Part-Time Farmer Job Description

Please review all the details of this position to make sure you meet the requirements before applying. A link to the application is below.

Job Title: Farmer


Location: Marshall, NC, with occasional work in Edneyville, NC


Terms: Seasonal until November 15 & Part Time, approximately 24 hours per week


Schedule: Monday, Wednesday & Friday, approximately 7:30 to 3:30


Compensation: $20+ per hour depending on experience


Requirements: At least one full season of recent farming experience

 

Start Date: As soon as possible

 

About Carolina Flowers

Carolina Flowers is a florist and 30-acre flower farm serving Asheville, NC, and beyond. We create designs for weddings and events throughout Western North Carolina, Charlotte and Greenville, and we create daily flower deliveries for our Asheville customers. We operate from our retail storefront on Haywood Road in West Asheville, and we are transitioning our production team to our new studio in Hendersonville. We are currently moving our farm from Marshall to Edneyville, about 15 minutes east of Hendersonville.

Carolina Flowers is in an exciting period of growth and expansion, and we hope to find a career-oriented Farmer with great skills who wants to grow as a member of our creative team.

The Farmer will be responsible for supporting the Farm Manager in all areas of the farm, including harvesting, planting, weeding, soil prep, supporting/staking, irrigation, composting, maintenance, clean up, and all of the other many various job farms. The Farmer will be working on a team of three or four farmers.

 

Job Description

 

The Farmer is responsible for growing dozens of floral crops, providing them with sufficient water and nutrition, managing pests and diseases, supporting growing habits, maintaining, harvesting and handling each flower according to particular handling requirements. This part-time position will focus on harvest with many other duties also. The Farmer should encapsulate the spirit of Carolina Flowers with an upbeat, positive attitude and a genial, kind demeanor. The Farmer must be resilient and able to work outdoors in all weather conditions, including heat and rain and snow.


You must be a team player! At Carolina Flowers, we’ve spent years developing our growing practices, and we’re looking for people who can learn and execute our techniques. Good communication skills are required as you will be expected to ask clarifying questions to make sure you understand the processes. You must be open minded and able to receive feedback and direction.


Farming is a rewarding job, but it can be repetitive. You must be able to work on repetitive tasks for long periods of time regardless of the weather.

 

Duties

  • Operating equipment, including a tractor, BCS walk-behind tractor, weed whacker, backpack fogger, irrigation pumps and other equipment
  • Harvesting flowers while adhering to handling requirements
  • Preparing soil for planting
  • Running, installing and maintaining irrigation systems
  • Weeding
  • Fertility management
  • Monitoring for pests and disease
  • Mowing and grounds maintenance
  • Clean up
  • Keeping harvest records on the computer and on paper
  • Integrated pest management
  • Staking and support netting
  • Understanding proper harvest stage, necessary harvest conditions and post-harvest handling and processing, including drying
  • Dead-heading and topping plants to ensure continued production and proper physical structure
  • Removing previous season’s crops efficiently in order to make room for the next succession planting
  • Cover-cropping fields between successions as much as possible. 
  • Caring for all over-wintered crops throughout cold months, including venting high tunnels and constructing and venting low tunnels
  • Seasonally pruning flower bushes to encourage regrowth and proper physical structure
  • Maintaining the farm properties, including mowing, weed-whacking, ditch maintenance, and regularly removing trash
  • Maintaining proper irrigation and temperature conditions inside high-tunnels.
  • May sometimes be asked to assist with deliveries (3-4 times per year)
  • May sometimes be asked to assist with farmer markets (approximately 1 time per year)
  • Many duties not listed  here


Requirements

  • Must be able to lift and carry 50 pounds on a regular basis
  • At least one season of commercial farming experience
  • You must be able to listen to feedback on your work and use this information to improve
  • Manual dexterity
  • An upbeat, positive attitude that comes across in everything you do
  • Enthusiastic team player
  • Organized and efficient
  • Resilient and indefatigable
  • Punctual and reliable