VALLEY FLORA FARM
1 APPRENTICESHIP
FULL TIME (40 hours/week)
APPROX START/END DATES: May - December
$15/HR
LOCATION: Langlois (Satellite Farm)
YEARS IN PRODUCTION: 18
PREVIOUS YEARS HOSTING: 1
PRACTICES: Organic Practices (Not Certified), Mixed Power (Draft Powered, Mechanized/Tractor Farming), Low-Till
ACRES IN CULTIVATION: 6
Vegetables, Fruit, Culinary Herbs, Medicinal Herbs, Value-Added, Agrotourism
ON-FARM HOUSING? Possibly
VEHICLE REQUIRED? Yes
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, Spanish
Women-Owned/Operated
Valley Flora is a highly diversified fresh produce farm located 2 miles outside of the small town of Langlois (population 300) on the beautiful southern Oregon coast. The farm is deeply dedicated to ecological, climate-forward farming principles and practices, and we play a central role in our local food system in this rural corner of the state. Our crew is tight-knit and hard-working, and we strive to create a fun and supportive workplace for everyone here.
https://www.valleyflorafarm.com/
FARM OVERVIEW
Valley Flora Farm encompasses 90 acres in a beautiful, quiet river valley, 4 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Of that acreage, 40 acres are upland forest, 30 acres are in pasture, and the remaining 20 acres is rich river bottomland where we cultivate all of our row crops and orchard crops. The farm is nestled in a special microclimate where cool-weather crops thrive, but where we also have enough summer warmth to grow eggplant, sweet corn, peppers, and tomatoes outdoors - in spite of our proximity to the ocean. It’s a lovely climate to work and play in.
The farm is surrounded by natural beauty, with numerous coastal rivers running undammed from the coast range to the sea; uncrowded beaches; wild dunes and forests. The farm is 20 minutes from the picturesque coastal towns of Port Orford (to the south) and Bandon (to the north). We’re five miles from Floras Lake, an epicenter of kite and wind-surfing. There is also nearby mountain biking, surfing, hiking, fishing, and horseback riding. Floras Creek, which runs the entire length of the farm, offers numerous summertime swimming holes and wintertime salmon spawning grounds.
Valley Flora’s production is highly diversified, and so is our marketing. We distribute our food via four distinct sales channels:
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): Valley Flora operates a 140-member CSA from June through December during our main season, and a 70+ member winter CSA from January to May. We participate in the Double Up Food Bucks program to help break down barriers to fresh produce in our low income community.
Farmstand & U-Pick: We have a bustling onsite farmstand that’s open from May to December, and a busy strawberry and flower u-pick that’s open to the public from June through October.
Direct Sales: We harvest and pack orders for local stores, co-ops, and restaurants year-round.
Foodbanks: Thanks to an Oregon Foodbank grant and some long-standing local partnerships, we distribute produce to four local foodbanks and community fridges every week.
The farm adheres to all the standards, rules, and principles of organic production but are not third party certified. We practice reduced tillage, have an unbridled passion for cover crops and biodiversity, and we do everything we can to minimize our carbon footprint and avoid waste. We’re a mixed power farm, relying on a combo of tractor power, solar power, human power, and draft horse power (Jack and Lily are Zoë’s team of Belgian/Morgan draft horses who work in harness on the farm). Our farm infrastructure is powered by a 12kW solar array that sits on the roof of our barn and runs our greenhouses, walk-in coolers, irrigation pumps and more.
We typically have six folks on our crew during our main season (some part-time, some full-time), from May through December. In the winter, we work a scaled-back schedule, employing 3-4 employees who stay with us year round but reduce their hours in the winter months.
Zoë has been farming for over 20 years, first as a hired hand on farms in Massachusetts and California, then as the crew manager at Sauvie Island Organics near Portland. In 2008 she returned to her birthplace on Floras Creek to start her own farm business in collaboration with her mother (Betsy) and sister (Abby), who both grow produce on the same family land. Abby grows salad greens and manages the orchard. Betsy focuses primarily on greenhouse production of peak-of-summer crops (tomatoes, basil, zucchini). Zoë and her crew round out the rest of the production, from artichokes to potatoes to strawberries to broccoli (and much, much more). Together they market collectively as Valley Flora. After 18 years in business, the farm is thriving and ever-evolving
TRAINING AND EXPECTATIONS
Every person at Valley Flora is a crucial, invaluable part of our team. We all work hard, with the crew usually putting in 8-10 hours per day during our summer peak. Apprentices typically start in May and work full-time through October with us. By the end of October things ease up a bit and we sometimes reduce hours slightly for November and December.
At Valley Flora, we “train-by-doing” and there is education built into every day, particularly when new employees are diving into a task for the first time. We always try to ensure that our crew members feel confident and capable before being set loose on a project. New employees spend a lot of time working alongside our seasoned crew to learn the ins and outs of everything we do.
Because the farm’s production and marketing are so diverse, our daily to-do lists are ever-changing and multifaceted, which helps mix up the physical and mental demands of the job. That said, it is very physical work with certain intense seasonal peaks (for instance, harvesting the heavy storage crops of fall, or the constant weekly transplanting of spring/early summer). To help build strength and physical health, we train our employees not only in farming techniques, but also in proper body mechanics (we are fans of a set of body weight exercises called Foundation Training to keep our backs healthy and strong).
Apprentices work as a member of the field crew on all manner of tasks that are part of operating a diversified produce farm:
Daily harvest for our 140-member CSA, farmstand, and direct sale accounts. The farm grows over 100 different crops, each requiring its own technique, tools, and skill set for harvest. Valley Flora has a long-standing reputation for high quality produce and we strive to uphold that. We’re sticklers for quality and consistency, so Apprentices are taught standard bunch size, standard weight, and quality control for every single crop in ever-changing conditions. We need Apprentices to achieve these quality standards while moving as efficiently and quickly as possible. It’s a steep and challenging learning curve that requires keen attention to detail, awareness of pacing, fast and nimble hands, and a willingness to accept and integrate constructive feedback throughout the season. We are at core a lean commercial operation (not a hobby farm), and hustle is part of every single day.
Post-harvest handling: Apprentices are part of processing and packing the 100+ crops we harvest for four distinct sales channels, including CSA, farmstand, direct sales and foodbanks. Similar to harvest, the wash/packout process is distinct and unique for each crop and it changes with each season, as well as with daily weather conditions. Apprentices will learn post-harvest handling skills that rely on our dunk tank, wash table, sorting tables, dry curing room, and three climate-controlled walk-in coolers. You’ll learn to use various scales, different wash techniques, specific packout systems, and be trained in the selection of appropriate packaging materials, standards, and organization. Everyone receives annual food safety training.
Weekly Fieldwork: These tasks include transplanting, fertilizing, trellising, mowing, weed control, pest management, irrigation, and plant care. Apprentices will be trained in operating the equipment necessary to perform these tasks safely and efficiently, including mowers, weedeaters, wheel hoes, oscillating stirrup hoes, collinear hoes, Japanese hand weeders, drop spreader, flame weeder, pressure washer, and hand trucks. Other than our delivery van, all our farm vehicles have manual transmissions so Apprentices will learn to drive stick if they don’t already know how.
Weekly Delivery: Apprentices will be trained to safely load, drive and complete our delivery route in our Sprinter van (weekly deliveries to wholesale customers and CSA pickup sites).
U-Pick Management. Apprentices will be responsible for overseeing flower and strawberry u-pick operations one or two days/week. This includes setting up the u-pick stand, communicating and interacting with customers to orient them to the u-pick, answering questions, and being the public face of the farm.
Farmstand Management: The Apprentice might help manage our biweekly farmstand, including packing orders, setting up the farmstand display, selling produce, and tending the till. Our farmstand manager is a very public-facing role, involving lots of interaction with the public.
QUALIFICATIONS
Farming can be likened to an endurance sport that has some sprinting thrown into the mix (except our “sporting event” happens every day for a solid 8 months of the year). We try to cultivate physical and mental strength amongst our team so that we can “do hard things.” We are looking for someone who is up to this challenge and:
Is a hard worker who loves spending their day outside, regardless of the weather (and has significant previous outdoor physical work experience on their resume).
Knows how to hustle and optimize efficiency in their work.
Demonstrates keen attention to detail, excellent observation skills, and an awareness of pacing.
Is reliable, on-time, honest and kind.
Has strong communication and listening skills.
Has a good sense of humor and team spirit.
Can gracefully accept and integrate constructive feedback whenever it’s provided, without the ego getting in the way.
Is equally comfortable and productive working on a team or independently.
Is calm and adaptable in the face of the unexpected.
Is not inclined to stir up human drama (plants and the weather provide drama enough on a small farm!).
We don’t require previous farming experience but a passion and deep curiosity about sustainable agriculture is very useful. For us, it’s more important that someone has the grit and good humor to learn new tasks and stick with it through the challenges of an entire season than it is to already know how to do the job (often folks who have previous farming experience have to relearn our systems anyway).
Applicants should be in strong physical condition, capable of safely lifting 50 pounds, and able to squat, bend, lift, carry, and kneel for prolonged amounts of time over an 8-10 hour work day, five days a week, for the entirety of the season. Ability to drive a stick shift is VERY helpful, since our primary farm truck has a standard transmission.
We strive to be a warm, fun, welcoming workplace where our sense of team is paramount. To that end, it’s super important that new employees are team-oriented, but they also need to be able to work independently and productively on their own (there are plenty of tasks that crew members tackle solo throughout the week).
We are all constantly striving to improve ourselves, our efficiency and the farm’s productivity, so good problem-solving skills, innovative creativity, humility, and critical thinking are exciting traits in a Valley Flora applicant.
COMPENSATION / ACCOMMODATIONS
We work closely with our local Small Business Development Center, which offers a three month On-the-Job Training wage subsidy for new hires. Applicants who qualify for that program will start at $15/hour. Otherwise, new hires typically start at the local minimum wage (currently $13.70/hour), with a wage reevaluation after the first month to assess the possibility of a performance-based raise.
All employees have access to farm produce, and between June and December get a weekly CSA share from the farm, valued at $1000+/season. Employees also have unlimited access to “house” produce (seconds or grade B produce that doesn’t meet our sales standards), as well as gleaning opportunities throughout the season. For employees who complete the entire season we give out an end-of-year bonus, calculated based on the farm’s profitability and the number of hours worked. The farm will also reimburse half of an Apprentice’s RFC tuition if they complete the season.
Local housing options are somewhat limited, however we are well-networked in the community so it’s very possible that we could help a new employee find housing if on-farm housing is not available.
There is limited cell service at the farm, depending on the cell carrier. We have Wi-Fi that is available to everyone on the farm.
EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Valley Flora is committed to open, non-violent communication and does not tolerate any form of bigotry, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or discrimination, ever.
Since the beginning, the farm has been a bilingual workplace. English and Spanish are both spoken everyday and Zoe makes a concerted effort to ensure that language never leaves anyone out of the loop. We are owned and managed by women, and we make our absolute best effort to give everyone on our team opportunities to take ownership of various aspects of the farm and to feel appreciated for their contribution to the farm. We try to assign tasks based on what people are excited and qualified to work on and never along gender-biased lines. We actively solicit input and feedback from the crew to make sure that the farm is being managed in a way that feels good, fair, inclusive and respectful.
Being a small farm, our crew is very familial, which gives us a lot of opportunity to grow and learn together in wonderful ways.
PAST APPRENTICE TESTIMONIALS
“Zoe worked alongside us and trained us on a number of things, which I really appreciated. The two other long-term farm crew members have been great in teaching/training me as well, but I know Zoe made an effort to be there with us as much as she could. That showed me that she cared about my learning and progression as a farmer, and she always made time to thoroughly answer any questions.” -2023
Zoë, Jen, Alexa, Sarah, Allen, Roberto, Abby, Bets.