Garden Maintenance Caretaker

Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (the Garden) is the Garden of the 501(c)3 non-profit organization Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (the Friends). Key Garden programs focus on Hawai’i’s biocultural heritage, education, native and endangered plants and ecological restoration, food sovereignty, climate adaptation, recreation, and community building. For several decades, the Garden has been an inspiring venue for K-12 educational programs, adult education, community workshops, ethnobotanical festivals, plant sales and scientific research. Prior to the recent pandemic, the Garden welcomed over 12,000 student and adult visitors annually.

Title: Garden Maintenance Caretaker

Job Type: Part-time (PT) 20 hrs/wk

Compensation: Hourly rate: $20.00/per hr.

Weekly rate: $400 per week, plus benefits.

Primary Workplace Location: Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, Captain Cook, HI

Employer: Friends of Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (Friends), a 501( c)3 nonprofit organization.

REPORTS TO: The Garden Manager Application Deadline: Immediate acceptance of applications. Applications accepted until the position is filled. Interviews begin immediately. Application Instructions: Email a cover letter, detailed resume, and contact information for 3 professional references to: mariemorin24@gmail.com.

JOB PURPOSE: Executes operations in connection with the development and maintenance of the Community Forest Garden. Works and coordinates with other Garden staff.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

▪ Maintains garden. Tasks include planting, fertilizing, watering, and caring for rare native plants and Hawaiian crops plants, including large collections of taro and sugar cane and other canoe plants in an agroforestry setting with some archaeological features.

▪ Maintains lawns and controls weeds. Tasks include careful mowing of extensive lawns with a tractor mower and walk-behind mower. Trims weeds with power tools and hand tools. Pulls weeds, does general clean-up.

▪ Applies chemicals. Mixes and applies herbicides for weed control, and other pesticides for plant health.

▪ Maintains and repairs equipment.

▪ Takes responsibility as assigned for garden maintenance in the absence of the Garden manager.

▪ Interacts with staff and Garden clients with tact, courtesy, and unqualified respect at all times. Stays motivated and projects a positive and professional attitude towards fellow workers and clients. Cooperates and supports teamwork; maintains and strengthens customer and staff relationships.

▪ Works in a safe manner so as not to endanger fellow staff members, volunteers, and visitors. Complies with safety rules and regulations and establish safe work practices. Reads all safety materials received. Reports unsafe conditions and unsafe acts directly to supervisor. Promptly reports accidents to immediate supervisor. Maintains assigned work area and equipment free of accident- producing conditions.

▪ Performs other garden--related duties as requested by the Garden Manager

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

▪ High school graduate.

▪ Five years agricultural/horticultural experience in Hawai’i

▪ Current Hawai‘i driver’s license.

▪ Knowledge of Hawaiian native and non-native plants

▪ Knowledge of pruning, planting, garden maintenance

▪ Familiar with maintaining and operating garden equipment such as tractor, weed eater, chain saw

▪ Familiar with weed management in tropical environment

▪ Basic carpentry and mechanical skills

OTHER DESIRED KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS:

▪ Two-year college credential in horticulture or a closely related field.

▪ Professional, business-like appearance

▪ Good attendance

▪ Able to work independently with minimum supervision

▪ Willing to work alone frequently

▪ Good social skills for interacting with staff, volunteers and garden visitors

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Must be willing to use insecticides and herbicides, including wearing PPE which can be uncomfortable. The job is physically demanding. Requires ability to use a heavy duty weed eater for up to three hours per day, carry a heavy spray tank in a backpack sprayer and walk over uneven ground for up to 5 hours per day, trim trees with a chainsaw, blow paths and parking lots with a backpack blower, undertake other strenuous garden tasks.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other protected status. In compliance with federal law and as a condition of employment, all employees must be able to provide proof of eligibility to work in the United States.

BACKGROUND OF THE FRIENDS: The Friends of Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (Friends) is a community-based non-profit founded in 2016 that owns and manages the ethnobotanical Garden/Community Forest (Garden) located in Captain Cook, Hawai’i Island. The Friends purchased the decades-old Garden in 2019 after several years of fund-raising and after its many years of closure prior to the purchase. The grand re-opening of the Garden was held in February 2020, after which the Covid pandemic caused partial re-closure. The Friends have been rebuilding the Garden’s programs, membership base, and funding resources.

MORE ABOUT THE GARDEN: The Mission Statement of the Friends is: “As stewards of the Garden’s legacy, we cultivate opportunities for everyone to enjoy our Hawaiian botanical and cultural resources through educational programs, scientific research, recreation, and conservation for the islands and the world.” The Garden’s deeds now ensure that it will be preserved as open green space in perpetuity. Located in Kealakekua ahupua’a, the 13.6- acre Garden is home to over 200 native and endangered Hawaiian plants, as well as Polynesian canoe plants of cultural importance, living collections of kalo (taro) and sugar cane and other agroforestry cultivars, a large intact archaeological remnant of the Hawaiian agricultural Kona Field System, representative plant zone groupings, and a Hawaiian Heiau. The Garden is the only federally-designated Community Forest in Hawai’i. The Friends have an evolving Strategic Plan, and current planned programming includes providing educational, recreational, and research opportunities to the community and visitors. Our website is www.amygreenwell.garden Our vision is: “Ka mālama’ana I ka mo’omeheu. I mea e ola ai mai kēia mua aku. Preserving culture. So that there is life to come.”