Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Assistant Grower

Five Acre Farm
Backwell, Bristol

Posted: 28 Nov 2024

Deadline: 15 Dec 2024

Compensation: £12.25/hour

Paid Part-time Fixed term / contract

Job description

Assistant Grower Vacancy - Five Acre Farm

We are looking for a dedicated veg grower with a minimum of one season’s commercial veg growing experience to join the small team at our regenerative farm in Backwell, just outside Bristol, for the 2025 season. For the right person this could also lead to further work in future seasons.

This could be an ideal opportunity for someone who has developed some core growing skills and experience and is looking to gradually take on more responsibility within a team. The role will involve all aspects of raising and harvesting crops, including some tractor work. All team members are encouraged to share ideas through regular crop walks and meetings, and to take a leading role in areas of particular interest.

Job: Assistant Grower at Five Acre Farm, Backwell, North Somerset BS48 3BQ

Dates: Fixed-term position from mid-March 2025 to end of October 2025.

Hours: 4 days/week Mon-Thurs (typically 36 hours 7am-4pm). Occasional weekend cover (average of 1.2 weekend days per month, with weekdays off in lieu).

About Five Acre Farm:

We are a small mixed farm in Backwell, 6 miles southwest of Bristol. We are run along agroecological principles without the use of artificial chemicals, and we put soil health at the centre of what we do. We currently have five team members each working between 1 and 4 days a week, although not all work on the veg side of things.

Our main focus is on veg production, but we also have a cut-flower operation, 10 active beehives and a young orchard. We have recently become a Community Interest Company and are committed to fostering local engagement with sustainable local food production and nature connection through volunteer days and on-farm events.

We produce a wide range of veg and herbs, specialising particularly in leafy veg and high-value polytunnel crops but with a plan to grow more winter crops in 2025. Next year we will be growing on around 1.3 acres of tractor-cultivated beds and 0.5 acres of mulched no-dig beds (including 0.2 acres in polytunnels).

We are linked to the Tobacco Factory family and were established in 2018 as part of their mission to contribute to sustainable local food systems. We retail our produce through our small onsite Flower Barn and wholesale to the Five Acre Farm Shop and Tobacco Factory in South Bristol, as well as assorted other local shops, restaurants and veg box schemes.

There is no onsite accommodation available, however the farm is conveniently located with good public transport links to Bristol and elsewhere.

Job description:

• Assisting with the management of all aspects of vegetable production and sales
• Propagation, no-dig bed prep, planting, harvesting, packing, weed and pest management
• Some tractor driving including cultivation (training provided if required)
• Input on practical decision-making such as prioritising farm jobs and assessing produce availability
• Occasional liaising with customers, producing invoices and other record-keeping (cover for Head Grower)
• Occasional weekend staffing of our Flower Barn shop
• Coordinating tasks with other team members and volunteers
• Open channels of communication, support with professional development and opportunity to take lead in particular areas of interest

Essential attributes/skills:

• Minimum one full season’s experience in commercial vegetable production
• A reasonable standard of physical fitness and weather-hardiness
• Self-motivated and able to work independently and at a good pace

Desirable attributes/skills:

• Full driving licence
• Tractor-driving experience
• Familiarity with no-dig production methods
• Hunger to keep learning and developing horticultural and related skills
• Commitment to organic principles and an enthusiasm for ecology
• Open communicator who enjoys working and making decisions in a collaborative environment
• An eye for detail and quality
• Enthusiasm for ways of making processes more efficient
• Experience of managing volunteers

Application information

Please send a cover letter and CV (or any queries) to Jon – jon@fiveacre.farm.

Interviews to take place on the farm early January 2025.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs