Company description

Free Verse Farm is a co-creation of Taylor Katz and Misha Johnson, two artists/farmers with a passion for growing, eating, and sharing delicious and nourishing food and herbs.

We're a small, certified organic herb farm and apothecary in Chelsea, VT specializing in naturally-grown teas, culinary herbs, bulk herbs, herbal remedies, and herbal body care. Our herbs and remedies are available at our Farm Shop, a variety of retail stores, and through our Community Supported Apothecary subscriptions.

Since 2012, we have grown medicinal, culinary, and tea herbs at our small farm, cultivating approximately 2 acres of herbs and wildharvesting from our open meadows, pastures, and woods.

Using the herbs we grow as our primary ingredients, we offer a line of herbal remedies, tea blends, herbal body care products, and culinary herbs. Our products are available in boutiques, groceries, farmstands, gift shops, restaurants, and cafés, primarily in the northeast, as well as at our own shop in the heart of downtown Chelsea.

Our herbs are harvested by hand and freshly dried right on our farm. We dry the majority of our herbs in our new, solar-powered herb drying barn, taking the utmost care to preserve the essential constituents that give each herb its flavor, potency, and magic. We handcraft our herbal products in small batches in our downtown apothecary, sourcing as many herbal ingredients as possible directly from our farm.

At Free Verse Farm, we pride ourselves on providing our community with the highest quality organic herbs and herbal remedies. We cultivate our herbs as naturally as possible through hard work and an ever-deepening partnership with the earth. We use mostly hand tools to work the soil, only composts, manures, and mulches for fertility, and never any chemicals. We believe that nothing is more satisfying, nourishing, and potent than herbs tended with loving care; we hope our herbs and products relay that passion.

Job description

Field crew positions at Free Verse Farm provide the opportunity to experience first-hand what it takes to work on a small herb farm. Positions at our farm are not “apprenticeships,” though there is a lot of learning that happens daily, and we are very open to sharing all of our knowledge of growing, tending, and harvesting herbs.

The work will be mostly in the field, focused on the cultivation of herbs, with employees spending the majority of their time planting, weeding, and harvesting crops, as well as drying and processing herbs. Field crew members may also assist with other farm activities, such as tending the herd of beef cattle that spend the summer on our pastures, helping with farm events, etc.

We are a growing business and there is opportunity for long-term employment and growth for the right candidates.

The ideal field crew member:

● Is a hard worker who enjoys manual labor, regardless of weather conditions 
● Is able to lift 50 pounds
● Is flexible, patient, and detail-oriented
● Is comfortable working alone, as well as in a group
● Has a positive attitude and a team mentality
● Has a dedicated interest in farming and/or herbs
● Has previous farming experience (not required, but strongly recommended)
● Has reliable transportation (we re in a rural area with limited access to public transportation) and a commitment to arriving on time to work

The Details:
● Wages start at $16-18, based on experience level. 
● The season runs from approximately May through October. Field crew members are expected to commit to the full season. Depending upon our needs, there may be the opportunity to begin the season earlier in the year, and/or continue farm work with us into November and December.
● Workdays generally begin at 8 am, lasting 8-9 hours. 
● Positions are for 2-3 days per week on the farm (ideally 3), with the possibility of being full-time by taking shifts at the Farm Shop and/or Apothecary.
● There is also the possibility of extra farm work during the growing season and farm sitting for us during the occasional short trip we might take during the summer months.

● Benefits of this position include access to fresh herbs and vegetables from our farm (when available), 15% off all groceries at the Free Verse Farm Shop, first-hand instruction on growing, tending, and processing herbs, and the opportunity to expand your farming knowledge and experience while spending the summer on a beautiful hillside in Vermont.

Free Verse Farm is an equal opportunity employer that values inclusivity and diversity in Vermont's farm community. We are a family-run business offering a respectful work environment that encourages input and feedback from employees.

As managers, we strive to establish strong lines of communication with all of our employees, as we deeply appreciate the ways that employees commit their time, energy, and physical bodies to our farm during the season. We take the physical and mental health of our employees very seriously and strive to teach and model healthy body mechanics and mind frames.

We approach employee management with open-heartedness and a deep respect for each individual's needs, strengths, and interests. 

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $15-20/hr

Application instructions

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Deadline

March 01, 2025