Pickers conditions - from a pickers’ point of view
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A number of websites are available on line that discuss fruit picking in the Okanagan and Similkameen. The following outline of conditions, aimed at backpackers, gives some insight into conditions that transient labourers may come upon locally.
This discussion can be found on:
http://www.startbackpacking.com/forums/index.php?topic=47.0#at
“Fruit picking (particularly cherries, which is what I prefer to pick and the main focus in this post) is always a fast way of getting money - provided you can drag yourself out of your sleeping bag before dawn, generally between 3:30 and 4 a.m., and learn how to use an orchard ladder quickly. In the Okanagan valley in British Columbia, Canada, the season starts late June in Osoyoos and Oliver and goes on into late July in Kelowna, when it starts up in the neighbouring Kootenays (Creston).
The good thing is, a lot of work is under the table, so you don’t get taxed on your earnings. Pay is usually between $4 - $7 a lug, $4 usually being for a 20 pound lug and $7 for a 30 pound lug. B.C. lists the official pay for fruits as follows:
Cherries: $2.05 per 10-pound bucket
Apples: $15.60 per bin
Pears: $17.56 per bin
Apricots: $17.94 per half bin
Peaches: $16.58 per half bin
Prune plums: $17.56 per half bin
A bin is approximately 800 pounds.
Once you get the technique down for going into huge clusters without breaking the stems or brusing the cherries, just pick pick pick! In my first season picking I made $3000 in a month and a half, and I know people who average 40-50 lugs a day ($150-$200). If you’re working for 20 days straight, that’s a lot of money. A lot of people do the tree planting season, then cherries, and with the money earned can easily spend six months travelling wherever. Some take the money and go pick cherries in Australia from November to December!
For me the best thing about fruit picking, aside from fast money if you’re willing to put in a little elbow grease and cranky early mornings, is the people. The majority of fruit pickers in the Okanagan are from Quebec, so if you need to pick up on some French it’s the right place! Lots of very interesting people from all over, many travellers, many van dwellers, snowbirds, jugglers, artisans, career pickers, first timers, and old timers. The atmosphere is always wonderful, and seeing as our days usually end before noon, we spend our afternoons throwing back fruit cider and cooling off in one of the many rivers nearby.
If cherries aren’t your thing, there are also apples (very heavy, not as worthwhile, $ 20 for a 800 pound bin just doesn’t do it for me), peaches, apricots, and veggies of all kind to be picked. Grapes start in September and it is very well paid, provided you are incredibly fast. The problem is, it starts to get slightly cold in September and in general it’s only a few days work so no camps are provided, which means you have to pay for a room unless you have a van to sleep in, or don’t mind sleeping outside (just beware the sprinklers).”
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