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Are you an aspiring ecological farmer who wants hands-on experience working the land and living in community? A Rocha Farm in Surrey, BC, might be the place for you!
About the Farm
A Rocha Canada is grateful to work within the Tatalu (Little Campbell River) Watershed on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish people: including Semiahmoo, Kwantlen, Stó:lō and W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations. Read more about A Rocha Canada’s commitment to reconciliation: https://arocha.ca/the-land-were-on/
A Rocha Farm exists within the larger organization of A Rocha Canada’s BC Environmental Centre, which is a dynamic environmental centre with staff conducting conservation science research, running environmental education programming, and maintaining the farm. The 27-acre property is a living lab of forests, a threatened river system, a wetland, heritage houses, and a farm. This unique combination of sensitive wildlife habitat and agricultural land makes this centre a place where critical environmental issues are researched, addressed, and solved.
The farm has made the full transition to no-till production over the last 4 years. With just under 1 acre of production, the farm runs a 130+ member vegetables and flowers CSA, distributes weekly vegetable donations to partner non-profits (30% of production), on-site farm stand, and small amounts of wholesale sales. They are growing over 50 vegetable crops and over 200 varieties.
A Rocha Farm uses regenerative practices including cover cropping, crop rotations, and planting habitat for beneficial insects. They use no-till production to minimize soil disturbance and increase soil organic matter content. This sequesters carbon into the ground to mitigate carbon emissions and increase resilience to climate change. Although not certified organic, their methods align with organic standards, and no synthetic chemicals are applied to the land or to the food they grow.
Website: arocha.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/arochacanada
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arochacanada
Our Workplace Culture
A Rocha Farm and its CSA program is led by Carly, Leah, and Abby, who cultivate a workplace culture rooted in learning, collaboration, and care for both people and the land. They are supported by a team of seasonal staff—including apprentices—as well as conservation residents and dedicated volunteers. Since its beginnings in 2005, the farm has prioritized education, creating a space where individuals can grow their skills and understanding even amid the relentless pace and practical demands of daily farm work.
About the Farmers
Carly Richardson arrived at A Rocha from California with nearly a decade of experience — including one season as an intern with A Rocha. Her title is ‘CSA Farm Coordinator’ and is in charge of managing the day to day on the farm. She creates the plan for the week, delegates tasks, does the crop planning and is usually in the field alongside the team doing the work of farming.
Leah Hart – ‘CSA Field Coordinator’ is often the crew field lead and will also be assisting in teaching farm tasks and mentorship through her leadership in that role.
Abby Simonin – ‘Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator’ runs our farm administration and back-end, manages public farm education events, and creates a cohesive educational plan and structured teaching times for learners on the farm (i.e. apprentices and our shorter-term farm residents). She will be interacting with the apprentices in bi-weekly 1 hour teaching sessions and occasionally working alongside them in the fields.
About the Apprenticeship
The spring consists of a variety of tasks including farm planning, preparing the fields, planting, seeding, building farm infrastructure (i.e. caterpillar tunnels and irrigation systems).
Summer will include weeding, planting, bed prep & transition, harvest, sales. Fall activities will include things such as harvesting of storage crops, cover cropping, farm season review, crop planning, building compost piles, cleaning up the fields & breaking down tunnels and other infrastructure.
In the course of the season, apprentices are given information and time to learn the essential skills of running a mixed farm using organic growing practices in no-till production while receiving structured educational time alongside daily hands-on learning. Apprentices are expected to use their labor for the daily work of the farm as a major part of their learning experience. Apprentices work in all aspects of farm production from soil preparation to harvest, seeding to cultivation, tractors to hand hoes, and farm planning to marketing.
The ideal duration of employment is April – October, 2026: details TBD.
The job requirements are:
- Adaptability and flexibility
- Interest in learning about regenerative agriculture
- At least 1 season of experience working at a farm / market garden is an asset
- Ability to do physical labour on a daily basis
- Physically fit and able to lift weight in the range of 30-80 pounds
- Ability and willingness to work early mornings (e.g. starting harvest at 7am on hot days) and beyond 8 hours per day between June and August
- Being able to comfortably make decisions, execute tasks, and train others in a diverse and dynamic environment
- Ability to work quickly, efficiently, and calmly in physically challenging contexts for long hours in variable weather
Apprentices are willing to learn these skills:
- Observing biodiversity
- Assessing soil heath using soil testing
- Working in a zero/low-till system
- Seeding & transplanting
- Implementing weed control strategies
- Cover-cropping
- Harvesting crops
- Greenhouse management
- Compost making & application
- Truck & tractor basic operation
- Sharing talents & skills with community
- Supervising others
Compensation
$18.35/hour for 40 hours/week* (Tuesday-Saturday). Paid holidays (or taken in lieu) and paid vacation (4%) per pay period in lieu of time off. Access to farm produce and excess flowers. On-site housing options.
*Since farming is seasonal, requiring more hours in spring and summer, this position “banks” hours from the summer season and compensates with fewer hours in the spring and fall. Averaging 40 hours/week over the course of the season.
Apprentices must be between 18 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment (for our grant funding) and able to obtain a Criminal Record Background and Vulnerable Sector check.
About the Community
A Rocha Farm is located in a bit of a mix of rural and urban sprawl from Vancouver near South Surrey. The farm is neighboured by other farmers and folks with more sprawling property, urban neighbourhoods, and warehouses. There is access close by to groceries and most amenities. This farm is a part of the A Rocha BC Center which has a residential community and there are often community meals, events, pizza nights in our cobb oven, and weekly music nights.
The farm is also near a really beautiful park, Campbell Valley, and about 15 minutes from the town of Langley. It is located about 15 minutes from the border, about 45 minutes from Vancouver, and an hour by car from mountains in almost all directions. Unfortunately, the farm is not especially close to any major Public transit – it is possible to use public transportation to travel from the farm, but it takes a number of connections to do so.
Accommodation
Accommodations: yes
Accommodation details:
Apprentices will have an option to rent a space with a private bedroom, shared living space, and a shared full bathroom with a shower. This is a separate living space than host farm mentors. Apprentices will have a small refrigerator, pantry space, electric kettle, and toaster oven in their unit.
The communal kitchen is a short walk (200m) to the historic Guest House building. This kitchen is where the Guest House manager cooks lunches for staff, volunteers, and guests (Tuesday-Fridays and some Saturdays). Using refrigerator and pantry space in the communal kitchen will be coordinated with the Guest House manager.
There is a beautiful prayer chapel on site that is free to use for reflective time, reading, prayer, writing, etc.
Accommodations shared with other employees/apprentices: yes
Access to a full bathroom with running water: yes
Type of dwelling: four seasons
Accommodation checklist:
- Furnished
- Clean
- Running water (potable)
- Shared bathroom
- Shower
- Bath
- Shared Laundry
- Shared kitchen
- Heating
- Electricity
Pets permitted: no
Guests permitted: yes – Brooksdale Guest House
Rent: room and board – reach out for details.
Accommodation Agreement: yes
Other information:
The apprentices will be part of a residential community with other staff on the property. There is a residential living document and agreement. There is an expectation to help with shared communal activities, which may include yard maintenance, joining the cooking rotation for a weekly community dinner, helping to clean dishes at the community dinner, and joining the rotation for orienting guests.
There are many children living on site and apprentices will be required to receive a background check in order to be accepted as an apprentice.
A Rocha Farm looks forward to seeing you!
