Company description

Sassafras Creek Farm (www.sassafrascreekfarm.com) is a small acreage, USDA certified-organic, diversified, vegetable market farm in Leonardtown, Maryland, located south of Washington, D.C. We are a husband and wife team growing over 30 types of vegetables, small fruit and grains.  We are dedicated to producing exceptionally delicious organic foods, providing meaningful employment, teaching employees and beginning farmers about small scale sustainable farming. We take great pride in protecting our natural resources and operating a profitable farm business.

We use modern, scale-appropriate equipment, facilities and systems to help increase production efficiencies and improve product quality.  We believe in working smarter not harder.  Facilities and equipment include: three seasonal high tunnels, a propagation greenhouse, washing and packing barn, walk-in coolers, tractors, mechanical seeders, rotary spader, mechanical cultivator, water wheel transplanter, bed-shapers, no-till cover crop seeder, boom sprayer, flail mower, fertilizer spreader and root harvester.

Our vegetables and grains are sold at a local farmer’s market and to natural food stores, farm-to-table restaurants, other farms’ CSAs, local bakers and caterers.  We grow and sell year-round.  The farm was established in 2011 and is veteran-owned/operated.

Job description

Duties and Responsibilities

The Assistant Farmer will direct, lead, manage and assist all Crew Members and assist the Farmer/Owner on a wide-range of tasks that includes, but is not limited to:

• Harvesting, washing and packaging
• Record keeping
• Transplanting
• High tunnel management
• Irrigation management
• Greenhouse production
• Field preparation & clean-up
• Farm maintenance
• Cultivation & hand weeding
• Row cover management
• Planting bed preparation
• Disease and pest scouting
• Plant Trellising
• Mulch laying & removal
• Tractor operation
• Small mower operation
• Organic spraying
• Assist at farmer’s market (part time)
• Other duties depending on skill
• Maintain tools and equipment

Work: Depending on time of season, 30 – 50 hrs/week; up to 10 hr days, 5 days/week

Qualifications

• 2 season’s experience in vegetable farming
• Ability to organize, manage and lead crew to complete all Farmer/Owner assigned tasks
• Ability to work efficiently doing outdoor physical labor; lift and carry 50 lbs
• Ability and experience working in a fast-paced team environment
• Ability to focus on quality and have attention-to-detail while performing repetitive tasks
• Ability to manage crops for disease, pest, cultivation, irrigation and harvest
• Ability to maintain records for greenhouse, harvesting, pack shed, inventory, etc.
• Mechanical aptitude
• Serious commitment to learn organic farming as a career

 Benefits

• 40 hrs of paid time-off per year and a year-end bonus
• You will learn skills to manage a small-scale organic vegetable operation on a modern, mechanized, diverse and profitable market farm
• Free produce, fruit, grains, and herbs for your own use
• Exceptional employees will have opportunities for increased responsibility, long-term employment and partnership.

Housing available.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, varies DOE, $16.50 - $20.00

Application instructions

Deadline

March 01, 2019

Attachment

click here to download the attached document.