Updated: January 16, 2022
:: Positions filled for 2023 ::

Broadfork Farm is a small, intentionally multi-generational, family operated, full time Certified Naturally Grown vegetable farm (plus a part time old-world style, woodfired bakery specializing in Organic, naturally leavened bread). Since 2011, we have intensively cultivated just a few acres in order to grow abundant food for our nearby community, whom we reach through our 200-member Farm Share, on-site FarmStand, Saturday farmers’ market, and select grocery stores. We grow 50 different vegetables each season. We use only biological/ecological farming methods – no chemical fertilizers or pesticides ever.
~* We are a welcoming business, committed to embracing diversity of race, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. We welcome applications from those that also embrace this diversity. *~

We love delicious, nutritious food, and we love community. We combine these passions through our vibrant, fun-loving, and very hard-working farm business. We live with our four children on our farm, a quarter of our Farm Share members pick up their shares at our farm, and we host numerous events throughout each season. We are an oasis of old tyme, rural goodness…right on the outskirts of suburbia, and in close proximity to the city of Richmond and all the cultural opportunities it offers.

Farm owners/operators Dan and Janet have (in addition to 30+ years combined experience with biological farming) extensive backgrounds in biology, education, and business management, providing a well-rounded experience for farmer-employees. We love organic food, positive people, and the satisfaction of honest, hard work.

PAST POSITION OPENINGS:

Field & Pack Room Leader Positions:
Experienced farmers sought to lead Farm Crew in one or both areas: Field (bed prep, drip irrigation set up, transplanting, trellising, weeding, plant maintenance) and/or Harvest & Distribution (pick, wash, pack, organize by market channel). (The management of these two areas can be separate or shared.) Direction and supervision comes from Dan and Janet. The job of farmers in these positions is to know the work and lead via experience.

Desired: Two years experience on a diversified vegetable farm with similar market channels (FarmShare/CSA, farmers’ market, grocery stores, farm stand etc.). Willingness to learn sourdough bread-dough mixing one day per week = excellent application bonus!

• One position = Tues through Saturday work week. One position = Monday through Friday. Both 40 hours per week, $16-$17/hour.
• March 1 – November 21, 2023
• Furnished housing and abundant “Farmer Food” available.
• See list of general requirements below (basically: be physically able, intellectually engaged, kind, clean up after yourself, no drugs…)

How to Apply:
Please email a resume, phones numbers for three references, and a letter stating motivation for your interest and how you are qualified for the above stated skills to info(at)broadforkfarm.net We will follow up with additional application questions. Applications reviewed/interviews conducted on a rolling basis.

Farm Crew Member Positions:
Joining our Farm Crew in this position you will not only learn-through-doing but also learn the science, methodology, and decision making necessary for growing food and flowers and also managing the harvest and distribution. We teach not just how to be a farm hand but how to be a farmer making farm decisions. We aim for everyone to finish the season knowing the reasons WHY we do each action that we do.

We seek 4 enthusiastic and hard working individuals to join us as full time farmers, mid-March through Thanksgiving, 40 hours/week, Monday through Friday, plus a share of Saturday morning farmers’ market shifts, one week of paid days off, and available housing in a gorgeous, newly built house surrounded by our abundant fields of vegetables and flowers that you’re helping to tend.

An average day on the farm has about 8 of us here working. We keep our staff members’ work days to 8 hours.

We offer the opportunity to learn deeply while working; we extensively teach and mentor while training and orienting our staff to the tasks and philosophies used here. We also provide resource binders of critical material.

Two staff members will learn and mix sourdough bread in our FarmStead Bakery here on the farm once per week.

We teach extensively about and you will actively participate in:
– Crop planning
– Soil test analyzing and relevant soil amending
– Seed starting & greenhouse propagation
– High tunnel and greenhouse growing; Season extension
– Transplanting and direct seeding more than 50 different crops
– Permanent raised bed management
– Irrigation and related management, drip tape and wobblers
– Intensive crop-management and rotation in a double & triple cropping bed system
– Analyzing & managing crops for nutrient density
– Harvest & Post-harvest handling
– Direct marketing products (through Farm Share plus online, an on-site FarmStand, and physical farmers’ market)
– Business strategies for small, diversified, organic vegetable farm providing a living for a family, including start-up logistics and growth considerations
…and more, experiencing the distinct seasons of a farm year in the central VA climate.
We provide 2-4 field trips to other similar-but-different farms during the fall in order to learn from other farms’ examples. We host and attend multiple gatherings with other farms’ staff each season, sharing stories (and potlucks, when we’re lucky).

We’ll teach you how to be…

• nimble in the field
• effective and compelling at market
• smart with spreadsheets

Compensation:
$2,000 per month for first two months. $12-$14/ per hour after first two months which include extensive orientation and classes.
$500 bonus at season’s end for successful completion of the season.
Six Saturday market day shifts to trade for sick or vacation days as needed over the course of the season, plus Labor Day as a paid holiday.
Free vegetables, flowers, and bread.

Furnished housing and abundant “Farmer Food” available.
Group meals are not required but are encouraged as desired and determined by the community.

Requirements for all Farmers at our farm:

– Ability to lift and carry 50 pounds, repeatedly squat and bend, moving your body most if not all of the day, regardless of weather. (But we adjust schedule and task list as able to avoid the very worst weather. We are practical people.)

– Interest in and commitment to learning deeply about organic, regenerative, diversified vegetable farming and engaging in the sometimes difficult but always rewarding work of stewarding land and growing food (and flowers).

– Willingness to care for your physical self in order to stay fueled, hydrated, and protected from the sun. Willingness to care for your mental and spiritual self in order to be both a healthy individual and a healthy member of our farm staff community.

– Enthusiasm to work with and around a group of people of diverse ages and backgrounds, including children, middle-aged people, and senior citizens and be a caring member of our farm staff community.

– Must commit to always cleaning up after yourself.

– We are a strictly non-smoking/non-vaping/illegal-drug-free farm. No smoking here, ever, of anything. (Participation in any of those on the farm = immediate termination.)

Most useful personal gear that we strongly recommend having:
Wide-brim sunhat.
Slip-on muck boots.
Headlamp.
Camelback/hydration system.
Rain gear.
Layers of clothing you are willing to get very dirty.
How to Apply:
Please email a resume, phones numbers for three references, and a letter stating motivation for your interest and how you are qualified for the above stated skills to info(at)broadforkfarm.net We will follow up with additional application questions. Applications reviewed/interviews conducted on a rolling basis. 

We look forward to getting to know you!

What our alumni say:
“Dan and Janet *want* you to ask questions AND want to be sure you understand the answer. Other bosses of mine haven’t felt this way, which made it hard to learn.”
“Janet and Dan want you to understand the “Why?” behind the farming concepts and decisions they are teaching you.”
“I’m so grateful for everything you all taught me. I came here hungry for information and you all delivered. I can’t wait to keep building on this foundation of knowledge and also to share info and skills with others.”
“Dan and Janet think and process differently from each other. I was glad to have each of them and their different styles because it worked different parts of my brain.”

More about us…

• We are professional but not corporate.
• We teach and guide through gentle and patient explanation, but we also show how and when to move fast.
• We are soil nerds and business nerds. We’ll show you how to be smart about both.
• We stress kindness above most all else.
• We’re a family friendly farm and business.
• We are a strictly no-smoking, no-vaping, no marijuana, no-illegal drugs farm. (Participation in any of these on the farm results in immediate termination.)

Plus….there are cats. A few of them.