AROUND THE FARM
Land's Sake Crew Member
Year round, full or part time | Reports to the Executive Director | Weston, MA
Land's Sake Farm, Weston, MA
About Land's Sake
Land's Sake is a nonprofit working farm in Weston, Massachusetts, where growing food, teaching, and caring for the land are one and the same work. Our mission is to connect people to the land to build community and inspire lifelong stewardship. Each season we grow roughly 20 acres of diversified vegetables on town-owned conservation land, run a 300-member CSA and a farm stand, welcome roughly 10,000 people into more than 600 farm-based education programs, care for a small herd of education livestock, and donate about a third of our harvest, more than 68,000 pounds of produce last year, to food pantries, meal programs, and neighbors facing hunger across Greater Boston.
The Opportunity
Most farm jobs ask you to pick a lane: field crew, farm stand, education, or office. The Land's Sake Crew Member is built for someone who doesn't want to pick yet, or who wants to understand how the whole farm fits together before they do.
This is a versatile, hands-on role that plugs in wherever the organization needs it most. In a single week you might harvest for hunger relief on Monday, work the farm stand register on Wednesday, help lead an Open Farmyard morning on Thursday, and set up for an event on Saturday. In a slower stretch you might seed flats in the greenhouse, feed the goats, help with a mailing, or organize the tool shed. The through-line is a person who is hard-working, eager to learn, and glad to be useful.
For Land's Sake, the role gives us flexible capacity across a seasonal calendar where every department's peak lands at a slightly different time. For you, it is the most complete education in how a working community farm actually runs, and a real path toward a specialized role here or elsewhere in local food, land stewardship, education, or nonprofit work.
You will report to the Executive Director, who sets your priorities and placement across the season. Day to day, you will take direction from the lead of whichever area you are working in.
Essential Duties:
The mix will shift with the season and the farm's needs. Over the course of a year, you can expect to work in most or all of these areas.
In the fields and greenhouse
- Harvest, wash, pack, and store vegetables, herbs, and flowers to the farm's quality standards, including harvests bound for our hunger relief partners.
- Support planting, trellising, weeding, and other field work alongside the farm crew. ● Help with greenhouse and high tunnel tasks: seeding, watering, potting up, and tending crops under cover.
- Help with general farm maintenance and upkeep, including fencing and irrigation setup. ● Help pack and distribute CSA shares, and keep barns, wash stations, tools, and equipment clean and in order.
At the farm stand
- Set up and break down the stand each day, including produce displays and retail merchandise.
- Maintain produce quality throughout the day: restocking, temperature control, hydration, and storage.
- Operate the register (Square Point of Sale) and scales, and handle cash accurately. ● Learn our produce varieties and growing practices well enough to answer customer questions and point people toward other ways to engage with the farm.
In education, animal care, and events
- Assist educators with Open Farmyard, summer camps (Farm and Forest, Junior Farmers, and Green Power), school and group visits, after-school programs, and workshops: setting up, welcoming families, supporting activities, and helping keep children safe on the farm.
- Help care for our education livestock (goats, chickens, ducks, quail, and rabbits): feeding, watering, cleaning enclosures, and maintaining pasture and fencing. ● Help maintain the Education Garden and occasionally lead farm tours for visiting groups. ● Help set up, staff, and break down farm events such as the Harvest Dinner, Solstice, and the annual hunger relief fundraiser.
- Support volunteer workdays and visiting volunteer groups in the field or at events under the direction of staff.
In the office and around the farm (as needed)
- Provide administrative and operational support: data entry, mailings, inventory counts, supply runs, simple record-keeping, and errands.
- Help with facilities and grounds upkeep, including basic maintenance and seasonal projects.
- Take on special projects as the Executive Director identifies them.
Who You Are
You don't need experience in all of these areas. You do need to be the kind of person who shows up, works hard, asks good questions, and is happy to do whatever the day requires.
- Hard-working and reliable. You take physical, sometimes repetitive work in stride, keep a steady pace, arrive on time, and follow through on what you say you'll do. Eager to learn. You want to understand how a farm, a stand, a classroom, and a nonprofit work, and you seek out feedback.
- Flexible. You are comfortable with a schedule and a task list that change with the weather and the season, and you don't mind switching gears.
- Good with people. You are friendly, patient, and clear with customers, families, children, volunteers, and coworkers, and you can represent the farm well to a curious visitor. Organized and attentive to detail. You notice when the display is low, the cooler is warm, the goats are out, or the count doesn't match.
- Committed to the mission. You care about local food, land stewardship, hunger relief, and education, and about making the farm welcoming to people of all ages and backgrounds.
- Experience in agriculture, livestock care, retail, food service, camps or outdoor education, childcare, or nonprofit administration is a plus. Interest in cooking, flowers, or local food systems is a plus. This role suits a recent graduate, a career changer, or anyone who wants a year of learning by doing.
Essential Functions
These are the core requirements of the role. Because the Crew Member works across every part of the farm, a successful candidate must be able to perform all of the following, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Perform physically demanding, often repetitive farm work outdoors in all weather for full shifts, including standing, walking, bending, and kneeling for extended periods.
- Lift and carry up to 50 pounds repeatedly throughout a workday.
- Move safely across uneven and unpaved terrain, including fields, forest, mud, and barns.
- Work with children and families in education programs, including maintaining visual and auditory awareness of a group and remaining calm, patient, and upbeat around energetic kids; pass a CORI/SORI background check.
- Handle cash accurately and operate the farm stand's point-of-sale system and scales.
- Care for education livestock (goats, chickens, ducks, quail, and rabbits), including feeding, watering, and cleaning enclosures on a daily schedule.
- Work some weekends and occasional evenings as required by events, the farm stand, and animal care.
- Commit to a minimum of [20] hours per week, with days arranged with the Executive Director; be able to start field days at 7:00 am.
- Communicate clearly, verbally and in writing, with staff, customers, program participants, volunteers, and visitors.
- Arrive on time with reliable transportation to the farm; be at least 18 years old.
Preferred, Not Required
- First Aid and CPR certification (required before working in education programs; can be obtained after hire at Land's Sake's expense).
- A valid driver's license.
- Experience in agriculture, livestock care, retail, food service, camps or outdoor education, childcare, or nonprofit administration.
- Interest in cooking, flowers, or local food systems.
Term and Schedule
Year-round. Full-time or part-time, year-round position based at the farm in Weston. Work follows the growing and program calendar: fields, farm stand, and education in the growing season; events, winter farm stand hours, animal care, facilities projects, and administrative and operational support through the winter and spring.
Compensation & Benefits
- Starts at [$15-19 per hour], commensurate with experience.
- Paid sick time in accordance with Massachusetts law.
- Paid 30-minute lunch break on days of six or more hours.
- Free produce and flowers grown on the farm, plus a discount on other items sold at the farm stand.
- $200 annual gear stipend for workwear and outdoor gear.
- For full-time, year-round employees: 50% of health care costs covered by Land's Sake, two weeks paid vacation plus paid holidays, and professional development opportunities.
How to Apply
Send a cover letter and resume to info@landssake.org with "Crew Member" in the subject line. In your cover letter, tell us what you hope to learn at Land's Sake and about a time you jumped in to help where you were needed. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and the position is open until filled.
Land's Sake is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve, and we encourage candidates of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to apply.
AT THE FARMSTAND
Land’s Sake Farmstand Staff
Land’s Sake is a nonprofit farm located in Weston, MA. Our mission is to connect people to the land to build community and inspire lifelong stewardship. The Farmstand serves as the hub of the farm; each year we assemble an awesome team to sell our vegetables, guide and educate our community, and have a lot of fun doing it.
Successful farmstand staff possess an interest in sustainable agriculture, local food systems, flowers, and/or cooking. As a point of contact for Land's Sake, Farmstand staff are trained about the farm’s many offerings, in order to communicate with customers about how they can engage at the farm. Great customer service skills, an ability to work quickly and efficiently, and a good sense of humor are vital to this position.
Responsibilities:
- Set up and break down the Farmstand each day, including produce displays and retail merchandise
- Maintain produce quality throughout the day (eg. re-stocking, temperature control, hydration and storage)
- Learn produce varieties and growing standards of products, and be able to communicate information to customers as necessary
- Operate cash register (Square Point of Sale system) and scales
- Answer customer questions, and bring awareness to additional farm programming as appropriate
- Keep a clean and organized workspace and sales floor, and help with daily upkeep
Key Skills
- Personable customer service skills and ability to keep up in a fast-paced environment
- Cash handling and/or retail experience is a plus
- Willing and able to work in all weather conditions, stand for long periods of time, and bend and lift up to 50 pounds
- Floral experience or knowledge is a plus
- Merchandising experience or knowledge is a plus
- Interested in cooking, agriculture, flowers or local food systems
Employment Dates:
- Seasonal, part-time position runs from August-October with possible hours available for winter and spring season Nov-Dec
- Farmstand is open to the public 10am-6pm Tuesday- Friday and 10am-4pm Saturday and Sunday. Working hours are 9am-7pm Tuesdays -Friday and 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. Hours change for winter season.
- Flexible shifts and scheduling
Compensation:
- Starts at $15-$17/hour, commensurate with experience
- Paid sick time, in accordance with Massachusetts law
- Paid 30-minute lunch break, if the employee works six or more hours that day
- As much free produce as you can eat
- Discount on other products sold at the Farmstand
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to farmstand@landssake.org
Equal Opportunity Policy
Land’s Sake is seeking to hire a staff that represents the racial and ethnic diversity of its constituents. Diversity and inclusion is an ongoing organizational practice and a core value of Land’s Sake with the goal of having culturally competent services, materials, resources and programs. Our hiring practices are informed by an appreciation of the strengths offered by differing cultures, races, religions, ethnicities, classes, sexual orientation, physical capacities, and age groups. Land’s Sake offers benefits including medical insurance, vacation, access to professional development and local organic food. Land’s Sake is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a multicultural organization. We actively seek a diverse pool of candidates for all positions.