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

SEASONAL ASSISTANT GROWER

The Southside Farm, Hereford

Full Time 6 month FTC – March to October 2026 

£26,450 pro rata

We have a new position within our team for an ASSISTANT GROWER to support our growing team in cultivating organic multi crop vegetables for our veg box scheme and wholesale customers.

This is an exciting, challenging and rewarding opportunity to support all aspects of running a commercial market garden in rapid expansion.

We are looking for someone who thrives on outdoor physically demanding but rewarding work, can work to deadlines and is practical and willing to work and learn as part of a team. Previous experience is desirable but not necessary. However strong motivation, fitness and a commitment to work the whole growing season are. 

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Growing Local is a Community Interest Company that encourages and educates communities to grow, cook and eat local food.  In the summer of 2023 the organisation took on a new 19 acre site to establish a market garden to grow vegetables for a box scheme and wholesale customers, and to establish an educational garden and community cook facility to inspire our future generations. 

We started selling our veg boxes in July 2024 and are continuing to grow the business year on year.  After a successful second growing season we are looking to expand production in volume and variety for our veg box scheme and wholesale customers in 2026 with a third member of the team. We now have 6 polytunnels and a purpose built packing shed, machinery store, staff and volunteer room. We have also recently invested in machinery and cultivating equipment, completed extensive drainage systems to our buildings and created a rain water harvesting lagoon to supplement our borehole irrigation system. 

Please do look at our website, Instagram and Facebook pages to read more about our organisation and the work that we do.

General website  www.growinglocal.org.uk

Veg box ordering  https://www.growinglocalvegbox.org.uk/

Growing Local aspire to champion a collaborative work culture of mutual responsibility, trust, sharing of skills and the facilitating of improved work/life balance. 

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

This is an exciting, challenging and rewarding opportunity to support all aspects of running a commercial community supported market garden. You will assist the growing team with propagation, cultivation, transplanting, weeding, organic crop husbandry, irrigation and harvesting. 

We are looking for someone who thrives on outdoor physically demanding but rewarding work, can work to deadlines and is practical and willing to work and learn as part of a team.  Previous experience is desirable but not necessary, however strong motivation, fitness and commitment are. 

Other Information:

• The annual salary for this role is £26,450 pro rata
• This salary does not include accommodation, but there is a possibility for the right person to live on site - please enquire (salary will be adjusted accordingly)
• This is a 6 month fixed term contract between March and October
• 40 hours a week, 8 hours a day Monday to Friday
• There will be a shared weekend rota over the peak growing period for watering and harvesting
• 25 days holiday per annum pro rata
• In accordance with UK employment law, you must have the legal right to work in the UK to apply for this role. Successful candidates will be expected to provide proof of their Right to Work before commencement. Please note we are unable to sponsor visas for this role. 

Application information

Apply by email to Laurie Donaldson laurie@growinglocal.org.uk (Head Grower) with a covering letter and CV by Monday 5th January 2026. 

Interviews will be organized week commencing Monday 19th January 2026. We prefer to meet applicants on site to show you the setup so be prepared to travel.

If you would like to informally discuss this role please phone Laurie on 07845 553247 or contact via email laurie@growinglocal.org.uk.

If there are aspects of this job description that you do not fully fulfil then please do get in touch directly to discuss further, or highlight in your application. We aim to be an inclusive employer and organisation and may be able to offer flexibility to the role to suit the right people.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs