Greetings from Ivory Silo Farm! We are hiring a part-time farmhand.
We are a small, certified organic family farm in Westport, MA, which is in the South Coast - a spectacular coastal agrarian community with many active farms in the region. Our farm operation is entering its tenth season this year, growing approximately 5 acres of annuals and 1 acre of perennials. We practice minimum tillage and strive to honor biodiversity in every element of our approach to farming. Our farm organism was built around seed: variety trialing, preservation, bioregional adaptation, and the breeding of new varieties heavily inform what we grow. In addition to the market farm at Ivory Silo, we also operate Freed Seed Federation, a seed nonprofit dedicated to regional, public domain seed.
Our market farm grows vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruit, for sale primarily to a handful of restaurants with whom we work closely; as well as wholesale to peer farmers. We hold spring and summer plant sales, comprising about a quarter of our business, with varieties meticulously sourced from other regional seed growers and from our own seed. This year, we are also endeavoring further into ecotypic native wildflower seed, in partnership with our local land trust and Eco59.
We are a husband-and-wife team, with a handful of volunteers and workshares, and one part-time position. Pay is commensurate with experience relative to skills and knowledge which improve operations as we grow and evolve our farm. The work is seasonal, beginning in mid-March and ending in mid-November. Schedule and exact hours to be defined in the range of 12-20 hours, weekday mornings or full days, with some weekend work in May.
In addition to this part-time position, there is also an opportunity for the right candidate to engage in some amount of seed work on the farm with Freed Seed Federation, averaging 5 hours per week.
For more information, or to apply, please email deelevanti[at]gmail.com. If you are interested in applying, please write and tell us a little info about yourself and your farming experience. We look forward to hearing from you!
Dee Levanti and Bill Braun
Ivory Silo Farm
Westport, MA