Assitant Grower, Lexington Community Farm

About the farm: Lexington Community Farm Coalition (LexFarm) is a non-profit certified organic farm. We are committed to increasing access to organic produce for households of all income levels. LexFarm provides hands-on education to foster connections to farmland, farming, and each other, through workshops, our CSA, and volunteer programs.
LexFarm was founded in 2009 in an effort to preserve the 7.9 acre Busa Farm upon its sale to the Town of Lexington. LexFarm incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2011 and is currently in its fifth year of production on five acres. Produce is sold through a 200 share 20-week summer CSA, 50 share 8-week fall CSA, 70 share summer flower CSA, and farm stand. We have a busy flower and vegetable seedling sale during May weekends. We donate produce through two local food rescue organizations. In 2018 farm production will focus on improving yields, increasing efficiency, and improving soil health through reduced tillage, improved drainage, compost production, and targeted amendments. Farm leadership gives staff the education they need to succeed and take ownership of tasks.

Job Description:
The Assistant Grower will work closely with farm staff, work shares, and volunteers to complete seedling production, field prep, planting, harvesting, washing and packing, irrigation, cultivating, record-keeping, and farm maintenance tasks. The Assistant Grower will be given necessary training in order to:
- be the point person for our Prebuy Seedling Sale
- lead the farm crew in absence of the Farm Manager
- lead our field volunteer experience
- perform basic tractor maintenance, and
- work one Saturday/month leading a 2-hour volunteer morning and spending the afternoon in the farm stand.

Hours (may vary for the right candidate):
- 24 hours/week April 1-May 1, includes some weekends in the greenhouse
- 40 hours/week May 1-November 1, generally Monday-Friday, including some weekends in May and 1 Saturday/month through October
Hours vary throughout the season but are generally: 7:00-3:30 with a mid-morning break and lunch break. Wednesday’s schedule may be adjusted if the Assistant Grower would like to attend EMass CRAFT trainings.

The right candidate will be self-motivated, quick, responsible, attentive to detail, curious, flexible, and comfortable communicating with a wide variety of people. This position involves working both independently and with a group.

Requirements:
- A minimum of one season’s farm experience, plus two year’s work experience in any field (part-time/seasonally while in school is fine)
- Comfortable working with basic Excel spreadsheets
- A positive attitude and good sense of humor, in all kinds of weather
- Demonstrated ability to follow directions and work independently
- Ability to bend and lift 50 pounds repeatedly
- Punctuality. All staff are expected to be dressed for the weather when the work day begins.

Benefits include: compensation at $13.00-$14.00/hour, produce from the farm, discount on local products in the farm stand, Worker’s Compensation, 5 days paid vacation to accumulate with hours, paid holidays, and $100 workshop credit and paid attendance at workshops, pending Farm Manager’s approval.

The position descriptions are attached.
To apply, please send a resume and brief letter of interest to
employment@lexfarm.org.