Vegetable Manager – Love Grows

Last Updated On: October 31st, 2024 at 09:36AM MST

Contact information
Farm Address:
2350 Bridgetown Pike
Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, 19053

Primary Contact: Brad
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: n/a
    Email: info@lovegrowscsa.com

Website: https://www.lovegrowscsa.com/

Internship information
General Farm Description: Love Grows is Ailsa and Brad, two wholehearted farmers from Bucks County, PA. It is our mission to grow a more peaceful, meaningful and productive existence for ourselves and those around us. Providing our community with nutritious, fresh and locally grown produce with a connection to the land and their farmers is an absolutely vital part of this process. Although we are not certified organic, our vegetables are grown with standards surpassing USDA "Organic". We are a pair of ecologically sensitive growers with respect for biology both in mind and practice. We do not use any synthetic inputs in or around any of our growing fields. Compost, cover crops and rotational grazing feed our soil and our food. We are a 3.25 acre operation going into our 10th season, growing for 3 farmer’s markets. We focus on greens, roots and all things fresh for market while also producing a fair amount of longer-storing produce. We emphasize human power over fuel and petroleum-product use and we are especially keen to close our resource loops. This work is our calling and we aim to protect it and our souls from a heartsick capitalist system while making, like, a decent living.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: 03/10/2025
Internship Ends: 12/23/2025
Number of Internship Available: 1
Application Deadline: 03/03/2025
Minimum Length of Stay: mid-March - December

Internship Details:

Here it is! A vegetable manager position that even grizzled veg growers can’t scoff at. No unproven budgets, no trust fund owner / farmer-posers, no systems to build or markets to break into. This is the job we may just be healing our younger farmer selves by offering. Love Grows is reasonably equipped and is scaled perfectly for another experienced grower to have a good quality of life without just retiring from farming. Varying levels of experience and enthusiasm are welcome to apply (that’s right, starry eyes not required), but the main idea is: The manager will be relied upon to work in the field and at the markets as the point person, the primary mover & shaker and, no, that doesn’t have to mean working til 9 every night.

This position involves all of the fun aspects of running a vegetable operation: sowing, planting, hand and hand-tool cultivation, tractor operation, harvest, wash/pack, and doing the markets.  There is room to invest in new tools and systems, but we draw the line on those that are plastic-based or single-use. There is almost no administrative work to speak of.

The current owner-operators will function in support roles as the relationship dictates and with the goals of training employees to continue this operation’s success and making everyone’s job pleasantly manageable. Likely we will help staff markets and handle the bulk of field prep and tractor / hand tool cultivation. Our guidance is readily available and we are also ready to step back let someone else rock it.

Prerequisites:

  • 2 full season’s FT experience on a vegetable production farm. Here, a season is defined as full-time work from April to November. A vegetable production farm is generally defined as a “for-profit” operation, where producing vegetables is the main source of funding/income for the operation. Applicants whose sole farming experience is on a non-profit or student farm will only be considered for this position if they have a strong manual labor background AND/OR a strong reference from someone who has done substantial production growing
  • 6 week preseason functional fitness training
  • Farmer’s market and/or vegetable merchandising experience

Pay:

  • 1st year salary range: 45k-50k per farm season depending on experience with room to grow in subsequent years
  • Performance bonuses available (based on production and sales records)
  • $3000 returning bonus for 2026
  • Payment structure is open for discussion. Candidates should plan to cultivate an open dialogue about financial needs and realities

Time commitment:

  • Ranges from 35 to 55 hours per week, mid-March through December
  • Manager decides on suitable daily hours and weekly schedule. Crack of dawn start times are not required here
  • Manager leads on all Sat/Sun markets from July-October
  • Winter work available if main season goals are exceeded
  • Commute to farm must not be more than 25 minutes

Perks:

  • Weekly vegetable share ($750 value)
  • 4 days vacation
  • Performance bonuses, profit-sharing, employee ownership, and partner farm incubation are all on the table

Please send resume to info@lovegrowscsa.com. Cover letters not expected, but feel very free to ask your frank, clarifying questions.


Educational Opportunities: Self-financed farming, business coaching, farm incubation.

Skills Desired: Vegetable production management

Meals: No

Stipend: No

Housing: No

Preferred method of Contact: Email

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