Lead Vegetable & Perennial Grower

Franklin, Virginia | $18–$25/hour DOE | Private 3BR/2BA On-Farm Home Available
We are looking for an experienced Lead Vegetable & Perennial Grower to join us on our farm in Franklin, Virginia.
More than simply filling a position, we hope to find someone who would enjoy putting down roots, becoming part of the life of the farm, and working in a close-knit, family-like environment. We value mutual respect, trust, hard work, good communication, shared meals and conversation, and the satisfaction that comes from caring for a piece of land over time.
For the right person, we hope this becomes much more than a seasonal gardening job. We would love to find someone who wants to know the land, see trees they planted mature, improve the soil year after year, and take genuine pride in what we build together.
Housing: Private, stand-alone 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home available on the farm
Experience: 5+ years of substantial growing or horticultural experience strongly preferred
About the Role
This is a hands-on position for someone who genuinely knows how to grow. The Lead Grower will take an important role in managing and developing our vegetable gardens, perennial plantings, trees, and overall productive landscape.
We are looking for someone with enough experience to walk through a garden or landscape, see what needs to happen next, and have the knowledge and initiative to make it happen.
Responsibilities will include:
Crop planning, succession planting, seed starting, direct seeding, transplanting, cultivation, and harvesting
Managing perennial vegetables, herbs, berries, flowers, and other productive plantings
Planting, establishing, pruning, and caring for trees and woody plants
Helping develop fruit and nut trees, native trees, hedgerows, windbreaks, and other useful tree plantings
Building healthy soil through compost, mulch, cover crops, and regenerative practices
Managing irrigation and water needs
Identifying and addressing weeds, pests, diseases, and plant nutrition issues
Propagating, dividing, transplanting, and establishing perennial plants
Maintaining beds, paths, trellises, irrigation, tools, and garden infrastructure
Harvesting and post-harvest handling
Keeping growing areas productive, organized, and beautiful
Helping design and establish new growing areas and perennial systems
Tree Knowledge Is Important
We are particularly interested in someone with practical knowledge of trees and woody plants.
Experience with fruit and nut trees, orchards, food forests, agroforestry, native trees, tree establishment, pruning, and general tree care would be especially valuable.
We don’t expect one person to be an expert in everything, but we want someone who understands trees, enjoys working with them, can recognize basic health or structural issues, and is interested in developing this part of the farm alongside our vegetable and perennial gardens.
Who We’re Looking For
Experience matters to us, but character matters just as much.
We are looking for someone who is dependable, thoughtful, hardworking, curious, and comfortable taking responsibility. Someone who notices things, enjoys solving problems, and takes satisfaction in leaving a garden, orchard, or piece of land better than they found it.
Ideally, you will have 5+ years of hands-on experience in vegetable production, market gardening, horticulture, organic farming, permaculture, estate gardening, orcharding, or a related field.
You should be comfortable working independently without constant direction and have a good understanding of soil health, plant nutrition, irrigation, crop timing, weeds, pests and diseases, perennial care, and trees.
Knowledge of organic, regenerative, and permaculture approaches is important to us, but we are also practical. We want systems that work well, remain manageable, and improve the farm over time.
Formal horticultural or arboricultural education is welcome, but practical knowledge, judgment, character, and demonstrated growing ability matter more to us than credentials.
A Place to Call Home
For the right candidate, we have a private home available on the farm, making this an especially attractive opportunity for someone interested in relocating and becoming part of the farm community long-term.
The home is a stand-alone, three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch-style house with its own garage, porch, and deck. This is a private residence, not shared employee housing.
We want the person who joins us to feel at home while still having their own space and privacy. Living on the farm does not mean being at work around the clock. We believe a healthy long-term working relationship includes respecting one another’s personal time and independence.
Details of the housing arrangement can be discussed with qualified candidates.
More Than a Job
Our hope is to find someone who wants a long-term home for their skills and interests, rather than simply their next seasonal position.
We want you to bring ideas to the table. If you see a better way to manage a garden bed, improve the soil, conserve water, establish a perennial planting, plant an orchard, or make the farm more productive and beautiful, we want to hear it.
Our goal is to create a landscape that is productive, beautiful, ecologically healthy, and increasingly resilient with each passing year.
Just as importantly, we want the farm to be an enjoyable place to live and work. We hope to maintain a warm, respectful, family-like atmosphere where people help one another, communicate openly, share knowledge, enjoy each other’s company, and feel that their contribution genuinely matters.
For the right person, we hope this can be a place to put down roots and look back years from now at gardens and trees you helped establish and feel proud of what you created.
To Apply
We aren’t looking for a perfectly polished résumé. We would rather hear about what you’ve actually grown, what you’ve learned, and what you’re looking for.
Please send a résumé or a brief introduction describing your experience with vegetables, perennials, trees, orchards, permaculture, organic or regenerative growing, and any gardens or farms you have managed.
Please also tell us what you enjoy most about working with the land, your availability and desired start date, and whether you are interested in living on the farm.
Photos of gardens, orchards, farms, or other projects you’ve helped create are very welcome.
Location: Franklin, Virginia
Pay: $18–$25/hour, depending on experience
Private 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom on-farm home available

Category:
Jobs
Region:
Other
Address:
213 River Road

Franklin, Virginia 23851
Contact Name:
Claire Benjack
Contact Email:
claire@riverroadfarmva.com
Date Posted:
09/21/2026