Tomato Picking / Packing
Tomato – a red berry or fruit that belongs to the nightshade family of Solanaceae with a scientific name of Solanum Lycopersicum. Tomato itself came from the regions of South America Andes, but using it as food was originated in Mexico then widely spread out thru colonization. After it was introduced to a lot of countries worldwide, it began to be grown widely with all its varieties and is mostly grown in cooler places.
Tomatoes are used either raw or cooked and it plays a big role in making many dishes, sauces, salads and even thirst quenchers. There have been several debates about the tomato being a fruit or a vegetable – the answer to that, technically speaking, tomato is a fruit but it is being used as a vegetable only for culinary functions. In 500 B.C., Aztecs and other Mesoamerican people used this crop in their cooking. Tomato was said to be first cultivated in Southern Mexico, although there has not been an official date as to when it was domesticated.
In Australia, tomatoes are planted all year long in some areas, except for those areas that are too cold or what they call the frost zone. The crops can be grown during moderate weather, which is normally from the months of August to November, while during the height of winter season (September and November) high grade tomatoes are the best time to be grown. Although tomatoes are grown in cooler places like some other crops, it also needs sunlight though too much of sun exposure will cause sunburn to the crop.
In growing tomatoes, they can either be grown on garden beds or even in a good-sized pot. Unlike other crops or plants, it does not need special treatment. To produce high quality tomatoes, one of the best ways is to prepare the garden bed a month before you actually put the roots in it. The essential part of planting is to make sure that the soil is not too weighty so the roots can move freely and can produce more crops.
If you are a backpacker who wishes to work in harvesting tomatoes, you need to be efficient enough to bag hundreds of dollars. AU$15 to AU$20 per hour is being paid for this type of job, but remuneration still depends on the farm owners. Some pay pickers by the number of bins or baskets harvested while some are being paid by the hour. As a fruit picker, the hours of work varies on the demand or weather conditions. At times, supplies needed are the very first thing to consider.
Fruit picking, packing and harvesting is the best way to earn money while on vacation in the Land Down Under. Not much protective gear is needed for tomato pickers, but gloves are all the time needed on this job. No overalls or protective boots are really required but it would depend on the weather what type of clothing you will be wearing. You always have to make sure that you are wearing comfortable clothes for the dry or hot season and drink plenty of water to prevent exhaustion.
