Job Description: Market Gardener
The Position
An experienced intensive, small space gardener to successfully plan, plant, tend and harvest the produce from the market garden for resale in the farm shop and for use in the café and pub restaurant kitchens.
Responsible for
Design input, crop planning, planting and maintenance of commercial wholesale operations from the market garden in adherence with sustainable methods of growing and which align with the ethos of the Hawarden Estate. Specifically to grow without the use of chemicals and using organic methods whilst still understanding the commercial intent of the garden.
Responsible to
The Market Gardener reports to the Director of Food Sustainability, Xanthe Gladstone, with a dotted line to the Finance Director, Siobhan Martin.
Duties/ Areas of Responsibility
The position will cover a broad area of responsibilities:
- Along with Xanthe, to layout and plan the market garden taking the business plan and desired wholesale yield into account.
- To oversee the readying of the ground.
- Building a crop plan with detailed task lists that can be done by the estate gardener in their absence.
- To plant the produce as required, maintain throughout the season and harvest when necessary.
- To work with the Chef(s) to align the production cycle from the garden with menu changes coming up in both the farm shop and the pub.
- To work with the Finance Director on wholesale pricing of the produce which will either be resold in the farm shop or utilised as ingredients stock for the kitchens.
- To input into the Estate gardeners workload, along with the CEO and General Manager, as to how much and when their time is required in the market garden.
- Along with Xanthe and Siobhan to review the market garden plan throughout the year, make suggestions for growth (eg. veg boxes) and build future plans to continue the success of this income stream.
- Maintain a positive and pro-active attitude at all times.
- Actively seek to improve skills and achieve personal development.
- To ensure the completion of all HACCP paperwork and comply with the Health and Safety regulations in place.
Special Requirements
- Previous experience of running a commercial market garden operation with clear evidence of yield and capability.
- Adhere to company protocol as laid out in the Company Handbook.
- To support the wider company team as and when required.
Statement
This job description is issued as a guideline to assist you in your duties, it is not exhaustive and we would be pleased to discuss any constructive comments you have.
If you would like to apply for this position please send a CV and covering letter to xfmgladstone@gmail.com
Deadline for applications is 20/02/2023 with the job starting at the beginning of March 2023
