Nursery & Vegetable Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
shrubs, perennials, trees, vegetables, and fruit (including but not limited to: peppers, tomatoes, onions, squash, cucumber, blueberries, corn, basils, pumpkins, hay, and straw).
This job requires a minimum of 3 months of verifiable agricultural experience working in a nursery handling both manual and mechanized tasks. Workers must be able to perform manual and mechanized tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Plant, cultivate and harvest fruits and vegetables. Plant roots, seeds and bulbs. Spread plastic or other groundcovering. Clean plastic by hand from ground upon removal. Till soil. Weed and thin plants. Transplant plants by hand. Stake/tie plants, trellis/prune plants, and set poles and wires for vine plants. Pick, cut, lift, or pull crops. Tie vegetables in bunches. Grade, size and field pack product. Take care to prevent damaging produce and plants. Perform ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, ground preparation, and other manual tasks. Bending, stooping and kneeling required.

Mow, cut, and weed fields. Perform ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, ground preparation, and other manual tasks. Bending, stooping and kneeling required. Use hand tools including but not limited to hoes, shovels, shears, clippers, loppers, and saws. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies. Use power equipment including but not limited to: tractors, planters, mowers, plows, sprayers, cultivators, power shears, chain saws, high lifts, fork lifts, skid loaders. Must operate agricultural equipment safely, with or without direction. Apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other crop protectants. Mix and apply fertilizers, plant growth chemicals, conditioners, and other plant related treatments at the correct times depending on plant type, growth, climate and crop conditions. Assist with farm building/field maintenance and repairs. Build/repair fences.

Tree Training: hoeing, tree painting, weed mat application. Tie/position trees and limbs, together and to trellises, using string, tape, wire or other fasteners and supports.

Thinning: Hand thin to control the size and quality of fruit. Remove fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Must accurately identify and remove misshapen, damaged or otherwise unmarketable fruit.

Pruning: Hand pruning based on fruit variety. Use manual and mechanized pruning tools and equipment. Identify and remove stubs or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches rubbing against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood and shoots-suckers. Use/handle ladders up to 18 ft. in length and weighing up to 50 lbs.

Prepare fields/soil for planting. Remove cull stock, debris, tree stumps, brush, ferns, vines and other growth from planting area using tractor, mattocks, brush hooks and/or axes.

Plant, cultivate and maintain nursery stock and/or bedding plants, such as shrubs, perennials and trees in condition for shipping and sale to customers. Pot seedlings or ‘liners' by hand or mechanical planter. Propagate plants from cuttings. Perform general plant maintenance. Prune, trim, space, transplant and cull plants to ensure availability of marketable products. Irrigate and apply fertilizer. Pack, label, tag, pull, and store plants by variety. Count, grade, and inventory plants. Selects trees for cutting according to markings, size, species and grade. Cut trees using axe or chain saw. Drag cut trees from cutting area. Runs trees through tree baler. Inventory and grade trees. Must understand nursery quality control standards and have working knowledge of production procedures. Must harvest crops according to specific standards. Must select and harvest crops pursuant to customer needs. Products must be handled carefully to prevent damage.

Work is done in the field for long periods of time. Workers may assist in handling product weighing up to 50 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of 3 months of verifiable agricultural experience working in a nursery handling both manual and mechanized tasks. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 50 lbs.