Organic Vegetable Farming

Hiring: Fieldwork – Organic Vegetable Farm
Farm: Fertile Ground Farm
Location: Hanover/Neustadt area, Grey County, Ontario

Our Farm

We are a community-oriented, organic vegetable farm operating on a beautiful 100 acre property on the South Saugeen river. While our primary focus is on our 4 acres of vegetable fields, we also raise pastured laying hens and our land supports 20 acres of hay/pasture and 75 of woodlot, wetland and riparian habitat.

Since building relationships with the people we feed is really important to us, most of our produce is sold through our 350 member CSA (Community Shared Agriculture), supplemented by an online store, some restaurant & retail sales, and a spring seedling sale. Our CSA members donate to a Community Shares Fund which we use to grow $10K+ for the Cambridge Food Bank and to offer sliding-scale CSA shares.

We have a heated greenhouse for seedling production and 3 unheated tunnels for season extension and tomatoes. Our work is a blend of human and tractor scale: our 3 tractors are used for primary tillage and in-row cultivation but we continue with plenty of hand work as well. Our team of 4-5 full time workers includes our Field Manager Felix and Farm Manager Angie – both of whom are equal participants in harvest & other field activities as well as carrying out all the administrative tasks of the farm. Continuous learning & ongoing systems improvement are important here - we work hard, support each other, and take deep satisfaction in our work. Although we just relocated our farm to Neustadt for the 2025 season, we continue to feed our community in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Skills & Assets to Thrive on Our Team

Diversified market gardening is highly skilled work. Applicants will ideally have experience on a vegetable farm. The ability to absorb and integrate detailed instruction and feedback is key. We are looking to build a team with quick hands, positive & collaborative attitudes, strong observation skills and tenacity to see tasks through start to finish. Adaptability to roll with rapidly shifting task priorities, curiosity to drive your learning, a desire to contribute creatively to the ongoing improvement of our farm systems and a sense of humour are all highly valued.

Our work is physically and mentally demanding, with long hours outdoors in all weather. Great stamina, and in particular strong back and knees are essential.

Baseline Qualifications

• Legally able to work in Canada
• Preference given to those with prior vegetable farming experience
• Our work is physically and mentally demanding, with long hours outdoors in all weather. Great stamina, and in particular strong back and knees are essential.
• Ability to work hard physically incl deep bending & lifting 50lb regularly

Our Daily Work

Most tasks require quality work at a quick pace, often under pressure:

• Planting, harvesting and washing/packing vegetables
• Pest control, weeding & irrigation
• Greenhouse and tunnel work
• Poultry chores
• Endless problem-solving
• Hosting CSA distributions weekly June-Oct

Key Assets

• Experience with farming &/or other outdoor, physical work
• Quick hands & commitment to improving task efficiency
• Ability to absorb and integrate detailed instruction and feedback
• Positive & collaborative attitude
• Strong observation skills
• Adaptability to roll with rapidly shifting task priorities

With a brand new wash/pack & storage building under construction and new fields under cultivation, there will be lots of infrastructure set-up and new systems development underway for the 2025 season. This will be an exciting & potentially also stressful season as we settle onto new land after 17 seasons at our rented farm in Waterloo!

Hours & Remuneration

We are an Ontario Living Wage certified employer

• $20-23/hr starting wage
• May-Oct season (April/Nov PT possible)
• 40-50 hr/wk Mon-Fri, typically 6am-4pm June-Aug. (Occasional weekend work for chores and special events)
• 5 days holidays paid at 75%
• 1 professional development day for workshops/farm tours
• plenty of vegetables & eggs for personal consumption.

As our team is small and everyone is essential, commitment to a full season of work is required.

Special Assets

• Infrastructure & General Handy-skills: power tool proficiency, basic construction & structural repairs, general fix-it and mechanical prowess. While all positions are primarily field work positions, this role would also involve some responsibility for construction, repairs and maintenance of infrastructure including greenhouses, irrigation, cooler, tractor implements etc.
• Post-Harvest Handling: experience with vegetable washing/packing? You may want to consider applying for our Wash/Pack Lead [LINK TO OTHER POSITION]

To Apply

Send resume and a letter outlining your relevant work and farming experiences, as well as your motivations for working with us to: info@fertilegroundcsa.com

Please mention you saw this posting at FoodWork.ca.

Applicants from members of BIPOC & LGBTQ+ communities are very welcome.

We are also hiring a Post-harvest production lead.