Plant Nursery and Greenhouse Interns

Job title: Plant Nursery and Greenhouse Intern

Reports to: Farm Owner/Operators, Keltie Butler and Michael Coolican

Job location: Small Holdings Farm, 1999 Millsville Road (Millsville/Scotsburn), Nova Scotia

Wage: $16.80 / hour

Hours: 35 hours per week (15-week internship) 

Start Date: Expected May 20, 2025 

Number of Positions: 1

Equity Hiring:   

Clean is committed to Employment Equity. Our goal is to be inclusive of a diverse workforce that is reflected at all job levels. The Clean Leadership Program welcomes candidates from diverse equity groups to apply and encourage you to self-identify on our registration form.  

About the Clean Leadership Summer Internship Program 

The Clean Leadership Summer Internship program helps grow the clean economy by matching interns (age 15-30) with employers for 9- and 15-week summer work placements. Participating interns will receive paid hands-on experience, mentorship opportunities, take part in a professional development conference and training, while supporting local environmental projects.  

Program Requirements 

• Must be a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, person who has been granted refugee status in Canada or legally entitled to work in Canada;  

• Must be between the ages of 15 and 30 years old (inclusive) at the start of internship; 

• From and/or will be residing in Nova Scotia for the duration of the internship; 

• Must not be an immediate family member of host employer; 

About the host employer 

Small Holdings Farm is a small-scale vegetable and flower farm in Pictou County, selling direct to consumers through an on-farm CSA program (Community Support Agriculture) of over 250 households. The farm is owned and operated by Keltie Butler and Michael Coolican and the 2025 farm season will be its 9th year in operation. The farm practices ecological farming methods including minimal tillage/no-till practices, and operates without the use of any pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. With the help of community donations, the farm provides 20+ CSA memberships to local families facing food insecurity.

Summary of position 

The host employer for this Summer Internship position through the Clean Leadership program will be Small Holdings Farm. In this position, day-to-day responsibilities will include sowing seedling trays and caring for the nursery, as well as greenhouse crop production throughout the farm season. The position also involves working as part of the farm team in planting, weeding, and care for crops using hand tools, harvesting and post-harvest handling. Work will be physical (including lots of bending, some lifting and shoveling) and will be entirely outdoors.

Duties and Responsibilities  

Responsibilities center around working both in the field and in the greenhouses doing day-to-day farm work independently and in a team. 

• Bed preparation 

• Seeding and transplanting crops 

• Weeding/cultivating using various hand tools 

• Crop care such as pruning tomatoes, deadheading flowers, etc 

• Watering seedling trays 

• Harvesting, and port-harvest handling (i.e. washing and bagging), will amount to a significant portion of the weekly work 

• Special responsibility for nursery care and greenhouse production 

Requirements/Qualifications 

• Have an aptitude for safe work practices and the ability to multi-task in a busy work environment; 

• Be able to work productively as part of a team while responding to feedback; 

• Demonstrated interest in future employment in the environmental or clean sector is considered an asset; 

• Must enjoy physical work and working outdoors in all types of weather; 

• Be in good physical condition; 

• Must be both efficient and hardworking; 

• Posses strong communication skills; 

• Be motivated to continually improve/get better and more efficient at a task; 

• Have good attention to detail;  

• Is excited to learn new skills; 

• Is able to work both independently and as a team. 

Working Conditions
This job takes place almost entirely outdoors. Dressing for the work and the weather is essential.  

Physical Requirements
This job is physical, requiring bending, squatting, lifting, standing, kneeling, etc. Eating well and drinking plenty of water is important self-care for this type of work.