Position Summary: This is an opportunity to gain practical garden experience during the transition from summer into fall and a community-facing position to work alongside diverse communities of gardeners in the Burlington/Winooski area. The Fall Garden Apprentice will support end-of-season tasks at our educational garden sites through physical field work alongside other gardeners, and also independently. Work in our greenhouse will involve tidying up after our first season, documenting material inventories, and organizing seed collections.
Hours: 10-15 hours per week, from late August through mid-December. Preferred availability on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Occasional evenings and Saturdays may be required.
Primary Duties:
- Participate in garden tasks such as harvesting, weeding, mulching, pest management, watering, and pruning. Our sites resemble small-scale market gardens and we work with hand tools to tend to vegetables, herbs, flowers, and perennials.
- Participate in end-of-season tasks such as cover cropping, folding row cover, taking down trellises, cleaning and sharpening tools, labelling supplies
- Support VGN staff during community work days and workshops by assisting in preparing materials, participating in group activities, and tidying up after events
- Assist with seed saving of culturally meaningful crops by harvesting, drying, cleaning and storing
- Inventory collections of seed packets for winter storage and digital catalogs
- Document tasks as required, through photographs, logs, and spreadsheets
- Attend in-person/Zoom weekly meetings with supervisor and monthly in-person staff meetings
- This position is approximately 70% field work-based and 30% computer-based. Our staff work from home for admin/office-related tasks.
- We are a small and dedicated team, we are nimble to cover for each other when needed, support our community when possible, and value open communication.
Skills & Qualifications:
- Interest in community-based gardening, food systems, food justice, agroecology
- Prior experience in organic vegetable gardening and/or farming
- Ability to lift 50 pounds and joyfully do physical work in all weather conditions
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills with young children, adults and seniors
- Willingness to learn about different cultures and perspectives
- Able and willing to work independently and take initiative
- Ability to clearly, effectively, and regularly communicate via email and phone
- Proficient in Google Workplace, including word processing documents and spreadsheets
- Personal transportation to get to garden sites in and around Burlington is required
- Experience with graphic design, video editing, and/or web design is desirable
- Spanish, Nepali or Swahili language skills are desirable
Compensation: This is a part-time seasonal position compensated at an hourly rate of $18.
This position will average out to around 200 hours and may be eligible as an academic internship.
To apply: Please email a cover letter, resume and two professional references to Carolina Lukac, VGN Co-Executive Director, [email protected]
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We highly encourage early applicants and welcome inquiries to see if this opportunity would be a good fit.