Company description
Carolina Flowers is a sustainable, regenerative flower farm on a mission to create careers in agriculture. We operate a full-service florist and 30-acre flower farm serving Asheville, NC, and beyond. By capturing the value-added mark up on our flowers, we're able to create year-round, full-time farm jobs.
We have a flower shop in West Asheville where our daily flower deliveries are created. At our Hendersonville location, we farm and design wedding and event orders.
Carolina Flowers is in an exciting period of growth and expansion, and we hope to find a career-oriented farmer with great skills who wants to grow as a member of our team.
The farmer will be working on a team of 4 farmers. The total size of our staff is about 15 people across departments in both Asheville and Hendersonville.
Job description
The Farmer will be responsible for supporting the Farm Manager in all areas of the farm, including harvesting, planting, weeding, soil prep, supporting/staking, irrigation, composting, maintenance, clean up, and all of the other many various job farms.
The Farmer is responsible for growing dozens of floral crops, providing them with sufficient water and nutrition, managing pests and diseases, supporting growing habits, maintaining, harvesting and handling each flower according to particular handling requirements. The Farmer should encapsulate the spirit of Carolina Flowers with an upbeat, positive attitude and a genial, kind demeanor. The Farmer must be resilient and able to work outdoors in all weather conditions, including heat and rain and snow.
You must be a team player! At Carolina Flowers, we’ve spent years developing our growing practices, and we’re looking for people who can learn and execute our techniques. Good communication skills are required as you will be expected to ask clarifying questions to make sure you understand the processes. You must be open minded and able to receive feedback and direction.
Farming is a rewarding job, but it can be repetitive. You must be able to work on repetitive tasks for long periods of time regardless of the weather.
Duties
Operating equipment, including a tractor, BCS walk-behind tractor, weed whacker, backpack fogger, irrigation pumps and other equipment
Maintaining and repairing equipment, including greasing tractors, changing oil and recognizing and assessing equipment malfunctions
Harvesting flowers while adhering to handling requirements
Preparing soil for planting
Running, installing and maintaining irrigation systems
Weeding
Fertility management
Monitoring for pests and disease
Mowing and grounds maintenance
Applying OMRI spray for pest and fungus control with a fogger backpack
Clean up
Keeping harvest records on the computer and on paper
Integrated pest management
Staking and support netting
Understanding proper harvest stage, necessary harvest conditions and post-harvest handling and processing, including drying
Dead-heading and topping plants to ensure continued production and proper physical structure
Removing previous season’s crops efficiently in order to make room for the next succession planting
Cover-cropping fields between successions as much as possible.
Caring for all over-wintered crops throughout cold months, including venting high tunnels and constructing and venting low tunnels
Seasonally pruning flower bushes to encourage regrowth and proper physical structure
Maintaining the farm properties, including mowing, weed-whacking, ditch maintenance, and regularly removing trash
Maintaining proper irrigation and temperature conditions inside high-tunnels.
May sometimes be asked to assist with deliveries (3-4 times per year)
As part of a collaborative team, you may be asked to pitch in with special events, assist with a wedding, run errands, make repairs at the shop, etc. You will perform other related assignments as necessary.
Requirements
Must be able to lift and carry 50 pounds on a regular basis
At least two seasons of commercial farming experience
You must be able to listen to feedback on your work and use this information to improve
Manual dexterity
An upbeat, positive attitude that comes across in everything you do
Enthusiastic team player
Organized and efficient
Resilient and indefatigable
Punctual and reliable
Preferred Experience
Operating a hydrostatic (automatic) tractor
Operating a BCS or other walk behind tiller
Cut flower or diversified vegetable growing experience
Knowledge of flower names
Benefits:
10 days of PTO per year
Each full-time member of our staff receives a stipend and time for an educational experience every 18 months.
Staff receive 30% on flowers and anything at our store.
Reports To: Farm Manager
Collaborates With: Farmers, Owner, Floral Designers, Floral Assistants
Schedule: Tuesday through Saturday
Terms: Full-Time, non-exempt
Compensation: Depending on experience starting at $20/hr+
Transportation: Our farm is rural, and a vehicle is required for access
Compensation
this position is: hourly, $20/hr +
Application instructions
If you are not registered, you'll be prompted to do so. Don't worry, it's free!
Deadline
no deadline