A workshare is someone who works 8 hours a week from the middle of May through the end of October in exchange for a share of the farm's produce. Workshares differ from one-time volunteers and CSA members who perform a work commitment in that they develop some skill and speed over the course of a season, which gives them an important role to play in meeting the farm's labor needs.
Because workshares are so important to meeting the goals of the farm, participants must sign an agreement that they will be available across the season to fulfill their obligation, and that participants will make an effort to find a replacement for weeks when they cannot make it. The consequence of breaking the workshare agreement (missing a scheduled work day twice without calling in) is that your workshare will be given to someone else.
Workshares who are excited or interested in learning more about farming are encouraged to start their workshare earlier in the spring to learn about greenhouse work, direct seeding and transplanting.
Candidates will be given top priority who can commit to work on the Tuesday and Thursday harvest days, as harvest days are the most labor-intensive of the week. We have now increased the number of workshares on Sunday to create a dedicated crew of weeders.
There are also two distribution coordinator positions, the job of which is to staff the CSA distribution sites, answer questions and cleanup when the pickup is over. One position is at the farmsite in Westborough on Thursday afternoon from 3 to 7 pm. Another is at the Westborough farmsite on Sunday, from 3 pm to 6 pm.
Another workshare is being offered for someone to drive the boxed shares from the farmsite in Westborough to Crystal Spring in Plainville on Tuesday afternoon. The driver must be available from 2 pm to 4 pm. A necessary prerequisite for this position is ownership of a pickup truck or other vehicle large enough to carry the pre-boxed shares.
A workshare is also being offered for someone to help coordinate and drive vegetables to charity, usually on the days after a CSA pickup.
For more information about any of these workshares, contact the farmer at farmer@heirloomharvestcsa.com.
