Job Description for Garden Manager at Heritage Farm
Seed Savers Exchange, Inc. (SSE), a non-profit tax-exempt publicly supported
organization dedicated to the conservation of endangered food crops, is
seeking a full-time Garden Manager for the organization's Heritage Farm
project. This is an exceptional opportunity for a person who combines a
love of plants and gardening with appropriate technical qualifications to
join a small, dedicated staff at the world's premier grassroots genetic
preservation project.
Experience and Qualities Being Sought:
Previous gardening experience on a scale relevant to the Heritage Farm
operation.
Evidence of supervisory ability, and also the ability to delegate.
Ability to represent Seed Savers Exchange and the garden projects at
Heritage Farm in a knowledgeable and personable way before the public.
Previous experience in varietal evaluation and greenhouse management.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Reports directly to SSE's Director.
Responsible for the safety, purity, health and viability of a seed
collection of 13,000 varieties, both in storage and throughout the
regeneration process in Heritage Farm's three acres of organic gardens.
Works with the Seed Librarian to select 1,500 varieties for regeneration
each summer, and to coordinate cooperative renewal efforts of SSE's Network
of Vegetable Curators who are maintaining separate collections.
Designs and implements each year's specific garden plan.
Manages the production of seedlings in Heritage Farm's 1,400 sq. ft.
greenhouse. Supervises a crew of six employees in planting, maintaining and
harvesting seed from the gardens, with principal delegation to the Garden
Foreman to carry out daily work assignments.
Coordinates and oversees all garden photography, documentation and
data-taking, with primary delegation to Garden Foreman and Seed Librarian.
Responsible for ensuring adequate isolation distances and population sizes,
performing or overseeing hand-pollinations, assuring the identity and
viability of seed samples through harvest, and maintaining organic fertility
and disease management in the gardens.
Educational Requirements:
Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in some area of the natural
sciences appropriate to the position's duties (Horticulture, Botany, Plant
Breeding or Genetics, for example).
Location
Seed Saver's Heritage Farm is located five miles north of Decorah among the
beautiful wooded bluffs and trout streams of northeast Iowa. Decorah, a
thriving small city of 8,000, is the cultural and commercial center of
northeast Iowa/southeast Minnesota and is home to a regional hospital and
nationally ranked four-year liberal arts college.
Salary
Commensurate with experience, and appropriate to the nonprofit community.
(Questions regarding salary should be made in writing to SSE's Personnel
Director).
Benefits: Medical insurance for family, and on-site housing provided
(three-year-old three-bedroom ranch-style home) near office complex and
greenhouse. Not expected to be on-site continually, but flexible working
hours will be required.
Submit
Letter of introduction stating your reasons for wanting this position, your
resume, and three letters of reference by January 15, 1995 to: Personnel
Director, Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101.
Starting Date: As early as March 1, but no later than May 15, 1995.
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