. If you're tired of pushing wheel-barrows, transplanting by hand, moving tarps or hauling heavy totes then we might be the farm for you! We value your health, and ours, and we've invested heavily in equipment for the sake of efficiency, comfort and career longevity.

Requirements:

• at least two full seasons working on a commercial scale vegetable farm (preferred)
• willingness to work as a part of a team
• willingness to work rain or shine
• ability to work quickly and efficiently alone or in a group
• ability to take directions and know when to ask questions
• ability to uphold high quality standard
• good instincts around food safety
• basic record keeping skills

Compensation starts at $20/hour for folks who meet the experience requirement, but we will consider applicants who have less experience as well, our base pay is $18.60. Benefits include PTO and workers comp.

A typical day here varies based on the time of year. In the winter and early spring the tasks would generally be picking greens in the high tunnels and washing/packing greens and storage crops. In the winter hours are 8-4:30. In the late-spring and summer our days typically run 7-3:30 except on pick days (Monday and Thursday) which are typically a 9 hour day running from 7-4:30 (we are willing to accommodate schedules to incorporate care-taking responsibilities). The fall is a busy time of year for us, as we're heavy on root crops, and we typically maintain our summer hours up until Thanksgiving and in addition to packing orders there's clean-up, and bulk harvest.

Tasks are varied and include everything from seed starting, picking, washing/packing, setting up irrigation, tractor work (if you're so inclined), planting, weeding, setting up deer fencing, transplanting and more!

We are open to hiring on a part-time and full-time basis, we are also open to folks who can only commit for the growing season.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $20/hr +

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline