VICTORIA -- While a lot of businesses are struggling to stay open during the pandemic, one island business is blossoming and needs workers who are “outstanding in their field.”
Longview Farms in Central Saanich is looking for daffodil pickers to harvest its seasonal crop of yellow flowers. Almost a dozen varieties are planted each year in order to stagger the growing season.
Thirty to 40 workers are needed every day to pick and sort the 5-million sprouting bulbs planted across nearly 50 acres of fields on the Saanich Peninsula. Typically, that demand requires hundreds of employment opportunities over the three-month harvest.
The farm says it’s too early to tell if COVID-19 will affect people’s interest in picking daffodils this year. It does note there have been zero recorded cases on the farm since the pandemic began last spring.
“It is a different year with COVID and we’ve got a lot of different protocols in place to make sure everybody stays safe,” said Nora Cumming, the office and sales manager for Longview Farms.
“We hope that we can attract a lot of pickers locally to come out and help us get these flowers out into the market.”
The daffodils have been a bit slower growing this year due to the cool damp weather we’ve been experiencing lately, according to Cumming. But, she says demand will really ramp up in the next several weeks.
Right now, there are a few regular farm staff harvesting daffodils several days a week.
Cumming says that new pickers will get paid by the bunch; on average, employees earn more than minimum wage, especially for those who are willing to hustle.
Daffodil Season runs from February to April. If you are interested or want more information, contact Longview Farms at 250-652-1131 or send your resume to jobs@daffodil.com.
The farm says it will call people as they need them in the order that messages are received. Longview asks that you do not leave more than one message.
You can check out more on Longview Farms website.
