Job description

Love & Carrots is in search of an experienced and dedicated individual to lead the operations of our Garden Care Program. Love & Carrots designs, builds, and maintains organically grown vegetable gardens and urban farms in the DC region. Our goal is to re-introduce home grown food as a common cultural practice, and to give people the assistance and skills they need to do it! After a garden has been installed, the Garden Care Program provides clients with garden maintenance, assistance, and coaching throughout the full season. We are a small home-grown company that is expanding quickly. This job offers the opportunity to grow with the company and lay claim to a central/management role in the near future.

This position requires knowledge and experience in organic farming and gardening sufficient to manage the health and productivity of multiple gardens on your own. We are also seeking personal skills in marketing, human relationships, and building partnerships as you would be working closely with customers. There is an aesthetic quality to our work-- our gardens are not only productive, but add beauty to a landscape as well. Attention to detail and neatness is an important skill. We may be farming but we’re not on the farm!

Desired Qualifications:

• An academic degree in horticulture or organic agriculture, OR at least two years of very broad horticultural/agriculture experience- please provide references
• work experience in the DC/VA/MD region is a plus

Strong knowledge of organic gardening methods is a must, for example:

• Basic growing skills from seed to harvest for the regular suite of vegetables
• Soil fertility
• Insect, fungal, and bacterial pests: identification, target crops, best management practices, proper treatment techniques
• Good crop rotation and nutrient cycling practices
• Companion planting
• Competence with basic tools: hammer, power drill, etc.
• Strong physical labor skills (e.g. lift 50 lbs)
• Must have a vehicle

Characteristics we are looking for include:

• Demonstrated ability to self start tasks and follow up on completion/evaluation
• Demonstrated ability to both follow and give directions, and seek assistance when needed
• Ability to manage or to help manage issues as they arise
• Ability to work successfully as part of a team
• Highly organized
• A passion for growing local food!

The position entails the following duties:

• Managing every aspect of 12-15+ home vegetable gardens on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule
• Logging garden progress, pest problems, seeding, harvest, and material use
• Regular client communication with regards to garden progress and visit recaps
• Assistance with garden installations and new builds

And more!! This position will evolve to important roles such as management and training of a garden maintenance team, marketing outreach, program development, etc.. Bring and develop your skill set with our well respected and growing company.

Hours and Pay:

• Begins: as soon as applicant is available- looking for someone to begin this fall
• Hourly wage starts at $10 - $15/hr, ranging with experience. Possible supplemental monthly salary for marketing or program development work
• Per-mile compensation for driving
• 30 to 40 hours a week depending on the season: 30-40 hours a week during the growing season, ~20 hrs a week December, January, and February

Compensation

this position is:

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline