Head Grower at Linley Farm, Bishop’s Castle

With a 2.5-acre no-dig walled garden and a 5-acre field-scale area, Linley Farm delivers top-quality organic vegetables, fruit and flowers to shops and restaurants in London and Shropshire, alongside a restaurant wholesaler. We work closely with the team on the rest of the farm and at our associate pub, The Bridges.

We are looking for a head grower to be a strong leader and an integral part of the team. Working collaboratively with the rest of the estate team, including the estate and farm managers, you’ll need to be efficient and have an excellent work ethic.

Day-to-day duties will include all aspects of organic growing, from harvesting, packing, weeding, seeding, maintenance, seed saving, paperwork, marketing and communicating with customers. You’ll be expected to take the lead on sales and logistics, driving the business forward, and work on both short and long-term planning with the team and estate management staff.

You’ll need to have an eye for detail and be consistent, with the ability to motivate and delegate within a small team. This role would suit someone who is a self-starter and ambitious. Innovative ideas and approaches will be appreciated.

Some key duties and responsibilities:

• General: We use beneficial plants and flowers, companion planting and feed our soils with compost teas and extracts in the walled garden. The fieldscale area is at a different location, and you will work on propagation, crop growing and management for the fieldscale operation, working with the fieldscale/composting delivery lead.
• Crop planning: Working from the yields and records kept from previous years, you will need to make crop plans running into the following year, but also be able to adapt them according to the weather, seed availability and what chefs and wholesalers want. With more than 250 beds in the walled garden and five acres of field-scale crops, you will need to be able to produce crop and sowing plans.
• Marketing: You will be responsible for marketing the vegetables, looking for new markets to explore locally and in London, making decisions on what crops are financially worth growing and pushing the business forward to the next level. Innovation in thinking and being able to communicate with chefs is essential.
• Logistics: The head grower will need to be able to organise multiple team members working around the weather conditions and be extremely efficient. You will also need to be able to work out the delivery of vegetables locally and to London via pallet delivery, as well as coordinating the collection of vegetables by our wholesaler. Other tasks include managing order sheets, invoicing, stores of compost, seeds, harvesting stores and more.
• Growing: You will need to manage propagation, planting, bed preparation, weed management, pest and disease management (organic), crop care, irrigation, fertility, tool care and harvesting. You’ll also need to manage and repair irrigation systems, machinery and tools. You will need to manage greenhouse and polytunnel soil health and growing, as well as cleaning, repairs and maintenance. Seed harvesting and efficient seed ordering are also vital to the job.
• Composting: You will need to help with composting, including building Johnson-Su bioreactors and making compost tea/extract to feed the soil. Experience/understanding of composting would be a bonus.
• Cut flowers: Although the core business is vegetable growing, experience and knowledge of cut flowers is a bonus, as we do sell cut flowers to the pub and some of the restaurants. An understanding of how to condition, store and package cut flowers, as well as an awareness of what cut flowers are popular is helpful. Basic knowledge of flower arranging, creating Christmas wreaths, drying flowers and harvesting flowers is important.
• Administration: You will be responsible for budgeting, ordering, invoicing and communicating clearly with the estate office. Record keeping is essential – from sowing and planting dates to crop records. You will be responsible for the Organic certification documentation, from derogations to wastage records and for ensuring the Organic inspections are carried out smoothly for the garden and fieldscale. You will be responsible for keeping financial records and working with the accountant to create and update budgets year on year.

The role is full-time with paid breaks, and some flexibility around weekend working is required. Salary is dependent on experience, and accommodation may be available.

At least 2 seasons in an organic horticulture set up.

Proven experience leading a team and strong communication and coordination skills.

Confident in crop planning, seed ordering, and record keeping.

Knowledge and familiarity with diverse, seasonal produce, from a growing/cooking perspective.

Willingness to work in a physical, outdoors role.

Ability to work flexible hours during the main growing season.

Full, clean UK driving license and access to own vehicle due to rural location.

Desirable:

• Direct head grower experience.
• Familiarity with direct to restaurant sales and wholesalers.
• Experience using courier services for produce delivery.
• Ability to use the tractor and machinery.

Pay range is £28,000 – £34,000 + possible accommodation.

Applications close 31st March. Please apply as soon as possible as we may interview candidates before the closing date.