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

The Ashram Lead Gardener is a vital role responsible for the sustainable cultivation of food and the mindful maintenance of the Ashram grounds. This position requires a balance of horticultural expertise, physical stamina, and empathetic leadership. You will manage the land to provide a constant supply of fresh produce for the community while guiding "Karma Yogis" in their daily practice of selfless service.

Key Responsibilities include: 

1. Vegetable Production & Soil Health

● Continuous Harvest: Ensure a constant, year-round supply of staple greens (kale, spinach, chard, lettuce) and beans for the Ashram kitchen.

● Large-Scale Cultivation: Plan and plant crops in high volumes to meet the needs of communal meals, including potatoes, tomatoes, leeks, carrots, and brassicas.

● Polytunnel Management: Oversee growth within polytunnels, with particular attention to temperature control and ventilation during summer months.

● Organic Fertilizers: Harvest and process comfrey and nettle to create nutrient-rich "fertilizer tea."

● Record Keeping: Maintain accurate logs in the garden folder, detailing what is being grown and where.

2. Estate Maintenance & Land Stewardship

● Waterway Care: Regularly clean the pond and its connecting waterways. Ensure the pond area is cleared of overgrowth to allow maximum light to reach the water.

● Woodland & Path Safety: Perform "walk-throughs" of all paths and woodland areas to clear fallen trees and manage bramble spread.

● Tree Care: Implement an autumn mulching programme for all young trees, ensuring the areas around the trunks are kept clear. ● Infrastructure Protection: Monitor buildings and polytunnels for light blockage or structural risk from encroaching trees

● Invasive Species: 1. Maintain regular checks for invasive species (i.e. Asian Hornet / Himalayan Balsam). 2 Manage the removal of Himalayan Balsam during the summer, ensuring it is properly contained in tarps to prevent regrowth. Report to relevant Apiary and Asian Hornet sightings as they kill our honeybees.

3. "Karma Yoga" Coordination

● Mentorship: Lead morning sessions for Karma Yogis, organising collaborative "large projects" to foster community and efficiency.

● Health & Safety: Actively monitor the well-being of karma yogis. Foster a culture where people feel safe to report pain or discomfort, ensuring no one "troops on" at the cost of their health.

● Delegation: Effectively delegate heavy tasks, such as summer evening watering, to ensure the workload remains manageable for the team.

● Skill Utilisation: Identify and utilise the specific professional or manual skills brought by different karma yogis to improve garden operations.

4. Personal Attributes & Requirements

● Autonomy: Ability to use independent judgement and intuition. While advice is available, the successful candidate must be comfortable making final decisions on garden management.

● Mindful Boundaries: Approaching personal well-being, and boundaries (regarding work-life balance /days off) considerately so that own and other needs are considered and respected.

● Physical Fitness: Capability to handle the physical demands of a large-scale garden.

● Skills/Experience: Previous experience of growing, managing gardens and delegates.

You can find out more about us by visiting www.mandalayogaashram.com. All meals are provided, as well as a private accommodation space (shared bathroom). 

- £8,000 annual allowance for this role 

Application information

Please email info@mandalayogaashram.com and request an application form. This will need to be filled in before an interview is arranged. 

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