Senior Grower at Borde Hill, Haywards Heath - United Kingdom - Organic Growers Alliance

Description

Salary:
£26,000 – 28,000
(Dependent on
experience)

To apply:
email your CV & covering
letter to:
Jessica.

If you are in
employment, please
include your current
notice period

Borde Hill (BH) is a Grade II* listed English Heritage Garden set within 383 acres of
Parkland and Woodland in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with wider
farmland beyond.

Created in the early 1900's with plants gathered by the great plant hunters from
their travels to the Himalayas, China, Burma, Tasmania, the Andes and North
America, the Estate contains over 70 champion trees and 8,000 trees and shrubs
listed by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In addition to the living collection, Borde
Hill also has a rare plant archive which allows us to better understand the plant
collection and social history to engage our visitors about 'the world in one garden'.

The Stephenson Clarke family have been custodians of Borde Hill for five
generations, and are at a stage of generational change that will see new energy,
opportunities and ideas aimed at broadening our visitor demographic and ensuring
Borde Hill is sustainable for future generations. This will include new business
initiatives of field to fork eating, a biodynamic market garden and a rejuvenated
family parkland offering with improved infrastructure, better horticultural
interpretation and plant management.

You and Your Role

An exciting new opportunity has arisen to join the Borde Hill team to manage our
new 4 acre biodynamic market garden – The Growers Project – located at Sugworth
Farm, a 40 acre farm on Borde Hill Estate. Now in its second year of production, we
are looking for a passionate grower to work on establishing and transforming the
site to produce seasonal fruit and vegetables which will supply the new restaurant,
café and farm shop planned to open at The Stables at Borde Hill.

You will work closely with the Senior Kitchen Gardener and restaurant Chef to bring
the new food vision to life, creating a strong brand message of farm to fork,
seasonal produce, showcasing the very best of biodynamic growing. It is therefore,
not only key that you have knowledge of growing produce on a large scale, but also
need strong organizational and communication skills to enable effective planning
with all parties regarding crop selection, cultivation, time of sowing and harvest.
As the operation grows, you will manage seasonal growers and will need to build
upon the current volunteer pool in order to support the growing operation.
Polytunnels and undercover crops will be key, so knowledge of cultivation and
propagation under these structures will be important for producing a vast array of
soft crops.

Beyond the market garden at Sugworth Farm, you will work closely with the Senior
Kitchen Gardener to oversee the re-imagined Walled Kitchen Garden at the Stables,
which is also biodynamic, and is designed as a potager garden with edible, medicinal
and companion planting. Therefore the successful candidate would ideally also have
experience in productive walled gardening encompassing vegetable production,
propagation, herbaceous borders, orchards, wall trained fruit and cut flowers.
Your passion for organic/biodynamic growing, technical knowledge and creativity will
be key in ensuring these areas and the plants within them are cared for and
developed to grow delicious seasonal produce to be eaten on site or sold wholesale.

Knowledge, skills and experience needed:

(Please provide evidence in your Covering Letter and CV)

You will have the following responsibilities:

• Line manage a small team including staff, volunteers and students.

• Be responsible for all aspects of care for the land, the growing and harvesting of crops including:
effective rotations, composting, fertility building, weed control, pest and disease
management and mechanisation.

• Adhere to and develop the cropping plan and sowing/planting schedule, to ensure produce is
varied and sustained throughout the year.

• Work within the standards of Demeter and attend annual inspections, preparing all of the
paperwork and keeping records of BD spraying activities across Sugworth Farm and the Walled
Kitchen Garden.

• Set fair market prices for each product by cross checking other similar operations and adjusting
when necessary.

• Communicate and plan ahead with the Chef and Senior Walled Gardener on crops to be grown as
well as determining supply and demand.

• Contribute to Borde Hill's wider work as a member of the Garden team, actively participating in
scheduled and ad hoc departmental meetings with the Head of Horticulture, Executive Manager
and the Managing Director.

• Manage annual budgets for growing.

• Manage the sale of crops, ensuring efficient use of receipts and working with the Accounts team
for invoicing.
Essential Selection Criteria

Skills required:

• A strong understanding of organic/biodynamic propagation, seed sowing, crop rotations, non-
chemical pest and disease management, knowledge of post-harvest and other plant husbandry
techniques needed in a productive biodynamic market garden or a willingness to learn about
Biodynamic principles and practices.

• A passion for biodynamic growing and experience of growing fruits, vegetables, and salad crops
in a recognised establishment.

• The variable and dynamic nature of this role requires a flexible approach to working out of
regular hours as required.

• A strong understanding of growing crops undercover and knowledge of cultivation under
polytunnels.

• An understanding of how to manage the cultivation of heavy clay soil and the climatic influences
it may have.

• Excellent communication is key in order to work collaboratively and effectively with the Chef and
Senior Walled Gardener as well as across the business as a whole.

• Experience in managing volunteers / junior roles

• Strong organization, forward planning and record keeping are critical for the timely operation of
seed sowing, crop rotation, harvest operations as well as supply and demand.

• Experience with handling and using a wide range of machinery, including rotavator, tractor and
hand held machinery.

• Understanding and experience of health and safety procedures including COSHH and risk
assessment procedures.

• Computer literate with experience of MS Office software, and able to use databases accurately.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons
regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation.

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