Red Wagon Organic Farm LLC
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About Us
Farm Crew
Red Wagon is seeking several people to
work on our farm crew for the 2011 season starting in April or May.
Job
Description and Qualifications
At Red Wagon we try to find enthusiastic, motivated, hard-working, dedicated help. Attitude is everything. Previous farm experience is preferred and we prefer to hire future farmers. We have two managers: one primarily responsible for growing crops and one primarily responsible for harvesting crops. Working on the farm you will alternate between mangers as our schedule demands.
We are looking for people who can work quickly and efficiently, but who are also careful and able to follow directions. It is also essential that you can work independently and follow directions. The work is physically demanding (you must be able to lift at least 50 lbs) and attention to detail is critical. We have a strong emphasis on quality at Red Wagon and you must be able to help us maintain this high level of quality. Work varies with the season but can often be repetitive. (Can you clean garlic or fill walls-o-water for an entire day?) You must also be punctual and be able to work in all weather conditions. Be prepared for rain, hail, snow, intense sun, wind, cold and heat—every day of the summer! You must also be mature enough to come to work well-rested and not hung-over. If you are not a morning person, a farm job is probably not for you. We try to pay our workers fairly, but in return we expect people to work hard and be committed to the farm. This is very different from a traditional job and you must realize that the farm has demands that are sometimes out of our control (i.e. we may have to work into the evening in order to get transplants into the ground.) You must be reliable and the farm must be your primary commitment.
· Planting (transplanting with water-wheel transplanter, hand transplanting, planting with Planet Jr and Earthway seeders as well as hand seeding)
· Irrigation (drip tape and overhead sprinklers)
· Thinning (beets, carrots, etc.)
· Trellising (mainly tomatoes)
· Cultivating (tractor cultivation, wheel hoes, stirrup hoes, linear hoes, hand weeding, thinning)
· Harvesting (All harvesting is done by hand)
· Wash area (washing, bunching, quality control, packing)
· CSA pickup
· Farmers’ market
· Restaurant orders (harvest, clean, and pack orders, then deliver to area restaurants)
The job for many of our workers will primarily be harvesting. We start harvest at sunrise and work at a fast pace to get all the crops harvested before the heat of the day. We distribute a harvest list each day and assign each crop to a team of two or three. Each team is responsible for harvesting a crop and making sure that the right quality and quantity is harvested. We usually have the same team harvest the same crop for a few weeks so they become familiar and efficient at it. All our produce is harvested into large coolers. We have several farm trucks which we use to collect all the coolers and bring them to the wash area. When harvest is finished around 10 am, most people report to the wash area where we work for a number of hours. Everything we grow gets washed and then stored in a clean cooler. The coolers are stored in the shade and then loaded onto the truck with an inventory done by the truck loader. In the washing process we often have to bunch things like beets and carrots. It is common to bunch 100 or more bunches of each in a day’s work. Harvesting, washing and bunching need to be done quickly and meet quality standards. It is critical that your hands be constantly moving in an efficient manner.
This is our weekly harvest schedule. Harvest days start at 5:30am on Friday and 6 am every other day beginning in the middle of May. At the beginning and end of the season it is too cold and dark to start this early, so we move the start time later. We are usually done by 3:30pm except for Fridays which run longer.
Monday: We harvest for our Lafayette CSA pickup.
Tuesday: We harvest for our North Boulder CSA and for restaurants.
Wednesday: Wednesday is a hectic harvest day because we need to harvest for the farmers’ market and for several restaurants, all of which needs to be done by 1:45pm. Market setup starts at 2 pm and market is from 4-8pm.
Thursday: We harvest for our East Boulder CSA pickup.
Friday: Friday is our biggest harvest day with large restaurant orders and harvesting for the Saturday farmers’ market. This is a very long day and can sometimes go from 5:30am to 8pm. We try to be done by 4:30pm.
Saturday/Sunday: We do not harvest on the weekend in the first part of the season. However, we will have 2 to 3 people harvest on Saturday or Sunday for our farm stand in August and September.
Field work is done from Monday through Friday. We rarely do any field work on Saturday or Sunday.
You are expected to stay until the work is completed. When harvesting, this means staying until the truck is packed and the wash area is cleaned up. When doing field work this means staying until the job is completed, or finding a good stopping point and putting things away until we can return to the job.
Our farm season runs from March to mid-November and changes as the season progresses.
March:
In mid-March we plant our first planting of lettuce, spinach, braising mix,
peas etc. at the farm. We also go to a greenhouse to begin seeding our trays
for all the summer crops. We do not have our own greenhouse and instead
contract with a nursery to grow our plants for us. We do all the seeding, then the nursery takes care of the trays for us. We do not
have any employees in March, but we usually have 2 people help for us several
days with all the seeding.
April:
The Saturday farmers’ market starts at
the beginning of April and the work goes from 6am – 3:30pm. We begin the
season with 10-15workers in early April. The challenge of April is to plant
many crops while taking care of all the emerging seedlings. April is a light
harvest month which allows us to focus on planting and weeding. We also take
this time to do many of the odd jobs around the farm such as setting up
irrigation, cleaning out barns and sheds, and building anything we need for the
coming season.
May:
The Wednesday farmers’ market starts at
the beginning of May and is from 4pm – 8pm. The CSA starts at the end of May.
We also begin delivering to restaurants. In May we begin harvesting many of
the crops planted in March and April. The middle of May is the start of the
extremely busy and important planting season. All of the summer crops need to
be planted between May 15th and June 10th. This means
harvesting several times a week while planting in every spare moment, often
until late in the evening. Five acres of pumpkins and 6,000 tomato plants (as
well as many other transplants) need to be in the ground during this time. More
than ten acres need to be transformed from bare soil to irrigated, growing
plants in 25 days.
June:
In June the harvest increases. We start picking sugar snap peas (very time
consuming) as well as all the spring greens and we are harvesting 5 days a
week. We commonly harvest 20 plus items in a day. It is a struggle to ensure
that everything gets done and nothing is forgotten. Most crops have been
planted by early June and the focus is on weeding, watering and harvesting.
July:
By July everything is planted and needs to be maintained. We can breathe a
little easier but there are always projects like the garlic. The garlic needs
to be dug, cleaned and dried. This is a very big project and we spend entire
days cleaning garlic. By mid July it feels like you have run a marathon but you
have just arrived at the starting line. We continue to harvest 5 days a week.
August: The farm stand opens on August 1. In August more new crops are ripening every day. Summer squash and cucumbers are prolific. Melons and tomatoes begin to ripen. By the end of August the amount we harvest is overwhelming. We are no longer harvesting greens with the heat of the summer and this means that we do not spend as much time washing vegetables after harvesting. Instead we spend much more time out in the field picking green beans, cherry tomatoes, etc. Also, most days now start with picking basil.
In mid-August more greens are planted for the fall. They need to be weeded as
we are desperately trying to keep up with harvesting. Our farm stand opens
August 1. It requires time from us, the owners. We are at the farm less and
expect that everyone on the farm is trained and can function well without us.
We will still provide harvest lists but you are heavily depended on to be
self-sufficient.
September: September arrives and the days cool off and the peak of crop diversity arrives. All the summer crops are trying to ripen before the frost. We have all the herbs and summer crops and a reappearance of the cool weather crops as well as the traditional fall crops like winter squash all coming out of the field. We continue to plant successions of greens for the fall. The first light frost usually comes on the 14th of September. The basil dies and so do the cucumbers and summer squash. By now most the workers are bone tired.
October: Our pumpkin patch opens by October 1st and is open for the entire month. The last Wednesday farmers’ market is at the beginning of October. The last CSA day is at the end of October. The last day for the farm stand is October 31st. October comes and the days get shorter and we have less daylight to work. The number of hours worked is less but it feels the same to tired bodies. It is also a struggle to harvest everything with the reduced number of daylight hours. We continue to harvest 5 days a week. Potatoes need to be dug. Fall cleanup begins and we get ready to plant the garlic and shallots that will over winter. The 50,000 pounds of winter squash and pumpkins need to be picked up out of the field and stored.. The Wednesday markets end and so does the CSA. This allows time for work days instead of harvest days again. We try to bring as much as we can to each market as we count down the weeks left in the season.
November: The last Saturday farmers’ market is in mid-November. Most of the employees are gone after the last farmers’ market. We still do some harvesting for restaurants throughout the month. We are pulling plastic mulch and drip tape out of the field. We are also putting away the rest of the irrigation and tools and implements. During our entire season there is always something to do. We have never gotten everything done. Everyday is an important day. If that day’s work is not done it becomes hard to catch up. Crops get lost to the weeds if we are not careful. Our success and ability to farm from year to year rests on having hard workers. I (Wyatt) work about 80 hours a week. Most the farm workers work 40-50 hours.
We like to have farm employees work at market. You may choose to do this in
addition to your weekly schedule. However, working at the market does not mean
working fewer hours at the farm. A typical Saturday market starts off at 6 am
in downtown
While selling, it is important to restock everything and keep it looking fresh. We try to have our display looking perfect at all times. You should bag greens between customers and never stop moving. After a market or two you should not need to ask what else needs to be done. You should be asking yourself what else needs to be done and know what to be working on. The ability to be efficient and constantly doing something important determines who we chose for market staff.
Our CSA pickups are similar to market but not quite as complicated. At CSA we have 6-8 items to distribute. We know 100 people are coming and that we need 100 bags or bunches of each item. There are no cash transactions at CSA which makes things quicker and the pickup is spread over 3 hours. Two or three people can manage the distribution. One person greets people, checks their name off and assists them in getting their share. The other usually stocks the table and bags while sometimes answering questions or helping members. During slow times both people should be bagging. At the end of CSA the truck needs to be reloaded and everything packed away. CSA is usually finished by 7 or 7:15pm.
We often hire people who would like to make a career of farming, either as a farm manager or on their own farm. A number of previous Red Wagon employees have gone on to start or run farms of their own. We are happy to show you as much as we can about how our farm works so you can apply it to your future farming business.
Much of farming needs to be learned by being around it and observing. A lot of farming is in knowing what things to do when during a season and learning to fit all the pieces together. Leaning to do things better each year is also critical. Working on a farm with existing systems gives you a starting point for production techniques. Our way is not the only way, but it works for us. We grow a diversity of crops which will give each employee a basic familiarity with many crops. You will learn about each crop and how it grows, what it should look like and often, how to prepare it. The learning is slow but by the end of a season you will have absorbed a lot. You will have experienced how hard farming is and will have a feel for what needs to be done when during the season. We try to give employees who are interested some tractor experience. Often it will be spreading compost or moving sandbags for row cover. We try to show everyone what each piece of equipment does and how it works. All employees who want to get to do some farmers’ markets. Learning how to do markets well is an important part of market farming. We are open to sharing our financial information with employees so you can have some idea of what to expect from a farm business. We use row cover and think we have a good system. We use agricultural plastic and drip tape which you will become very familiar with. We have participated in the Boulder County Extension “Building Farmers” Program (a local program to train new farmers) on several levels. Amy has been part of the steering committee for two years. We have presented as farmers at it several times and have attended the class twice. We have been mentors in the mentorship program part. We know how hard starting up is and do want to offer encouragement to other new farmers.
Learning how to start a farm is very difficult and one of our goals is to produce a few farmers with new farms of their own. We are slowly working on ideas to make this happen. We are relatively new to farming ourselves and have been farming since 2004. We have minimal infrastructure but have worked around this and focused on our strengths. Our farm has been incredibly productive with little more than some land and a tractor. We do not have greenhouses. In 2010 we finally got some refrigeration. We also have two new tractors and modern equipment. As the farmers, we did not live on the farm site for the first six years. In 2010 we moved to one of our farms. The employees do not live on the farm. In the past we have shared any information with employees who have expressed an interest. This includes planting dates, varieties grown, financial information, etc. The financial information could be especially helpful to employees who are working on budgets to begin their own farms. Farm finance is a critical part of learning to farm. We have also encouraged our employees to participate in the planning and management aspects of the farm. We love farming, being outdoors, and growing organic vegetables. Some of the challenging parts are the planning, record keeping, bookkeeping, and marketing. However, these are essential skills that are critical to the success of a farm.
If you remain dedicated, dependable,
hard-working, and observant throughout the season we will give you more
opportunities to try new things and learn from these experiences. You will
potentially become familiar with skills in the following areas:
transplanting
irrigation setup
weeding
harvesting a variety of crops
post-harvest handling for all crops
marketing
CSA distribution
Although the farm gets extremely busy and our own schedules become hectic, we
will do our best to give such employees a wide range of opportunities and
responsibilities as they show themselves willing and fit for the tasks. Please
also keep in mind that we still need every employee to have a good attitude
about doing the same repetitive exhausting field work day after day.
We have many demands on our time during the farm season and need to be aware of where we put our energy. We enjoy getting to know our employees, CSA members, and market and farm stand customers. However, we view our farm as a business, not an educational outreach center. We have found that it does not work for us to have volunteers at the farm. If you want to bring friends or family out that is fine, but we would rather they have a tour than a farm work experience. We have found that it is too distracting to have visitors and volunteers at the farm during the work day. We have about 17 workers who will get to know each other well and work together everyday.
We know that each of you will have a
personal life outside of the farm. At the same time, farming takes dedication
to the job that is often not required at other jobs. Farming is all-consuming
and does not allow for a social life or other recreational activity during the
farm season. Staying out late at night with friends and only getting 3 or 4 hours
of sleep is not compatible with a farming lifestyle. Trying to have an active
social life going out on a regular basis will exhaust you to a point where your
work suffers. The season is long and brutal and very few people have
experienced physical work like this. Managing your life so you have fun in
moderation is important. You must make sure to get enough rest or by the end
you will not be able to go on. We cannot have people leave work early on Friday
for any reason. Do not expect to go camping every weekend. We have had many
people try these things and it has not worked. The days are often over by 4 pm
which should allow time to do all of your personal things. Cooking a good meal
and resting will often be your best option to prepare for the next day.
Here is a general guideline for gear you will need at the farm:
Footwear:
--We have a rule--no open-toed shoes at the farm or market (or any other place
you are working). We work with lots of heavy stuff and you never know what you
might step on.
--Day hikers or tennis shoes are good for most of the field work. Heavy work
boots are generally too hot to wear.
--Rubber clogs or Crocs work well in the wash area. You feet will definitely
get wet there. You may not wear Teva style sandals in
the wash area.
--You will also need some rain or mud boots. McGuckin
has some pretty inexpensive ones that will work just fine. If you want some
nicer ones, Murdoch's in
Rain Gear:
--You must have rain gear--jacket
and pants. This is absolutely mandatory. We will have at least one or two long
harvest days in a cold rain. If you don’t have full rain gear you will not be
able to make it through the day, which is not acceptable. Don't wear any nice
waterproof/breathable stuff you might have. It will get trashed. The Boulder
Army Store has some pretty inexpensive stuff. The Helly
Hansen Voss jacket and pants (for ~$60) also work well and you can get them
through REI. Here's a link http://www.rei.com/product/718785. You really just want
good old cheap rain gear--not fancy stuff. You will be down on your knees in
the mud and the breathable stuff was just not meant to take this. Even a
plastic poncho and pants would work.
Other Clothing:
The sun is very strong in
There is a short clip about Red Wagon in this video about the farmers market. It is taken in early spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YgvatrX8bU
There is no smoking at the farm and drug use
will be grounds for dismissal.
We do not have employee housing or camping available.
Our season runs from the beginning of April into early November and we need people who are willing to commit to the entire season. There will be a two-week trial period at the beginning of employment. If both employer and employee agree to continue the work arrangement after this two week period, the employee will sign a contract to commit to the rest of the farm season. Employees will be allowed to take one week off during the season, but we cannot accommodate time off during August or September due to the increased level of work at the farm during this time. Fridays are also a mandatory day at the farm because this is our busiest harvest day.
If you are interested, please respond by e-mail with the information requested below. We are looking for people who are thorough and follow directions. Please keep this in mind when responding.
· Name
· Address
· Phone # (preferably a cell phone number)
· Please attach your resume if you have one.
· Availability (dates, days, times)
· Past job experience
· Why do you want to work at Red Wagon?
· After reading the job description, what makes you think you would excel at farming? What do you think you would contribute to our farm?
· What is your past management experience? (Crew Leaders and Farm Manager only)
· What are your goals in agriculture?
· Will you be able to commit to the entire farm season? We need people who can stay until the end of the season. Unfortunately we cannot hire people who need to leave or cut back on hours in August or September due to school or other commitments.
· Can you work long, hard hours and still have a good attitude?
· Are you able to work outside in all weather conditions?
· Do you have anything we should know about that would prevent you from doing physical work? Are you able to lift 50 pounds?
· Do you have a valid driver’s license? If not please explain. We have numerous farm vehicles that some of our employees need to be able to operate.
· Do you have reliable transportation? We need workers with their own reliable vehicles due to the demands of the job. Our farms are 15 minutes east and 20 minutes north of downtown Boulder. The farms are about 20 minutes away from each other and you may have to drive from one farm to the other during the day. Also, you cannot plan to carpool with other employees because work schedules often vary.
· Please provide references with a description of your relationship with the people you list.
· Tell us anything else you care to share about yourself.
Red Wagon Organic Farm