Market Garden Assistant 2025 Season

Ready to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of a small-scale agroecological vegetable farm, and get your hands dirty growing a bounty of vegetables for your local community?

We are hiring one full-time Assistant Market Gardener for an 8-month, living wage position, with options for ongoing employment.

We are looking for people who are comfortable working a full-time physical job outside, and are passionate about local food.

Prior farming experience is great, but not required as long as you have a positive attitude and an aptitude for learning.

Position Details: Full-time seasonal, 35-40hrs/week.

Start Date & Duration: April – November 2025, option to continue through the winter for the right candidate.

Compensation: Starting at $20/hr + weekly veggies, more depending on experience.

Location: Milky Way Farm 484872 Sweaburg Rd, Woodstock, Ontario. (~5km south of Woodstock & the 401)

www.milkywayfarm.ca

https://www.instagram.com/milkywayfarm.ca/

Job Application Due Date: February 19, 2025

Milky Way Farm: A Small-scale Regenerative Organic Vegetable Farm

Milky Way Farm is an ecologically focused, 4 season mixed vegetable farm, owned and operated by Meghan Brandenburg & Jesse Way.

Growing on 1.5 acres just south of Woodstock, Ontario, Milky Way Farm follows an agroecological approach striving to improve the health of the soil while providing fresh, nutrient dense, organically grown vegetables for our surrounding community. We utilize a variety of ecologically focused growing practices including cover cropping and diverse crop rotations, low and no-till soil preparation, and the incorporation of perennial fruit trees, berry bushes and flowers throughout the farm to enhance pollinator and beneficial insect habitat.

We are looking for a hard-working, self-motivated and enthusiastic individual to join our team for the 2025 growing season.

Our ideal candidate is someone that has a demonstrated passion for food and farming, is physically fit and able to kneel, squat, bend and be on your feet for extended durations of time as well as be able to lift 50lbs and work outdoors in all weather conditions. Previous farm experience is preferred but those with other outdoor work experience and an enthusiastic attitude to learn are also encouraged to apply.

The primary tasks and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Seed starting and transplanting vegetable seedlings.
• Hoeing and hand weeding.
• Setting up irrigation equipment i.e. sprinklers and driplines.
• Setting up and maintaining crop and soil protection materials i.e. tarps, landscape fabric, row covers and insect netting.
• Pruning and trellising.
• Harvesting and washing vegetables.
• Preparing and packing customer orders.
• Assisting with vegetable bed preparation i.e. compost and amendment application, broadforking, raking etc. to prepare beds for seeding and transplanting.

Requirements for the job include:

• Ability to work independently as well as a part of a small team of 3-7 people depending on the season.
• Ability to carry out repetitive tasks i.e. transplanting, weeding, harvesting.
• Attention to detail and efficiency.
• Self-motivated, and able to receive and implement constructive feedback.
• Be able to work calmly in a fast paced environment, and motivated to improve over time.
• Be able to commit for the duration of the job position (April – November).
• Have dependable transportation to arrive at work on time. (Our farm is located ~5 minute drive south of Woodstock and a 401 interchange).
• Provide your own weather appropriate gear to work in. (Gear stipend available for certain items!)
• An interest in ecological food production and high quality food!
• Provide your own accomodation.

To be eligible, one must:

• be between 15 and 30 years of age at the beginning of the employment period,
• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment, and
• have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada

Please send your resume, references and a cover letter/short description of why you would like to work with us, and your current availability to Jesse at jesse.milkywayfarm@gmail.com