Working at the Nursery
Location: Koraleigh
(30 mins Swan Hill, 5-10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: VERY basic - Less than $12
Employer loves backpackers to do the crap jobs
Hours: 8 hour days, 5 days a week
Has work on-and-off all year round
Bring:
- gloves
Outdoors work:
- They don't usually work when it rains, but will still work in the scorching heat (and there is no shade at all!)
What to expect:
They have 6 full time workers that have regular jobs such as tying buds onto trees to make a different variety of trees, but they hire backpackers to do the crap jobs, such as weeding, hoeing, planting trees, etc. That being said, I absolutely loved it there and was there for about 3 months, but I was one of the very few that loved it. I wanted a work-out to lose weight and basically, the nursery was a paid work-out.
Most of the time, each week is different, depending on what needs to be done:
- In the Summer, they put the seeds in tiny plastic pots and then cover them with dirt and place them in the greenhouse.
- When the plants are ready to be planted in the 'real world', you will spend a few weeks just planting them which kills your hips, thighs, and butts (re: why I loved it so much and why a lot of the skinnier people hated it hehe)
- The plants grow and so does the weeds, they try to keep it under control early, but sometimes it's a matter of other priorities, until you're left with the weeds from hell suffocating the poor little babies, so out come the backpackers again, on their hands and knees, pulling out weeds in-between each plant (which are planted about 3 fingers away from each other and there are more than 50,000+ of them!).
- Then out comes the hoes where you scrape away (if you're lucky) or fiercely hoe away the weeds from the plants.
- The little babies grow, and then each tree needs to be stripped of all it's leaves to allow tying to take place, so out come the backpackers to 'wipe down' each plant at the rate of 1 plant per second to get rid of the leaves.
- When the plants are bigger, the 'full-time' staff get out there and do their tying tricks (if you're staying a while like I was, you'll be taught how to tie buds onto trees too). It doesn't take long to get the hang of it, a few hundred trees should get you sorted ;)
- When the time is right, the trees are 'cut' just above the tape, to allow the new 'variety' to grow out.
- After 21 or so days, the tape from tying needs to be taken off each plant, so out come them trusty backpackers again to come pull the tape off the trees.
- And when the trees are 'all grown up', they need to be dug-up and potted
And so the process continues again.
Tips:
(1) You do work harder for less money, but when peaches run out in this neck of the woods, some money is better than no money, and those who don't 'do the nursery' end up a lot poorer than those that do.
(2) Give up smoking, you'll need the energy and stamina, and poisoning your body with nicotine can really cut your productivity down (as I found out the hard way!)
(3) Be reliable and be a consistently good worker, and you'll be asked back when the others are not.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
(30 mins Swan Hill, 5-10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: VERY basic - Less than $12
Employer loves backpackers to do the crap jobs
Hours: 8 hour days, 5 days a week
Has work on-and-off all year round
Bring:
- gloves
Outdoors work:
- They don't usually work when it rains, but will still work in the scorching heat (and there is no shade at all!)
What to expect:
They have 6 full time workers that have regular jobs such as tying buds onto trees to make a different variety of trees, but they hire backpackers to do the crap jobs, such as weeding, hoeing, planting trees, etc. That being said, I absolutely loved it there and was there for about 3 months, but I was one of the very few that loved it. I wanted a work-out to lose weight and basically, the nursery was a paid work-out.
Most of the time, each week is different, depending on what needs to be done:
- In the Summer, they put the seeds in tiny plastic pots and then cover them with dirt and place them in the greenhouse.
- When the plants are ready to be planted in the 'real world', you will spend a few weeks just planting them which kills your hips, thighs, and butts (re: why I loved it so much and why a lot of the skinnier people hated it hehe)
- The plants grow and so does the weeds, they try to keep it under control early, but sometimes it's a matter of other priorities, until you're left with the weeds from hell suffocating the poor little babies, so out come the backpackers again, on their hands and knees, pulling out weeds in-between each plant (which are planted about 3 fingers away from each other and there are more than 50,000+ of them!).
- Then out comes the hoes where you scrape away (if you're lucky) or fiercely hoe away the weeds from the plants.
- The little babies grow, and then each tree needs to be stripped of all it's leaves to allow tying to take place, so out come the backpackers to 'wipe down' each plant at the rate of 1 plant per second to get rid of the leaves.
- When the plants are bigger, the 'full-time' staff get out there and do their tying tricks (if you're staying a while like I was, you'll be taught how to tie buds onto trees too). It doesn't take long to get the hang of it, a few hundred trees should get you sorted ;)
- When the time is right, the trees are 'cut' just above the tape, to allow the new 'variety' to grow out.
- After 21 or so days, the tape from tying needs to be taken off each plant, so out come them trusty backpackers again to come pull the tape off the trees.
- And when the trees are 'all grown up', they need to be dug-up and potted
And so the process continues again.
Tips:
(1) You do work harder for less money, but when peaches run out in this neck of the woods, some money is better than no money, and those who don't 'do the nursery' end up a lot poorer than those that do.
(2) Give up smoking, you'll need the energy and stamina, and poisoning your body with nicotine can really cut your productivity down (as I found out the hard way!)
(3) Be reliable and be a consistently good worker, and you'll be asked back when the others are not.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
