Career Opportunity with Portland Edible Gardens
POSITION TITLE: Home Gardens Program Leader
BACKGROUND:
Portland Edible Gardens (www.portlandediblegardens.com) helps people grow their own fresh, organic food at their homes in the Portland metro area. We support our clients by building custom raised garden beds and providing regular vegetable garden mentorship and maintenance services at their homes throughout the growing season. We work with a wide range of gardeners from total beginners to long-time growers seeking to support them with their unique set of needs and help them meet their edible gardening goals.
Portland Edible Gardens is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, age, or disability.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Portland Edible Gardens is seeking a skilled, reliable, and energetic horticulturist to join our amazing team to lead, administer, and help facilitate our vegetable garden maintenance/mentorship program for 70+ residential vegetable garden clients in the Portland metro area. As the leader of our home gardens team, Home Gardens Program Leader will work closely with PEG Owner and will oversee operations for all of our garden clients, manage and support other Home Garden Mentors, as well as working extensively in the field planting, teaching in, and maintaining many of our clients’ raised bed vegetable gardens.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
FALL/WINTER TASKS (November-February)
Scheduling:
In January and February create a garden visit calendar for 70 + clients and multiple employees for the March - September season in Google Calendar
Solicit availability requests from clients, communicate with each client about their schedule for the season and expectations regarding attendance, etc. per PEG guidelines
Design schedule for efficient transportation and functional work flow, with appropriate drive time between clients, appropriate visit length given garden size, buffer time for traffic etc. (guidelines will be provided)
Anticipate potential scheduling conflicts and send clear, friendly, professional communications to our clients accordingly
Schedule spring bed preparation visits which take place in February and March
Schedule all garden winterization visits which take place in October
Update client profiles with relevant garden and contact information in Google Calendar annually in the winter=
Inventory and shopping:
Inventory all supplies and seeds at the end of the season
Order all needed supplies for garden mentor kits for the coming season
Track all inventory and purchases in spreadsheet
Planting Plans:
Work closely with PEG Owner to finalize planting plans for our clients
Use Inkscape to transfer written planting plans to finalized digital versions which are provided to our clients
Transcribe all information from planting plans into a spreadsheet form using Google Spreadsheets
Track the progress on steps of progress in spreadsheets shared with Ian
GARDEN SEASON TASKS (March-October)
Conduct garden visits (majority of weekly work hours):
Drive to clients' homes in Portland Metro Area conducting 3-4 garden visits per day managing time to complete garden visits within allotted time.
Instruct clients in organic vegetable gardening principles and techniques in accordance with PEG curriculum including:
direct sowing, planting methods for seeds/starts, organic pest and disease identification/prevention/treatment/control, irrigation techniques for specific vegetables, drip irrigation management, composting/cover cropping/mulching techniques, specialized care/maintenance for specific vegetables, fertilization and soil fertility management, harvest timing and methods, manual tillage techniques
Plant seeds and vegetable starts following client's customized seasonal planting plan
Harvest vegetables with client
Adjust drip irrigation systems according to anticipated weather
Document garden visits for record keeping and generation of content for PEG social media accounts
Maintain tools and equipment weekly
Once trained, co-train and co-manage new garden mentors with PEG Owner in facilitation of garden visits
Take photos and use slack to update client profiles every visit
Workshops at PEG Demonstration Garden:
Teach up to 4 weekend community workshops on seasonally relevant topics at the PEG Demonstration Garden site during the March-September planting season.
Client Customer Service:
Answer all client emails regarding scheduling questions, horticulture questions etc. Work closely with PEG Owner.
Coordinate with staff regarding time off requests, and with clients regarding rescheduling,Work closely with PEG Owner and staff to make sure client communications are clear, consistent, and professional, and in line with PEG policies.
Plant Shopping:
Create shopping list of all plant starts needed for the week using client planting plans
Submit order to wholesale nurseries for drop off and shop for remaining starts at local nurseries
Organize all plant starts in trays by client and inventory leftover plants weekly
Social Media/Communications:
Curate content for PEG social media posts
Write blog posts for portlandediblegardens.com on seasonally relevant topics
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES:
Must be highly organized, driven, and capable of managing wide range of tasks independently
Must demonstrate extensive (3+ years) professional experience and knowledge growing vegetables using organic methods
Must demonstrate high level of interpersonal, social, and communication skills and provide top level customer service and educational experience to PEG clients
Must be comfortable with a wide range of people and skillful in adapting to different environments and making clients feel comfortable, supported, and successful
Must be able to have a very close working relationship with the owner and communicate frequently about shared responsibilities
ADDITIONAL PREFERRED SKILLS:
Crop planning experience
Social media/marketing/design experience
Photography background
Professional horticulture training
Experience teaching horticulture
Experience growing and caring for fruit trees, berries, and other perennial food crops in the PNW using organic methods
COMPENSATION:
Overview:
This is a Full Time, Salaried, Exempt position with an annual salary of $45,000-$50,000/year DOE (Beginning 1/1/2025) with 10 paid federal holidays, 25 additional days PTO and 40 hrs sick pay annually.
Probationary Period:
A 90 day probationary period will commence 9/1/2024 with part time work (30 hrs per week) compensated at $24-26/hr DOE
Paid Time Off (after Probationary Period):
10 paid federal holidays
10 days PTO for December winter break
15 days additional PTO annually (some restrictions apply commensurate with seasonal workload)
Sick Pay:
40 hours sick pay annually. Begins accruing after 90 days employment
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Please submit a cover letter, current resume, and 3 professional references by 8/15/24.
We will confirm receipt of all applications and reach out to candidates of interest to schedule interviews remotely.