GARDEN COORDINATOR
Reports to Kitchen Manager.
Job Purpose: Provide leadership, coordination and labor to maintain and improve Ekone’s garden spaces and infrastructure, balancing the interests of food production and educational opportunities for summer campers and other guests, in collaboration with numerous volunteers.
Job Duties:
Food Production in ¼ Acre Ekone Garden
Use existing garden systems to implement a thriving production garden. No major reinventing the wheel for the 2015 season, just the daily and seasonal work of tending annual and perennial plants. Prioritize production of abundant daily salads from mid-May thru October.
 Spring: create planting schedule and recordkeeping systems, prepare beds for planting, do soil tests and add amendments as needed, order and start seeds, tend and weed perennials, lay out irrigation lines, build some simple cold frames for earlier crops and transitioning plants from indoors to outdoors.
 Summer: continue succession planting of greens and fall crops, keep up with irrigation and weeding, maintain paths, ongoing harvests.
 Fall: plant cold frames with winter greens, harvest and storage of crops, cover crop and/or mulch beds before winter, make compost with field debris
 Ongoing: line out volunteers and residents for watering, maintenance, daily harvests, and special projects.
Education
Create space and opportunity in the garden for summer campers to have a meaningful experience with sustainable food production.
 Check in with program staff at least weekly, or at daily staff meetings when possible, about current garden project opportunities and needs. Support program staff in bringing campers or program participants into the garden.
 When time allows, facilitate garden activities with campers or program participants.
 Create physical spaces in the garden for gathering, teaching, resting, observing, etc.
 Train and utilize adult volunteers and interns in ways that are both educational and productive.
Market Venture
Take definitive steps towards establishing a cash crop venture to help fund the garden and this position into the future.
 Flesh out the idea of garlic as a viable cash crop; research expenses and potential income, ideal scale, and logistics. Create a simple business plan.
 Consider other possible cash crops, weigh the pros and cons.
 Assuming garlic seems a viable idea, move forward with breaking ground and amending soil as needed at the Hacienda for fall planting.
Sacred Earth Foundation
Ekone Ranch…a place for children of all ages
General
 Weekly check-ins with the kitchen manager to assess priorities
 Development and planning for the extensive “wish list” of future garden plans
 Maintain garden tools
 Manage the garden budget
 Take leadership of the garden and work independently, while inviting and considering input from residents and guests
Terms of Employment
 Hours per week: 15 on average (strong potential for increase to 30 hours by June, contingent on funding)
 Compensation: $10 per hour
 Seasonal position: April 1 (or when filled) – October 31
 Housing at Ekone Ranch is available, consisting of simple trailer with wood stove and shared bathroom/kitchen
 No additional benefits provided at this time
 Abide by Employee Handbook and Ekone Community policies and agreements
Application process:
 Direct any questions to kitchen manager Chris Woodcock by email, chris@ekone.org
 Send resume and cover letter by email to chris@ekone.org.
 Qualified applicants will be asked to review community agreements and respond to community questionnaire.
 Applications will be reviewed on March 29, but the position is open until filled.