Nyah Village Caravan Park
Nyah Village Caravan Park
Murray Valley Hwy P.O. Box 191
Nyah West VIC 3594
Telephone: (03) 5030 2284
Click here for Full Post!
Murray Valley Hwy P.O. Box 191
Nyah West VIC 3594
Telephone: (03) 5030 2284
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Peaches, Plums & Nectarines
Location: Woorinen South
(15 mins Swan Hill, 10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: $15.70ph inc tax
Employers likes backpackers (who get to work on time)
Hours: Summer 5-7 days per week, 6-7am starts
Pickers: 20+
Packers: 20+
Employer Provides:
- Shoulder Bag or Bucket
Bring:
- gloves if you have sensitive skin
- wear long-sleeved tops to protect from sunburn
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even in scorching heat, however on the 40+ days, employer may take pity and have an early day or request you start earlier
What to expect:
You start the day by meeting at the packing shed, then you jump in your car (if you have one) and follow the tractor up to whatever field they are picking that day.
Most of the farms have both Peaches and Nectarines (and Plums), and all are picked the same way but the farmer or a fellow picker will show you what you have to pick. Sometimes you size-pick, sometimes you colour-pick, and other times you do a last-pick which means you pick everything off the trees.
You pick by handling the fruit lightly and slightly twisting your hand and placing it quickly & carefully into your bag or bucket. When your bag is full or getting heavy, you walk to the tractor and empty them into the boxes.
Some peach/nectarine trees are tall and may require you to use a step ladder, they aren't large ladders, a law change a while ago required that the step-ladder be no more than 3 steps high. When picking plums, I had to carry a larger ladder around with me, and go up about 4-5 steps. The ladder is not really sturdy and I quit after the first day.
Size-Picking
It depends on the fruit on the trees and what the order is that they have to get completed for the day as to what size you need to pick, and almost everyday seemed to be different, so you have to concentrate until you get used to the different sizes by sight/feel. It's actually quite a bit difficult to get used to because the pickers who have been doing it for years like to pick on everything you're doing and even when you are doing it right, they may pick up fruit in the bin and say it's too small, too green, etc. The most common sizes at the farm I worked on was slightly larger than a tennis ball.
Colour-Picking
It depends on the variety of peach/nectarine as to what colour you pick. Some of them aren't picked until they are completely red, some of them mostly red, and some don't even turn red so you pick them when they are "no longer green".
Stripping/Last Pick
When the trees have been picked a few times, there may be only 5-10 peaches/nectarines per tree to pick. Easiest job of them all as you just pick the lot, dropping the rotten ones and small ones on the ground (some farmers may want the small ones for something but none of the farms I worked on did).
Tips:
(1) I'm not sure if it's because of the chemicals they put on the trees, or whether it's something on the fruit itself, but it caused me to have extreme sensitive skin, rashes all over my hands and arms. Wearing long-sleeved tops and covering myself constantly in talcolm powder helped.
(2) You have to be extremely careful not to handle the fruit too hard as when it's put in the cold room, you're fingerprints will show up as black markings and the fruit has to be chucked out.
(3) Try and pay close attention to exactly what they want picked, get them to put it in your hand so you can measure it in your palm rather than just showing you.
(4) Some farms have a terrible weed problem, causing rashes all over your body, and some of the weeds are prickles that stay in your skin, wear clothes that cover you as much as possible, there really is no avoiding the weeds if you happen to get a farm that has a problem. I found taking an anti-histamine like Claratyne or Zyrtec helped with the inflammation a lot.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
(15 mins Swan Hill, 10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: $15.70ph inc tax
Employers likes backpackers (who get to work on time)
Hours: Summer 5-7 days per week, 6-7am starts
Pickers: 20+
Packers: 20+
Employer Provides:
- Shoulder Bag or Bucket
Bring:
- gloves if you have sensitive skin
- wear long-sleeved tops to protect from sunburn
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even in scorching heat, however on the 40+ days, employer may take pity and have an early day or request you start earlier
What to expect:
You start the day by meeting at the packing shed, then you jump in your car (if you have one) and follow the tractor up to whatever field they are picking that day.
Most of the farms have both Peaches and Nectarines (and Plums), and all are picked the same way but the farmer or a fellow picker will show you what you have to pick. Sometimes you size-pick, sometimes you colour-pick, and other times you do a last-pick which means you pick everything off the trees.
You pick by handling the fruit lightly and slightly twisting your hand and placing it quickly & carefully into your bag or bucket. When your bag is full or getting heavy, you walk to the tractor and empty them into the boxes.
Some peach/nectarine trees are tall and may require you to use a step ladder, they aren't large ladders, a law change a while ago required that the step-ladder be no more than 3 steps high. When picking plums, I had to carry a larger ladder around with me, and go up about 4-5 steps. The ladder is not really sturdy and I quit after the first day.
Size-Picking
It depends on the fruit on the trees and what the order is that they have to get completed for the day as to what size you need to pick, and almost everyday seemed to be different, so you have to concentrate until you get used to the different sizes by sight/feel. It's actually quite a bit difficult to get used to because the pickers who have been doing it for years like to pick on everything you're doing and even when you are doing it right, they may pick up fruit in the bin and say it's too small, too green, etc. The most common sizes at the farm I worked on was slightly larger than a tennis ball.
Colour-Picking
It depends on the variety of peach/nectarine as to what colour you pick. Some of them aren't picked until they are completely red, some of them mostly red, and some don't even turn red so you pick them when they are "no longer green".
Stripping/Last Pick
When the trees have been picked a few times, there may be only 5-10 peaches/nectarines per tree to pick. Easiest job of them all as you just pick the lot, dropping the rotten ones and small ones on the ground (some farmers may want the small ones for something but none of the farms I worked on did).
Tips:
(1) I'm not sure if it's because of the chemicals they put on the trees, or whether it's something on the fruit itself, but it caused me to have extreme sensitive skin, rashes all over my hands and arms. Wearing long-sleeved tops and covering myself constantly in talcolm powder helped.
(2) You have to be extremely careful not to handle the fruit too hard as when it's put in the cold room, you're fingerprints will show up as black markings and the fruit has to be chucked out.
(3) Try and pay close attention to exactly what they want picked, get them to put it in your hand so you can measure it in your palm rather than just showing you.
(4) Some farms have a terrible weed problem, causing rashes all over your body, and some of the weeds are prickles that stay in your skin, wear clothes that cover you as much as possible, there really is no avoiding the weeds if you happen to get a farm that has a problem. I found taking an anti-histamine like Claratyne or Zyrtec helped with the inflammation a lot.
Bill and his loyal companion and a picture of the nectarine trees
Me (Penny/Ches) on a tractor on Caffreys farm, Woorinen Sth
Pickers from Korea 'Jackie & Jade' in Nectarine trees
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
