Field Kitchen Garden Assistant

Riverford Organic Farmers Ltd is hiring a Field Kitchen Garden Assistant for a permanent role in Buckfastleigh, UK. The position involves working outdoors in a team to grow organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers for a restaurant and local shops. Candidates should have horticultural experience and be prepared for manual work in various weather conditions. The role offers 24-32 hours per week with benefits including holidays, discounts, and profit-sharing.
Work with us at Riverford, and join a thriving employee-owned business as a Garden Assistant… Be part of a inclusive and friendly Field Kitchen team More than just a veg box….Riverford are mad about organic veg. It’s at the core of everything we do. We love to grow it, pack it into boxes, and deliver it to around 70, 000 homes across the UK every week. This takes loads of brilliant people – and working here makes you a ‘co-owner’, since Riverford is employee-owned. Success means much more than just profits; we want this to be a place people enjoy coming to work, and a business our co-owners feel proud of! We offer a bucket load of benefits….33 days holiday pro rata (including bank holidays), 30% off veg boxes and our online shop, generous company pension scheme, annual profit share (at least 10% of all our profits are split equally between all co-owners) Delivering even greener veg - We’re in the process of swapping diesel vans to electric, with the ambitious goal of being 100% electric vans for low-emission deliveries to our customers! This role is a permanent contract, 24 - 32 hours per week, which is inclusive of Bank Holidays. Location: Wash Farm, Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0JU.
Pay: £14.85 per hour.


What you’ll be doing… We grow veg, fruit, herbs and flowers for the Field Kitchen restaurant and supply limited quantities to local farm shops. The garden is a there for restaurant customers to walk, relax and be inspired to grow and eat fresh organic produce as well as a popular relaxation space for our busy Co-Owners.
The garden produces plumes of fresh herbs, heritage veg not available in the veg-box scheme, trial crops and all manner of weird and wonderful crops. We offer helpful advice to visitors as well as farm tours, garden workshops, flower demos, festive wreath-making and occasional dining events. It’s a busy space and we take a real pride in making organic farming come to life in microcosm.


Summer is busy in the Field Kitchen Garden but there’s always something needing doing all year round. If you love working outdoors (come rain or shine) and enjoy working as part of a small team including our talented restaurant chefs, then this is an extremely varied and rewarding role. You will get the opportunity to plant and harvest different crops as well as planting, weeding, and maintaining the garden for visitors.


Previous experience of horticulture is essential, but a can-do, positive attitude and a resilience for doing manual work outdoors is equally important.


This is a permanent contract, and the exact timings will be negotiated individually. The proposed working would be 3 or 4 days per week depending on the preferred candidate: working eight hour days. We are happy to discuss preferred days of work although, as the team is small, we do ask for some flexibility when required - including depending on changeable weather conditions and possible weekend working.


What we’re looking for Previous experience of working on a farm or commercial garden Garden planning and layout experience would be beneficial but not essential Good Microsoft Office & especially Excel skills for co-working on planning This is a physically challenging role in all weathers, so you must be able to cope with the demands of outdoor and polytunnel work. This is a manual role which requires lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling and as part of this role you would be required to lift and manoeuvre crates of produce up to 10kg for this role. You should have good communication skills and be able to speak and understand English to a level that enables you to comprehend complicated and technical instructions and the daily requirements of the role. At Riverford, we value quality service and our production team play a key role in our mission. If you’re looking for a job where you can make a difference and join a friendly, supportive team, we’d love to hear from you!
Application Process - We'll be reviewing applications throughout the duration of the advert and may choose to bring the closing date forward; therefore, we'd encourage you to apply at your earliest convenience.