Orchardist / Groundskeeper
Hi All,
My extended family and I are looking to hire a backyard orchardist / gardener and groundskeeper outside of Cleveland, Ohio for a full time position with benefits. Salary is negotiable based on skills and experience, ballpark of 60K. Hoping for a long term 5+ year commitment. Looking for a spring 2024 start.
Requirements:
no formal training necessary, but a proven track record of successfully growing wide variety of fruit and vegetables
All around ‘know-how’ and common sense - fertilizing and improving soil, disease identification treatment and prevention, pest / animal control
Use and maintenance of power equipment - mini-tractor, mower, use of rental power equipment
Duties:
Orchard / mini-farm
- Assume duties to maintain, troubleshoot, and expand the current orchard sitting on a quarter acre with apples, stone fruit, berry bushes, grapes, other miscellaneous edibles.
- build out and manage a vegetable garden
- build out a coup and manage laying hens
- not necessarily organic, but embrace of holistic farming methods as opposed to hyper-efficiency
Groundskeeping duties for 3 houses within a 10 minute drive of each other including
- lawn mowing, mulching, weeding, trimming, flowers growing etc spring/fall cleanup
- hardscape maintenance - power washing, deck staining,
- special projects with rental equipment - stump grinding, brush clearing, tree limb removal
- outdoor dwelling upkeep - pest control, gutter cleaning etc
- whatever other random handyman skills you have - plumbing, carpentry, electrical
Perks of Job:
- This is not a commercial orchard! Open to experimentation and whimsy. I will share my bounty. Get paid to practice your hobby. No paperwork or quotas.
- Time to pursue your own interests - I’ve got the room and can cover the overhead for whatever fruit you like. Or youtubing or whatever. I can support your passion project
- Informal and casual work environment, with maximal flexibility - set your own hours, winters off, etc
- Cleveland is a great place to live. 20 minutes separates downtown and farmland. low cost of living, great neighborhoods
- zone 6a - climate agreeable to fruit production. Local county farmers market with produce <30 miles from me sell apples, plums, peaches, sour cherries, blueberries, grapes, currants, raspberries, melons, etc. biggest challenge is clay soil and moderate pest pressure.
I know it is a longshot to find someone willing to relocate, but I’ve been asking around locally for years without much success. I Pestered all the sellers at the local farmers market, university extension offices, gardening clubs etc. and Bupkis! Willing to consider creative arrangements. PM me if interested.
