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

Teign Greens CIC is looking for a committed, practical and well-organised Growing Assistant & Veg Bag Coordinator, to bolster our growing team and lead on ensuring excellent veg bags reach our 100 members every week.

Teign Greens is a not-for-profit CIC providing weekly organic vegetable bags to local people in the Teign Valley, South Devon using a CSA model. It was established in 2020 to provide a resilient local food system in response to the Covid Pandemic and has grown quickly since.

The market garden is based on about four acres of south sloping land at Oxen Park Farm in Lower Ashton, and shares many resources, buildings and machinery with the wider farm. The farm is certified organic and biodynamic, and producing vegetables in a way that supports nature and biodiversity is a key priority. We have a brilliant Massey Ferguson 165 tractor that we use to cultivate the land for our larger plots as well as a pedestrian tractor that is used in the intensive areas, though for both machines we try to cultivate only where necessary and follow the minimum tillage principles. We maintain soil health principles through use of green manures and cover crops and grow our crops in an agroforestry system alongside top fruit and soft fruit. 

Although a separate enterprise, Teign Greens works in partnership with the wider farm and alongside On The Hill, an education social enterprise also based on the land. As a result the farm is a busy, sociable place, especially in the summer, and we share lunches, check-ins and work exchanges with the other organisations based here. 

We currently produce 100 weekly veg bags using a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, meaning members commit to buying the veg over a whole year. Volunteers are a key part of the growing and harvesting of the vegetables through weekly Tuesday volunteer days, and monthly Saturday volunteer mornings. We also host residential trainees and WWOOFers in the Summer. 

Growing Assistant & Veg Bag Coordinator Role Description

• Start date: August/September 2025 
• Contract type: fixed term 12 months, with hope to extend conditional on funding.  
• Hours: 4 days per week, including occasional weekend working
• Pay: Real Living Wage, £12.60 p/h (the same as everyone working for Teign Greens) with a weekly veg box in addition 
• Responsible to: Leonie, Head Grower

Onsite accommodation is potentially available in a beautiful newly renovated vintage caravan, by arrangement with Oxen Park Farm. 

This is a hands-on and varied role combining physical fieldwork and harvesting with responsibility for ensuring our members receive fresh, quality, varied veg bags every week. Our founder and usual Veg Bag Coordinator Holly is currently on maternity leave, and will not be returning fully until Spring 2026. You’ll be stepping in to cover this role around 2 days a week over the Autumn & Winter, and assisting our Head Grower Leonie in all aspects of the growing the rest of the time. From Spring 2026 onwards, your role will be fully based in the field supporting the team as the Assistant Grower. You’ll be a key part of our small, passionate and talented team, helping ensure our CSA scheme runs smoothly week-to-week.

The right person will be practically skilled, reliable, good at working with others, and happy to take initiative in both field and packing work. We’re especially keen to find someone who is a great team player, enjoys holding systems and who takes satisfaction in getting things done efficiently and well.

This role is ideal for someone who is passionate about local food, already has some experience in growing or physical outdoor work, and wants to get experience in community-scale food production.

Duties: 

Veg Bag Packing and Distribution (2 days per week maternity cover until Spring 2026)

• Work with the Head Grower to plan the contents of our veg bags using our Veg Tracker spreadsheet, ensuring quality and variety each week of the year. 
• Communicate harvest requirements to the growing team each week 
• Coordinating buying in top up veg from other local organic growers during the Hungry gap
• Leading and motivating our amazing regular volunteers in the packing of weekly veg bags every Tuesday
• Taking initiative and dealing with quality or quantity issues during packing 
• Keep the packing shed tidy, organised & well stocked- reordering supplies when needed
• Organise distribution of wholesale veg during gluts 
• Holding relationships with collection point and community fridge partners
• Coordinating delivery of veg bags to our 7 collection hubs every Tuesday afternoon. We have lots of help from volunteers but you will likely need to do some of the delivery runs  
• Contribute ideas for improving packing systems, efficiency and quality

Growing Support (2 days per week increasing to 4 days per week from Spring 2026)

• Assist the Head Grower with weeding, bed prep, sowing, transplanting, tractor & pedestrian tractor cultivation, harvesting and general crop care
• Support with the care of tools, machinery, polytunnels, irrigation and general infrastructure
• Facilitate volunteers during Tuesday or monthly Saturday morning sessions
• Contribute to weekly planning meetings, crop walks and our annual crop plans 

Coordination and Communication

• Providing a clear handover for other team members when required for holidays 
• Contributing veg updates for quarterly directors meetings,
• Communicate with our Administrator about final box numbers or changes 
• Participate in weekly team meetings and crop walks to plan the contents of the veg bags and growing tasks with the head grower.  

In discussion with the team, other duties could include: 

• Writing the weekly ‘What’s in the Bag’ email telling the story of the bag contents to all members 
• Helping with social media and marketing
• Managing our Level 3 Sustainable Land Based Systems Apricot Centre trainee 
• Helping with seasonal events like open days or local fairs 

Required Skills and Experience:

• Growing skills – 6 months+ working in a commercial market garden/farm environment
• Communal attitude and people person  
• Open communication style – able to provide regular updates, willing to ask questions and work in harmony with the rest of the team
• Exceptionally organised and detail-oriented, with a love of systems and getting things right
• Ability to multitask, prioritize, and work effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Competent ICT skills, especially Google Drive & Sheets  
• Passion for local food, CSA, regenerative agriculture, volunteering and the local community. 
• Clean driving licence
• Own vehicle (mileage reimbursed) and laptop

Preferable Skills and Experience:

• Competence in operating a compact tractor and cultivation implements
• Competence in operating a BCS or similar walking tractor 
• Knowledge of organic growing principles 
• Experience of working within partnership projects. 
• Experience packing veg bags
• Experience leading and managing people, especially volunteers

Application information

Please send a CV and 1-page cover letter outlining your relevant skills and experience to teigngreens@gmail.com by Sunday 3rd August.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the post may be filled before the deadline. We’re planning on inviting shortlisted candidates to a selection day at the farm on Monday the 11th August so please let us know any availability constraints when applying.

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