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Sorrento Centre Farm in Sorrento, BC is looking for a Farm Manager for the 2019 season!
ABOUT SORRENTO CENTRE FARM
Growing, learning, enjoying: The Sorrento Centre Farm
“Love your farm… love your ground… Fatten its poorer parts… Heal the washed, torn places… Feed with legumes and soiling crops and fertilizers the barren and gullied patch that needs special attention, nurse it back to life and beauty and fruitfulness… Don’t forget even the forest lands… And so again we say, love your farm. Make it a place of beauty, a place of joyful fruitfulness, an example to your neighbours, a heritage for your children. Make improvements on it that will last beyond your day… Love your farm. If you cannot be proud of it now, begin today to make it a thing you can be proud of… And finally leave some spot beneath the shade of some giant tree where… you can lay down your weary body, leaving the world a little better for your having lived in it…”
Dr Clarence Poe, President, The Progressive Farmer Company
The Sorrento Centre farm is on an 8-acre site 2 kms from our main campus in the beautiful South Shuswap region of the fertile interior of British Columbia. There is a forest, a century-old barn and a log house, plus old orchards. Over the years, the farm has produced a bounty of beans, carrots, strawberries, lettuce, garlic and much more. Much goes to the kitchen of the Sorrento Centre to feed our 3,000+ guests. Some is distributed by food charities.
The Sorrento Centre farm is stewarded by a farmer who is a part of the staff team. The farmer is supported by seasonal and summer staff, plus volunteers. More people are engaged in the seasonal cycle of the farm, especially through learning opportunities, by:
- Enhancing volunteer opportunities throughout the season, from greenhouse to harvest;
- Engaging expert course leaders who can deliver farm-related programming;
- Maintaining strong relationships with local schools;
- Building relationships with food/agricultural related organizations;
- Expanding partnerships with regional / national community organizations.
Success for the Sorrento Centre farm will be a bountiful annual harvest, more learning opportunities and more people engaged in the farm. The Sorrento Centre is seeking a farmer whose feet are planted firmly on the ground, and whose vision reaches over the horizon. The farmer, as a member of the senior team of the Sorrento Centre, will be fully supported in the finance and administration of the farm and will operate under the supervision of the Executive Director, The Sorrento Centre.
The Sorrento Centre Anglican Church of Canada is a retreat and conference centre in the South Shuswap region of British Columbia. We aspire, on our main 24-acre campus, to be a gathering place for all and offer a diversity of programs to thousands of guests each year.
SORRENTO CENTRE PRODUCTION PRACTICES
In its first ten years, the Sorrento Centre Farm has used natural farming practices. We aspire to be organic, though we are not yet certified.
The Sorrento Centre farm aspires to:
- Increase the amount and quality of food available to the Sorrento Centre kitchen;
- Increase the amount and quality of food available to the surrounding community;
- Enhance learning opportunities;
- Engage more people in the seasonal cycle of the farm;
- Implement a multi-year development plan to diversify farm operations; and,
- Adopt the most appropriate practices suited to the particulars of our land.
The Sorrento Centre farm provides an excellent opportunity for learning by engaging with outside experts and others. These learning opportunities include:
- Education with local school children (from Sorrento, Salmon Arm and Chase);
- Workshop and hands-on activities for youth (LEAP) program participants;
- Weekly farm tours for Sorrento Centre guests and course participants;
- Children/youth summer activities including field trips, gardening workshops, field to plate, games, educational curriculum and garden fun days;
- Courses on urban agriculture, permaculture and other agricultural topics;
- Agrarian theology.
Desired Qualities
Be a gardener. Dig a ditch. Toil and sweat. And turn the earth upside down.
And seek the deepness. And water plants in time. Continue this labor.
And make sweet floods to run, and noble and abundant fruits to spring.
– Julian of Norwich (circa 1373) Revelations of Divine Love
Managing abundance: Sorrento Centre farm is seeking a steward
The Sorrento Centre is seeking a knowledgeable and engaging person with a passion for all things agrarian to steward our 8-acre natural farm. Working under the supervision of the Executive Director, the farm manager will engage with the senior staff team of the Sorrento Centre, dedicated volunteers and seasonal staff.
The priorities are to:
- Increase the bounty of produce from our farm;
- Support the resilience of the land and its thriving diversity of insects, birds and others; and,
- Engage with others in the deep spirit of the place.
The farm manager will work with the Sorrento Centre Executive Director and selected others to implement a long-term agricultural vision for the farm, including a budget with revenues and expenses, plus an operational plan. We are seeking a person who will demonstrate:
- Good knowledge of agrarian management;
- Solid abilities to collaborate effectively with others, including staff and volunteers;
- Understanding of a range of marketing opportunities;
- Deep understanding of the meaning and value of land and of food.
Job Tasks
On an annual basis, the fundamental farming responsibilities includes:
- Plant propagation and greenhouse;
- Soil preparation (tilling and cultivation);
- Planting out;
- Mulching;
- Fertilization;
- Irrigation;
- Weeding;
- Harvest;
- Delivering produce.
Farm planning and record-keeping includes developing and managing an:
- Annual greenhouse calendar;
- Annual cropping plan;
- Annual yield projections;
- Annual value projections;
- Annual budget;
- Long-range land use plan.
Job Details
Term: The start date will be early spring of 2019. The initial posting is for an eight-month contract, with a performance review and a potential move to a full-time, permanent position based on a satisfactory review. The Sorrento Centre offers an extended health and pensions package to all permanent staff working more than 20 hours per week. The Sorrento Centre offers three weeks of paid vacation annually to staff, which will be pro-rated during the first year of employment to the actual time served on staff.
Weekly hours: Typical week is 40 hours. As there is a seasonal cycle to the work, some weeks may have more hours, and some less. A four-week averaging agreement will be in place which will be reviewed as required.
Wage: The hourly wage is a Living Wage of $18.00 per hour.
All Sorrento Centre staff are required to have a current criminal records check as part of our safeguarding policy for working with vulnerable adults and children. Staff are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses. Staff are expected to participate in the safeguarding policy and practices of the Sorrento Centre. Staff may be required, from time to time, to receive training and or other specialized support to assist in the performance of their work. The Sorrento Centre has an annual performance review.
To Apply
Please supply a resume and a cover letter to Michael Shapcott at director@sorrento-centre.bc.ca.
Please include in the cover letter a short answer to this question: “The spirit of abundance in the Sorrento Centre Farm can be measured by…”
Deadline: February 15, 2019
Learn more about Sorrento Centre Farm
Website: www.sorrentocentre.ca/pages/a-place-of-abundance
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