The Lucknow Sentinel, 1990-03-14, Page 63PAGE 1 Ae PAM PAWN= II
Cucumber growing
From a grower's point of view
by M rig Burkhart
For Tony. and Annie Aorta of lt. 2,
Halyrood, gwttig eurbexs has been a
rewarding and satisfying experience.
They have been growers for the post nil*
.years, and with four children to assist
them, it has been a very family oriented
venture. '
Both Arnie and Torry work out, and
with only their 1b year-old daughter at
phoom,,e, they have in the last few years
been reducing their acreage, Initially
they started with five acres. In suc-
cessive years of growing, their acreage
has ranged .anywhere from six to 20, with
the lowest of four acres this past grow -
ing
rowing season. When they grew the larger
acreage, it was necessary to hire
students to help with the picking, and they
have used as many as three Picking Aids
with six pickers on each machine.
According to Tony, acquiring labour is
the main problem in growing cucumbers.
So ray young people see this as a
rather unpleasant way of earning money,
The most common age group willing to
work in between 14 and 16 years of age,
As both Tony and. Annie pointedout, once
they reach 16 and can drive, they often
loons: for jobs that appear more attractive.
In order to encourage their workers to
stick with the job, the Aarts usually work
from 5 a.rn. until 5 p.m., allowing their
workers an hour for hutch.
Just to give an example of the time in-
volved with their crop this past season
(1*), they picked about every fourth
day, starting on July 20 and erasing
' September 11. Annie's diary shows they
pied 35 days in total, and went over
the patch 13 times.
According to Tony, growing cucumbers
has been a profitable venture for their
family, However, he is quick to point out
that like so many crops it is risky. This
last growing season, for example, was
not one of their better ones. This was
to the dry weather experienced
-m• their area,.particularlOrd
uring the
of July. week of
Ate, they began an irrigation program
in an attempt to 'improve the production
and quality of the crop. As Tony pointed
out, a lack of rain results in the fora.:
• tion of • the crooked and knubby
cucumbers and these of course, do not
Turn to page l2A •
Tony and •Annie Arb of R. 2, Holyrood, along with their family have grown cucumbers
for the last nine years. (Maung Burkhart photo) •
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