BSCN – Zaklan Heritage Farm, Surrey, BC
Over the past summer I worked on the farm-crew at Zaklan Heritage farm in Surrey, BC. Prior to this placement I had zero farming experience; this motivating and rewarding position encouraged me to learn quickly and adapt to this unfamiliar environment.
My responsibilities varied greatly from day to day, week to week and over the whole season as the farm requires different tasks while the season progresses. When I began many tasks involved setting up the farm for a busy summer season; we transplanted tons of food, set up irrigation, kept up with weeding and only harvested once a week. As the season progressed tasks shifted to harvesting almost daily, weeding every chance we got, and continuing to plant food into the fields. Along with these responsibilities I got the chance to pack orders on harvest days and deliver fresh vegetables to restaurants the next day.
Although I am extremely satisfied with the technical skills I have attained over the summer, I am even more so with the transferable skills involving time-management, efficiency and task-organization. Being a small crew meant tasks needed to be done on non-harvesting days and tasks could be previously spread across a week needed to be done in 2-3 days.
Co-op helped me explore a field that I would otherwise have not been interested in, because of this it opened up my interests and sparked my decision to change majors. I think anyone who is unsure of what they would like to do as a career should explore unique coop opportunities as this helped me gain a better vision of where I would like to direct my future.
