A bit about us and working on our farm ....
Our Orchard is a medium sized, family run cherry orchard.
Operated by Ingrid Roth with help from Guy and our 3 young boys on the weekends. We employ a small picking team, drawing in extra pickers on key days. We pack some cherries on farm which we sell direct through regional deliveries and send other cherries away to a packhouse. We also open parts of the farm for pick-your-own visitors.
Working with us - you will need to be physically fit, able to start early mornings and have a positive attitude!
Cherry picking
Picking is done in the cool of early morning - starting soon after first light (6am). We have kept our trees relatively short to avoid the need for ladders. If you are short you may find it useful to use a milk-crate or short step-ladder.
We pick until it gets too hot for cherry quality (typically late morning)
Cherry packing
We pack & sell some cherries on farm - employing just a small crew working in a little old church! Attention to detail and quality is essential.
Odd jobs
Some extra jobs are available on flexible hours (ag after school / weekends) to assemble cartons, etc.
Getting here
You will need your own transport or car pool with other pickers. We are 5 km from town. We don't have accommodation but there are plenty of options in Mudgee - for camping the Mudgee Showground is economical and has new facilities.
Pay
Picking is paid per lug with the rate set based on the crop load / time taken for an experienced picker to fill a lug and the horticulture award rate . There’s a bit of a knack to cherry picking. If you’ve not picked before you may find it takes a few days to get the technique. Once you’re an ‘old hand’ you can do well.
Hourly work is at the horticultural award rate. Superannuation is paid into your nominated account at the standard rates.
2021 season
We expect to start on our earlier variety around approx. 2 December with the main picking season is expected to start around approx. 7 December.
Training days
There will be two training days offered - one at the start of the early variety and one around 7 Dec. If you can join us for your first day of picking on one of those days it will be paid at hourly rate with extra training available to help you learn the technique. Due to covid we will run some training via zoom beforehand.
Covid and Vaccination
All staff will need to check-in daily with the QR code for their work area and take precautions to keep everyone safe.
We will break the crew into small teams to minimise risk
We ask that all staff are double vaccinated. Two of our children are under 12 so your vaccination helps us to protect them.
Thanks for your interest in joining our small team!
