Garden Intern, Amarillo

Benefits:

Training&development

Founded in 1982, the High Plains Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to alleviate hunger in the Texas Panhandle. As a member of Feeding America and Feeding Texas, HPFB provides the equivalent of 5 meals with every dollar donated, and 96-cents of every dollar goes directly to food and feeding programs. For more information, visit .

Summary The Garden at the High Plains Food Bank is a community-based project that grows fresh produce for distribution to the food insecure, establishes gardens in our community, and provides nutrition, cooking, and gardening education opportunities to those in our service area. The Garden staff is ultimately responsible for planting and tending to the land, as well as collaborating with warehouse staff to pack the produce and distribute it through the Food Bank’s agencies and to collaborate with the Nutrition Education program.

Qualifications The successful candidate will possess:

Experience growing vegetables, fruit, or other edible plants

General knowledge of growing produce without use of chemicals (herbicides or pesticides)

Ability to motivate and manage volunteers of all ages with little to no gardening experience

Access to a reliable, insured vehicle and a valid driver’s license

Proven organizational skills and the ability to work with little supervision

Education/Experience

High School Diploma

Language Ability

Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required. Strong interpersonal skills with all clients and contacts, internal and external, are required.

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.

Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.

Ability to speak effectively before groups of volunteers or team members of the organization.

Math Ability

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to understand and carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.

Equipment

The position requires operation of standard office equipment, pallet jacks, tiller, and basic gardening tools.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The standard work environment is an outside setting in various weather conditions. There may be a minimum amount of time spent in a distribution setting with fluorescent lighting.

Physical Demands The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to speak, hear, and use hands.

Moderate to long periods of walking or standing are required.

The employee must be able to be exposed to reasonable and varying weather conditions as determined by management.

The employee must be able to bend or squat in order to conduct garden tasks.

DUTIES

Year Round:

Facilitate garden planning and planting

Recruit, instruct, and manage volunteers

Act as steward of gardens to Food Bank agencies

Keep Garden tidy and presentable

Keep track of volunteer hours and In-kind donations and submit monthly to accounting

Compost spoiled produce from food bank warehouse

All other duties as assigned

Spring:

Start and maintain seedlings in greenhouse

Plant in ground spring crops

Repair irrigation

Put down weed barriers

Prune plants, shrubs, trees that need spring pruning

Begin monthly Garden classes

Put shade cloth on greenhouse once needed

Summer:

Assess and treat pest and diseases using organic methods weekly

Apply fertilizer and disease preventative regularly

Maintain weed control

Start and maintain Fall seedlings in greenhouse

Plant in ground fall crops

Harvest and track weight and usage of harvest

Manage livestock for productive use

Goats- Weeds

Chickens-Weeds and Insects

Ducks-Insect

Establish summer cover crop

Fall:

Harvest and track weight and usage of harvest

Amend soil

Plant winter cover crop

Start composting dying non-diseased plants

Harvest seeds for give away or next seasons use

Annual Harvest Festival- Recruit vendors, food, acti

Prepare animals for winter

Winter:

Maintain winter cover crop

Repair any structures that need repairs

Plant any additional cover cropping

Winterize animal structure- heat lamps, heated waterers, bedding

Winterize irrigation and faucets

Manage grazing schedule for live stock