Hear from Jackson

It is almost a rite of passage for teenagers growing up around orchards to head out into the horticulture industry at 15, and start earning their own money for tertiary studies.

After a short stint picking fruit and realising it was not his thing, he has spent most of his time working in the pack-house and cool store with many varied roles.

Last year when there was a picker shortage after Covid-19, Jackson helped out again with thinning and cherries, but this season he’ll be back in the pack-house.

“Picking is a very active task.   Last year there was an anomaly because there was less pickers.   But you have to be very focused throughout the whole day, and it does eventually wear you out.  And it can be pretty rough on a hot day.”

If anybody is keen to pick fruit and are physically fit and fruit, Jackson’s advice is to start with an orchard that has no hills, because of having to balance the ladder.

“I enjoy the season but I love the pack-house because there is a lot of people I really know which is important.”

What keeps him coming back every season is the consistent and stable workflow over a three-month period, and a good environment to meet people. The orchard has its own community and he can’t believe now how many people he knows that work there - especially since he has been coming back for years.

One of his favourite jobs on the orchard is putting the boxes together, and if there are 3-4 of them it soon becomes a competition.  “It’s quite satisfying and keeps everything well stocked.”

Another job he is good at in the cool store (particularly on a hot day), is stacking boxes onto pellets, which is incredibly busy and fast.  “I played sport all through high school so that helped as it’s quite a fitness thing.”

Spending every morning over summer having to get out of bed early to get himself to work, for consecutive weeks (and from a young age) has definitely taught him diligence, “and being motivated in the job.”

Unless the weather is bad (and that rarely happens in Central Otago over summer), being an orchard worker means learning to handle working for many days in a row.

But Jackson said his boss also understands when people are not on their game, and need a break from the day-to-day slog.

“The money is the biggest motivator to keep going.   You start to like rain if you have worked for awhile,” he joked.

The other benefits to earning money include getting fit and staying healthy - and this applies to certain areas of the pack-house as well.

Jackson said the orchard has its own community and he can’t believe now how many people he knows that work there - especially since he has been coming back for years.

His employer in Clyde looks after his staff well and on the odd occasion has shouted the crew fish n chips when they had to work a 10-11 hour day.

And when the weather was a scorcher - out came the ice blocks.   It’s just the personal touch that makes life a lot easier when working under pressure and for long periods.

Jackson’s advice to anyone starting out for the first time is to stick at it.

“It will definitely suck for periods of time but once you start doing it for awhile it gets easier.  Once the novelty wears off and the weather gets good you do have to take a step back every now and then, because it’s actually a really beautiful place to be on an orchard.   So just take a breath.”

Jackson admits there have been tough days at university where he has longed for the monotony and simplicity of the orchard, just as much as he’s had bad days on the orchard and wished he was back studying.

As the end of the student year approaches, he is definitely looking forward to coming home for another interesting season.