Market gardening / Organic mixed farming

Position: Market Garden Farm Workers
Farm: Little Fields Farm
Location: Bright, Ontario (30 mins SW of Kitchener-Waterloo Region)

• Full Time (34-40 hours/week)
• $19.50 - $21.30 per hour (depending on experience)
• Tuesday-Friday (8am-5pm)
• Full Season Position: 6-7 Months (April-November) (Flexible)
• Summer Position: 4 months (May-August)
• Low-cost on-farm accommodation available (shared kitchen and laundry)

Little Fields Farm

Situated on 200 acres of organic farmland about 30 minutes South-West of Kitchener-Waterloo, our farm operation consists of 1 acre of mixed vegetables as well as 5 acres of pasture and cover crop where we raise our laying hens (100), turkeys (50), broiler chickens (300), geese (10-12), and pigs (10-12). We also rent barn and shop space, and after several seasons of infrastructure investments we now boast a heated greenhouse, two walk-in coolers, and a well furnished wash-pack station.

Our style of small-scale ecological farming is supported through our 150 member CSA program that serves Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and our local community. Our main season CSA runs from mid-June through October and offers vegetables, flowers, eggs, chicken, pork, as well as beef, lamb, and microgreens from neighbouring farms.

Claire founded Little Fields Farm in 2015 after spending several seasons as an intern on farms in Ontario and BC. She is an active member of the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) and is currently serving as president of NFU Local 341 Oxford-Perth. Adam spent 10 years leading the Working Centre Market Garden, a 1.5 acre community-based market garden in Kitchener. He holds a Master’s Degree in Agroecology. We are both passionately committed to small-scale farming as a tool for building more sustainable community-based food systems. We have a 2 year old daughter, Phoebe, who joins us in the field on occasion and our dog Bowie is a constant working companion.

Farm Worker Positions

This season we are seeking to hire two full-time staff to help us run our market garden and care for our livestock. We have opportunities for both a Full Season Position (late-April to mid-November) and a Summer Position (May through August). Start and end dates are flexible.

Our farm thrives on cooperative work and this is an opportunity to work alongside two experienced farmers in a team environment. We are looking for a committed self-starter who can join our team and share some of our responsibilities in the field.

Skills and Assets

• Previous experience working in a market garden/farm is preferred
• Able to work efficiently and with attention to quality, both in a team and independently
• Able to cope with the physically-demanding nature of the work, including lifting 50+ pound bags of feed and bins of harvested vegetables
• Comfortable working in the rain, cold, and heat

• Communication and teamwork skills; Able to lead/coordinate other staff and volunteers through the day’s work in the field
• Organization skills for harvesting and packing orders
• Our rural location necessitates your own car in most cases

Shared Responsibilities

• Planting
  • Preparing beds
  • Transplanting
  • Installing trellising, drip-line irrigation, hoops, and row cover
  • Laying landscape fabric
• Weeding and Tending Crops
  • Hoeing, wheel hoeing, and hand weeding
  • Pruning and thinning
  • Managing pests
• Harvesting
  • Picking, forking, and bunching
  • Ensuring proper sizing and quality
  • Washing and packing
  • Tracking inventory
• Tending Animals
  • Feeding and watering livestock twice/day, including hauling feed (50lbs+)
  • Moving chicken shelters twice weekly
• Serving Customers
  • Helping every other Saturday with our CSA pickup in Kitchener - keeping the table stocked, walking CSA members through their weekly shares, and helping with market sales

Accomodation

We are pleased to be able to offer low-cost short-term accommodation alongside this job opportunity. Private bathroom, shared kitchen and laundry. Some furnishings available. Please note when you apply that you are interested and we will forward more information.

To Apply Please Email Cover Letter and Resume to: claire@littlefields.farm

Please mention you saw this at GoodWork.ca.