Job description

Overview: Crabtree Farms is a non-profit organization that is home to an urban teaching farm, Chattanooga’s local food program, and myriad education opportunities for all ages. Located on 22 acres, our total land under cultivation ranges from four to five acres and supports a 100+ person 31 week CSA, weekly offerings at the local year-round farmers market, and produce to local restaurants and food artisans. The small staff of farmers work with a daily rotation of volunteers to run the farming operations. Some volunteers have a weekly schedule and season-long commitment, while the rest comprise a shifting array of regulars, curious community members, and service groups. We grow over 120 varieties of fruit and vegetable and raise a small herd of goats and sheep for program animals (petting and education). Additionally, the farm plays host to several annual Crabtree Farms events, field trips for school-age youth, workshops, community events, and more.

Description:This is a salaried, full-time position, which encompasses many aspects of the Urban Farm. This position reports directly to the Executive Director. Duties for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Planning and implementing growing, greenhouse, and ground preparation calendars
• Ensuring the farm remains a safe, enjoyable place for volunteers, school groups, and the general public
• Directing harvesting and post-harvest processing
• Facilitating general farm maintenance
• Overseeing crop maintenance such as weeding, cultivating, planting, and possible mowing
• Working with and directing volunteers
• As needed, there may be additional duties depending on the needs of the farm
• Administrative tasks will be assigned as necessary
• Most responsibilities are outlined below

Qualifications: The Farm Manager must be experienced in all aspects of the farm, specifically in vegetable, fruit and flower production. The individual should have excellent organizational skills, the ability to communicate clearly with staff and customers, be creative, and must maintain a high standard of quality control. The ideal manager will be self-motivated, have good time management, and be able to make decisions quickly as circumstances change. The FM will need to carry out procedures involved in all jobs, and must understand and implement the appropriate planting, pruning and harvesting schedules.

• Experience: 3+ years, preferably one year with a community farm
• CSA experience preferred
• Mechanical, carpentry, and plumbing experience preferred
• Friendly, outgoing personality willing to work with the public and those interested in farming/gardening
• Proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite
• Experience with Quickbooks preferred
• Detail Oriented, use of common sense

This position is largely an outdoor position. Crabtree Farms is a beautiful place to work, but time there must be spent productively. This job is ideal for a person that enjoys multi-tasking, jumping from project to project and who is not thrown off task easily. This job requires someone who is focused, stays on task, and can get the tasks completed amidst the busy environment.

Key responsibilities:

• Works closely with the Volunteer Coordinator and Assistant FM in leadership and management of volunteer and intern activities on the Farm. This includes delegating tasks, monitoring quality of work, and providing a positive work environment and educational instruction.
• Chooses WorkShare participants for the season, create their schedule, and monitors hours throughout the season.
• Keeps record of the crops: ground preparation, amendment, planting times, locations and harvests. During the growing season, this will include proper maintenance of summer crops through cultivation, fertilization, and spraying for pests/disease as needed.
• Ensures that proper soil samples are taken in the winter and will need a basic understanding in reading soil samples in order to create an amendment plan for the working season.
• Is responsible for proper storage of all vegetables.
• Manages the marketing of produce as needed seasonally, as well as packing for orders in an efficient and organized manner. Quality control is essential to ensure no mistakes are made in this process.
• Manages the full- and holiday-season CSAs, which includes the related paperwork, coordinating the daily harvests, maintaining high quality standards, and ensuring that the year’s boxes are meeting their estimated value. Collaborates with the Assistant Farm Manager to effectively and efficiently supervise running the farm and its finances
• Plans the next season. This includes crop profit analyses, crop rotations, adjustments in crop variety and quantity, the seed order for the Urban Farm and plant sales, soil tests and the calculations and ordering of soil amendments, and the Deerfield order for farm and greenhouse supplies. Additionally, the FM collaborates on the construction and execution of the winter list of duties.
• Oversees general care of all implements and machinery.
• Maintains the barn. This involves keeping tools in working order and annually cleaning and sharpening tools. The FM will manage all staff’s use of the barn and tools to ensure proper usage and placement.
• Tractor work on the farm. This includes managing the ground preparation calendar, noting weather conditions, and ensuring implementation. Amendments and cover crop implementation are also the responsibility of the FM.
• Manages all irrigation equipment, including proper storage, assessment of needs, and ordering parts needed ahead of schedule.
• Shares in the general responsibilities of all Crabtree staff.

Compensation

this position is: salaried

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline

Attachment

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