Thank you for your interest in Foster Family Farm.

Listed below is a short description of the harvest hand position.

Our farm is located in the village of North Gower which is a 20 minutes drive south of Barrhaven in the City of Ottawa. A valid driver’s licence is not required for this job. Please note that there is no public transportation to our farm, therefore you will need to provide your own transportation to and from the farm each day.

Outlined below is the type of harvesting work we have to offer on our farm.

Crops to be harvested:

Strawberries
Sweet Corn
Vegetables
Yellow & Green Beans
Squash & Pumpkins
 

Season beginning and ending time:

The Strawberry harvest starts approximately around June 20th each year and runs until early July. The Sweet Corn and Edible Bean harvest starts between the middle of July and the end of July and normally runs until the end of September. The Pumpkin harvest starts during the middle of September and ends on the 31st of October.

Short description of a typical work day:

Strawberry picking starts at 6:00am in the morning and finishes late morning. The finishing time varies because our daily orders change from day to day.  Picking takes place during rain or shine.

We start picking Sweet Corn at 6:00am in the morning and normally finish between 11:00am and 1:00pm. The reason that the finishing time varies is that our daily orders change from day to day depending on our clients needs. Picking takes place during rain or shine.

Edible Bean harvest starts at 8:00am, the finishing time will depend on the number of orders we have each day. Picking takes place during clear days since heavy rain will cause the bean to be less desirable to our customers.  Please note that we will pick during a lite rain.

During Pumpkins season we start to pick at 8:00am in the morning and normally finish between 4:00pm and 5:00pm.

Description of a typical work week:

We require both full time and part time help on our farm.

Full time

The staff’s normal work week is a five day week; we do not work on Sundays so all staff will have every Sunday off plus another day during the week, to be arranged with the owner(s). Saturdays are a very busy day with our farming business so please understand that all staff cannot have every Saturday off.   NOTE: If you only want to work on Saturdays we want to talk to you.

Part time

The staff’s normal work week is a one to four day week; we do not work on Sundays so all staff will have every Sunday.  We try to work around our part time staff’s schedule the best we can.  The weekly schedule is arranged by the owner(s). Saturdays are a very busy day with our farming business so please understand that all staff cannot have every Saturday off.  NOTE: If you only want to work on Saturdays we want to talk to you.

Description of Strawberry picking:

Our strawberries are grown in rows, as a picker you will be assigned a row and given baskets to put the berries into. Berry picking is done in a crouched position because berries are located close to the ground. Our strawberry pickers are paid by piece work, in other words our pickers are paid for every full basket of good quality strawberries they pick.

Description of Sweet Corn picking:

You will be assigned a row of Sweet Corn to pick. It is your responsibility to pick every good cob of corn in your row. You are our quality inspection department. What do I mean? Well it is your responsibility to check each cob to ensure that it has not been damaged in anyway. This is how we ensure our customers get a top quality product. After picking the cob of corn then you will place it gently into the bucket of the tractor which will be following you in the row.

It is a fast paced job with lots of walking in front of a tractor. You will be working with 3 to 7 other people who will be picking their own row of corn. It is a repetitive type of work.

Description of Edible Bean picking:

Edible Beans are also know as Yellow (Wax) & Green Beans. They grow very close to the ground and therefore require the picker to work at ground level. Similar to picking Sweet Corn, Edible Beans are grown in rows. You will be assigned a row to pick. The beans are picked into either 1 bushel baskets or ½ bushel baskets. Our pickers are our quality control department so we require each picker to pay close attention to the beans they are picking. The pickers will be required to pick with both hand as this is a fast paced job.

Description of Pumpkin picking:

Pumpkins are normally sold in large cardboard bins. We will organize the pickers into teams of 2 or 3 pickers per bin. You will be required to work together as a team. When picking a pumpkin you will be asked to remove any dirt by wiping any excess dirt off of the pumpkin with a rag and then you will place the pumpkin gently into the bin. Once you have placed the pumpkin into the bin you will yell out the number or count of pumpkins in the bin so that your other team member/s will know the number or count in the bin. Once the bin is full the last person will write the number or count on the out side of the bin as well as the year on two ends. The pumpkins can weight as much as 30 to 35lbs. The pumpkins grow on the ground so the pickers will be required to bend over and pick them off of the ground. Our pickers are our quality control so it is the picker’s responsibility to only pick the good quality pumpkins.

If you would like to set up an interview please reply to us by email with your availability.

Thank you for your interest in Foster Family Farm.

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