More than five million daffodils are ready to be picked on a Saanich Peninsula farm and there’s a tight timeline and an urgent need for workers with strong backs and sturdy legs to cut and bundle the budding yellow flowers. Longview Farms, one of the biggest daffodil producers in Canada, was only able to bring in 11 workers from Mexico this year, so is relying heavily on locals to fill the gap and bring the harvest in on time.
Nora Cumming, manager at Longview Farms, said the Central Saanich operation normally has about 24 foreign workers, but hired fewer because its on-site accommodations were limited due to COVID-19 safety protocols. “We need the help,” she said Wednesday. “This year with the weather our flowers are ripening faster than usual, so there is a high demand for workers.”
It’s all about timing with daffodils. The flowers need to be picked, bundled and shipped before they bloom, so that when they hit retail outlets across Canada and the western U.S. the yellow flowers are only starting to emerge. The harvest of Longview’s 50 acres started in early February and is continuing this month. The farm has had between 30 and 40 pickers every day this week, but they need more.
Read the complete article at www.timescolonist.com.