Employment Description

Our farm is made possible by the hard work of our crew. Each year we hire
twenty or so employees for the months of May through November with ten of those employees working on our farm year-round. We also hire a few additional part-time employees during the summer months.
Employees participate in all aspects of work on the farm, from planting to weeding to harvesting. We offer an opportunity to work outside and learn many aspects of organic vegetable production. We think farm work is very rewarding, but it can also be very tiring and challenging. We work in all weather conditions throughout a long growing season. Therefore we look to hire individuals who are self-motivated, appreciate hard work, and have a sense of humor.

If you are interested in a position on our farm crew, please read our
employment description below and contact us at sixriverfarm@gmail.com or (207) 666-8135.

Employment Specifics
What employees can expect from us:

• We primarily seek to hire employees who are able to commit to a full time work
  schedule for the duration of the farm season. This means starting early-May and working until Thanksgiving. The hours are 7am- 4pm Monday through Friday, with a change in hours from late-June to mid-August, working 6am-4pm. We offer year-round employment to a smaller group of employees who can commit to a full second year of work on the farm (or beyond).
• We hire several part-time employees for the summer months.
• We pay full-time employees a starting wage of $15/hour. We pay part-time employees $13.50/ hour. We have a paid 1/2 hour lunch break around noon each day for employees working a full day. (Employees should bring their own lunch.)
• The work primarily includes planting, weeding, harvesting, and washing and packing vegetables for sale. Much of this work is done by hand.
• We own five tractors (two for cultivating and three for other field work) and use these as well as hand tools. Employees do not need prior experience with equipment, but we are happy to teach those who are interested in using the tractors.
• Once the season is underway, we harvest and pack vegetables on most days. Mondays and Thursdays are the busiest harvest-days, as we get ready for our Tuesday, Friday and Saturday farmers markets.
• At the end of each workday we offer free seconds of vegetables for our crew. We also offer a weekly $20 stipend for all employees (full-time and part-time) to use for first quality produce from our farm stand or farmers market. Additional first quality vegetables are available for sale to our crew at our wholesale prices.
• We only hire hourly employees and do not offer apprenticeships. However, we are more than happy to share all that we know about farming. If you are interested in gaining experience in farming we can share knowledge and resources on topics from soils and field preparation to greenhouse work to record keeping and financial information. Nothing about our farm is off limits, and if employees want to learn more than what we have time to show or explain during a work day we are happy to share more once the day is done.
  
  What we expect from employees:
• Punctuality: It is important that all of our crew arrive on time and ready to work each morning. We go over the schedule and give important information to the whole crew first thing in the morning, so a start time of 7am means actually being ready to work at 7am.
• A good work ethic: The work we do is hard, physical work. We expect employees to stay focused and work efficiently. Employees need to enjoy working and to feel satisfied by a job well done. At times work on the farm can be repetitive and tiring. We value employees who can remain motivated and hard working throughout the day.
• An ability to work in groups as well as independently: We usually try to work together in groups, but sometimes employees are expected to work on their own to complete tasks.
• A willingness to ask questions and learn from mistakes: We encourage questions of all kinds. Sometimes instructions may not be clear or tasks may change over the course of the season. We prefer that employees speak up so we can better explain how and why a job is done the way it is.
• An appreciation for efficiency: We focus on getting jobs done in the most effective and efficient manner possible. We try to demonstrate how to best complete different tasks and we expect employees to follow our examples and be willing to learn and emulate them even if they are difficult at first and do not seem intuitive. We are also always receptive to suggestions on how to improve systems on the farm and we strive to be open to constructive criticism. We expect the same from our employees.
• The ability to work hard in all weather conditions: We expect our crew to work outdoors even on days that are very cold or wet. We provide rain pants for everyone to wear in the field and aprons to wear in the wash station, but our employees must bring raincoats and other gear to stay warm, dry, and comfortable during the day.
• A sense of humor: It is always good to laugh and have fun while working hard!
  If this description meets your interests, please contact us. We ask that
  prospective employees come out and work at the farm for a day to get a better sense of how we operate.
  Farming can be difficult and stressful work, but we love what we do and we hope our crew will too!