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.

Job description

About you:

As a passionate community grower, you bring expertise in sustainable agriculture and a commitment to nurturing local food systems. You will be responsible for management and delivery of site cultivation with hands-on crop production experience, you enjoy developing crop plans and maintaining soil health through natural methods. You thrive in collaborative settings, leading volunteer sessions and facilitating educational workshops that centre the needs of marginalised and BPOC communities.

Available in-person each Friday from April to December 2025, you are eager to contribute to the growth of a small community organisation and help shape a vibrant and joyful space for our communities.

Applications close by midnight Sunday 16th March Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by Tuesday 18th March Interviews will take place in person on Friday 21st March

Contract length

• 8 month freelance employment contract with two month probation period (contract extension dependant on future funding)
• 70 days over 35 weeks (April - December 2025)
• The Earth Tenders team takes a collective pause (fallow) in December & January

Salary

• 2 days per week / 8 days per month
• On freelance contract: £175 per day
• Fee of £12,250.00 for the contracted period
• Additional facilitation work if desired, 1-3 days a month, paid at set day rate

Location

Earth Tenders in Dulwich Park, South-East London and offsite locations

About Earth Tenders

Earth Tenders is a Black-led organisation, community garden and hub that is committed to strengthening local food systems and community health for the long term. We believe that reconnecting with the land is an act of resistance, healing and self-determination. Our mission is to nurture spaces where Black and Global Majority communities can reclaim land-based knowledge, build collective power and shape a future where we thrive on our own terms.

We recognise that access to land, food and ecological knowledge has long been shaped by colonial histories, systemic exclusion and racial hierarchies. In response, we approach our work from an anti-colonial perspective, integrating and learning from agroecological practices, non-Western horticultural education and Indigenous cultural traditions.

This informs our holistic approach to uplifting our communities, weaving together food cultivation, cooking, nutrition, mental health and well-being, creativity and cultural exchange. Through workshops, training and hands-on learning, we create spaces where volunteers, participants and community partners can reconnect with land-based knowledge and healing practices that have often been erased or devalued in mainstream environmental spaces.

During 2024 we hosted a weekly volunteer session, launched The BPOC Growers Club and The Cultural Food Project, built local connections, resourced seven BPOC facilitators to hold workshops and hosted dozens of external workshops on topics ranging from herbal healthcare to food pathways.

We are in a phase of building capacity this year. We will be refining our outputs and cultivating a gentler, restful pace to the expansion of offerings to our communities. This may look like larger seasonal gatherings and more in-depth programming for BPOC.

This year on the land we will be establishing: Greater infrastructure for the production and distribution of cultural food, including irrigation systems, covered seating area(s) and an efficient glasshouse & polytunnel systems to produce crops for sale and free distribution. A forest garden intended as a space for medium cropping productivity and wildlife. Areas designated solely for wildlife habitat.

Job responsibilities

• Developing a crop plan for 2025, propagation of crops, bed prep and transplanting, pruning, harvesting and general care of the land’s health and yield using non- chemical, no-dig or minimal tillage systems
• Pest management through soil and crop health, intercropping, netting and beneficial insect introductions
• Co-developing irrigation systems
• Planning and facilitating a 2-hour volunteer session each Friday (with delivery support from the core team)
• Monitoring and managing site resources such as composting, water harvesting, fertilisers, seeds log, etc.
• Coordination, planning and delivery of workshops on and off-site for volunteers, group participants and clients
• Input into risk assessments for activities on and off-site

Essential

• Available each Friday from April-December 2025, other workday is negotiable
• Experienced and confident in leading all aspects of crop production - growing a range of vegetables, fruits and herbs in raised beds, polytunnel and glasshouse on 0.5 acres of land
• Grounding in natural farming practices
• Experience of managing group activities and co-creating programmes with communities
• Experience of managing culturally diverse community groups
• Clearly communication and confidence in managing own workload
• A perspective on systems change which focuses on supporting marginalised communities to have greater access to greenspace and land practices
• Confidence in communicating and facilitating workshops for clients
• Can work well in a team and independently in order to deliver operational objectives and seek help when needed

Desirable

• Growing experience of Afro-Carribbean, East Asian and/or SWANA cultural foods
• Knowledge of anti-colonial, non-western, indigenous land practices and confidence in sharing methodologies practically with community members
• Identification with being part of a global majority community
• An interest in growing with Earth Tenders over the long-term and shaping the project
• Carpentry, irrigation or natural-building experience
• Music and food lover

Perks

• Free, nutritious food from the garden Flexible working schedule
• Growth within the organisation
• Restful and playful work culture
• A young gardening site that you will have a large part in shaping

Application information

Please email info@earthtenders.co.uk with the subject line - COMMUNITY GROWER + FACILITATOR Application and include:

Your resume or CV,  and a short written statement or voice note (max.15 mins) answering the following questions:

• Why would you like to work with Earth Tenders? (300 words max)
• How do you meet the essential and desirable criteria? (500 words max)
• Why this role for you now? (300 words max)

Shortlisted applications will be interviewed on Friday 21st March in person at the Earth Tenders garden. We will send you questions in advance. This role will start Friday 4th April 2025.

If you have any additional access needs, questions about the role or about Earth Tenders, please contact us at info@earthtenders.co.uk

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs