GENERAL FARM WORKER/GARDEN COORDINATOR

The General Farm Worker/Garden Coordinator is responsible for the following:

• Manage the Thorncliffe Park Family Garden and  the Thorncliffe Container Garden

• Plant, cultivate and harvest crops, and maintain and repair the equipment.

• Oversee the purchase of plants and other supplies

• Assist in recruitment and management of the garden members and volunteers

• Supervise garden assistants to make sure that the required tasks are completed.

• Provide on-site gardening support for community gardeners with gardening tasks such as planting, watering, weeding, composting, harvesting, mulching, turning over the soil etc.

• Planting and maintenance of the general garden areas and park cafe gardens.

• Collaborate with garden leaders and organizers to create and build a network of community members to volunteer and sustain community gardens. 

• Facilitate and liaise with the schools and teachers for the garden visits. 

• Plan and develop our weekly drop-in children programs(Tuesdays)

• Create curriculum and goals for teaching gardening and composting.

• Establish and maintain participant tracking and other data collection systems.

• Follow all Toronto Public Health guidelines for COVID-19. Provide PPE and maintain social distancing during the program. 

• Encourage participants to participate in the clean up of the garden & the park.

• Make sure that the gardeners adhere to their responsibilities

• Assist Program Manager in fostering partnerships and training garden leaders through best practices workshops and connecting them with available resources

• Develop  logistics and planning of volunteer work days, harvest parties, garden opening events,

• Encourage gardeners to collect, weigh and track garden food production

• Provide organizational and leadership development support to gardens by developing garden committee and membership and other strategies to maintain ongoing community participation

• Create and implement a plan to track garden activities and outcomes.

• Create and oversee the garden budget, reporting all billing and expenses to the Program Manager

• Contributing to the long range planning for the garden and food production following all plans for safety and risk management.

• Identify and apply for external funding to be used for community garden operations

• Outline the necessary tasks for garden maintenance of common areas including compost area, paths, borders, common gardens.

• Maintain supplies, equipment and general tidiness of the garden area and storage shed

• Create an outreach plan to increase participation

• Attend regular meetings with the TPWC’s Program Manager and provide regular feed back including immediate reporting of arising issues or problems

• Fulfill related administrative duties as needed including data entry, social media, community outreach, reporting on activities

• Create a garden newsletter, maintain, and keep record of current inventory of tools & equipment

• Maintain accurate time sheets

• Responsible for RV Burgess Park maintenance, community engagement in the park

• Adapt to a flexible working schedule that includes some late evenings and weekends

• Support other TPWC initiatives and programs as needed, including the Community Market, Park Café, Meal program ,Events and Festivals.