Credit: Kirasie Tate Kirasie says she will be working over the cherry season to save money for her next European holiday. “It’s a little community and often we have a lot of shared dinners and barbecues.” After three-and-a-half months of working on the farm, she saved $11,000 for her three-month holiday abroad. “The pickers on the farm are from all over the world as they are usually backpackers so you get to meet lots of different people,” she says. “Each fruit picker will get a variety of good and bad rows.”ĭuring her life on the farm, she met people from all walks of life. “You could come across a poor row of fruit where the trees haven’t developed as well or have been affected by weather or insects, which means it’s harder picking and less money. “It’s never guaranteed that each day will be good or better,” she explains. Kirasie says she’s always dressed in sun protection like a hat, long sleeve clothes and sunscreen. However, she pointed out her shifts were never stable. “I love that you can really push yourself to make good money and it’s rewarding seeing yourself get better each day,” she says. I’ve learnt a lot about fruit farms and the process of how it gets into the grocery stores,” she says.Īs she watched her savings grow, Kirasie says the job taught her “how to work hard” for her money. She says the job has offered her many skills and experiences. However, the mandarine season was “cut short” due to heavy rain sweeping across Australia’s east coast. “You then drive your tractor back to the shed and unload your bins and write down your total.” Kirasie says she enjoyed the city lifestyle but noticed the cost of living was pricier than rural. $40 per bin for apples - roughly 80 minutes to fill and $120 for mandarines - approximately 2.5 hours to fill - for me. “The time it takes to fill depends on what fruit. “You wear a bag on your chest that you fill up and empty into a bigger bin that’s worth a certain amount of money. “You start by driving your tractor out to your starting row for the day and then work your way down the row with a ladder - depending (on) what fruit,” she explains. Her schedule typically starts between 6am to 5pm. “You wear heaps of sun protection like a hat, long sleeve clothes and sunscreen,” she says. When it’s a hot day, she begins her shift by picking all the fruits off the “sunny side” of the trees “so you can get a break spending the next two hours doing the shady side”. How Aussie spends her day working at a farm How Aussie spends her day working at a farm She spent five weeks in Orange, NSW, working for the apple season. I had to physically remove myself from the city and go out bush to save.”Įarlier this year, she put her fitness career on hold to tackle gruelling nine-hour shifts on a farm - working in wild weather conditions ranging from 33C heat to torrential rain. ![]() “But I also didn’t try hard enough to save. There’s way more things to do so you’re constantly having temptations to spend money. ![]() ![]() “Not only was the rent expensive but more so the lifestyle. Kirasie Tate has detailed how she escaped the hustle and bustle for life in the country working as a seasonal fruit picker. “Trying to save money in Sydney was hard because of the cost of living,” Kirasie tells 7Life. The personal trainer swapped her $300-a-week rental apartment in Randwick for a campervan on a farm in Orange in regional NSW. For more Human Interest related news and videos check out Human Interest >īut at the start of the year, the 23-year-old spontaneously decided to move away from her comfortable life in the city so she could save money for her European holiday.
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